Thoroughfares and Apartment Values

While the monocentric urban models were once adequate for predicting the declining rent gradients for North American cities, the advent of a transportation system with major arteries such as turnpikes, thoroughfares and commuter rails has distorted the rent gradient for many cities. In this study we examine the rent (or value) gradient for the City of Philadelphia with special reference to the impact of two major urban thoroughfares on apartment values. We find that apartment values decline by approximately 2.2% and 3.8% per block from the major thoroughfares, while holding distance to the CBD and standard variables constant. As to be expected, distance to the CBD still continues to exert a dominant influence on apartment values in spite of the impacts of the thoroughfares. The findings are consistent with ‘axial growth theory’.