Now you don’t need to even pretend that your TIF area is dilapidated. Just propose a STAR Line station within a half mile, get the Board to approve, and you can divert tax dollars pretty much for whatever you want. Thanks to ILAPA’s Sharon Caddigan for the alert. Of course, an openly-administered TIF process might be appropriate for development near any transit station, provided that the funds raised are used to actually provide service at the station.
Category: transit
Helluva way to run a railroad
According to the November issue of Trains Magazine (not on the web afaik):
[T]wo key players …on the Amtrak board, Federal Railroad Administrator Joe Szabo and Amtrak president Joseph Boardman, cannot have any contact or even be in the same room together for one year due to federal ethics rules, because Boardman was the previous FRA administrator.
Couldn’t they just hire a lobbyist, or maybe get one of BHO’s Chicago buddies, to contrive a way around the ethics laws?
Walkability pays
Lots of folks like to live at relatively high densities. Though a big house and yard are nice, they prefer easy access to facilities and services. That’s why land prices are usually high in densely-developed areas (One might say that high price is the market’s way of maintaining density).
None of this is news to Georgists or observant urbanites, but it’s nice to note that it’s been documented that “walkability raises home values in U. S. cities.” How much? Well, computing a “walkability score” based strictly on proximity to 13 different services (apparently with no consideration of whether there are maintained sidewalks or paths), in Chicago each one point increase (equivalent to one percent of the total range) increases residential land value by $5260. This incidentally is the highest amount for any of the 15 cities studied
Public transportation is not directly recognized in this study, altho it is acknowledged that walkability is somewhat correlated with transit service. Therefore part of this value may be due to transit.
The walkability study is among many interesting resources identified in VTPI‘s new compilation and analysis “Where We Want to Be: Home Location Preferences and their Implications for Smart Growth (pdf). “
Medallion Prices– upward trend continues
Month Price Source
July ’09 $175,000 Chicago Dispatcher
May ‘09 $170,000 Chicago Dispatcher
April ‘09 $164,500 Chicago Dispatcher
March ‘09 $165,000 Chicago Dispatcher
February ‘09 $158,000 Chicago Dispatcher
Feb ‘07 $ 77,000 Chicago Tribune
2004 >$40,000 Chicago Tribune
1991 $28,000 Chicago Sun Times
August 25th is the most recent date for which sales are reported on the Chicago City web site. Three of four sales that day were at $184,000.
Minnesota looks at funding transport from land tax
A new report from the University of Minnesota looks at ways of financing transportation projects by capturing part of the benefit they provide. Land value tax is only one of the eight options (Land Value Tax, Tax Increment Financing, Special Assessments, Transportation Utility Fees, Development Impact Fees, Negotiated Exactions, Joint Development, Air Rights) considered.
A quick skim indicates that on the whole it’s pretty good, though it seems to overestimate the difficulty of assessing land value, and repeats the error of some previous studies which conflates owners of land occupied by low income people with the low income people themselves. (More likely, low income people are renters living on land owned by someone else, and when taxes on such land increase the owners can’t pass the cost on to their tenants.)
There is also mention of a study, new to me, that seems to document an anti-sprawl benefit from a land tax. The study unfortunately is secured by ssrn; I shall have to try to find it elsewhere.
This study was requested and funded by the Minnesota legislature.
Hat tip to lvtfan.
Where Chicago posts medallion sales prices
I have been relying on the estimable Chicago Dispatcher monthly newspaper for Chicago medallion sales prices, because I could never find them on the City’s web site. Now, while trying to figure out something else, I have found the site. The same page with a different url seems to be here. It’s not clear whether this link is permanent, but one can navigate to it from egov.cityofchicago.org using Your Government > City Departments > Business Affairs and Licensing > Public Vehicles > Taxi and Limo Industry > Medallion Owners. The latest list posted, thru June 8, is this pdf, showing that on the last date reported, June 9, ten sales closed at prices ranging from $165,000 to $178,000.
Other medallion-related items: Here’s a post indicating that New York, too, is seeing continuing rise in medallion prices. And Taxi Medallion Systems do not Benefit Drivers.
Chicago medallions rise again.
According to the June issue of Chicago Dispatcher, taxi medallion prices rose again in May, to an average of $170,000. Here’s some context:
Month Price Source
May ’09 $170,000 Chicago Dispatcher
April ’09 $164,500 Chicago Dispatcher
March ’09 $165,000 Chicago Dispatcher
February ’09 $158,000 Chicago Dispatcher
Feb ’07 $ 77,000 Chicago Tribune
2004 >$40,000 Chicago Tribune
1991 $28,000 Chicago Sun Times
(Chicago Dispatcher data are for the period ending on the 23rd of the indicated month).
I find it remarkable that this kind of real estate has continued to gain value, over 7% in 3 months, while most other kinds in Chicago seem to have declined. There was, however, considerable fluctuation recently, with sales in late April running around $145,000, increasing to $175,000 on May 19 and 20. According to ads in the Dispatcher, you can lease your medallion out for $600 to $700 per month, a yield of close to 5% (in addition to any price appreciation which might occur). There is, of course, some risk that the price might depreciate instead.
Why doesn’t Chicago have any roads…
on this list? I like this shorter list better.
Of course, a serious highway reduction project requires competently-managed and properly-funded transit.
$300,000 for a Boston parking space
And it really seems to be just a parking space, outdoors, in a neighborhood where condo’s cost millions. If this space, including an allowance for access lanes, is 250 square feet, that works out to about $1200/square foot. More evidence that location matters.
Medallions up another 4% last month
Chicago Dispatcher reports the median sales price of Chicago taxi medallions was $165,000 during the month ending March 23, up from $158,000 the previous month (and $77,000 in February 2007).