Undesirable facilities and property values: a summary of empirical studies

Undesirable land uses are expected to impose health or amenity risks on surrounding communities. These risks are expected to be translated economically into negative effects on adjacent property values. These negative effects may be present even when such uses possess offsetting advantages of proximity, such as employment opportunities. The purpose of this study is to summarize empirical studies completed to date that test whether undesirable land uses have observable negative effects on adjacent property values. This information may be useful in assessing minimum valuations of terminating undesirable land uses, such as clean-up of hazardous sites, or compensation necessary to ameliorate the economic impacts of new undesirable uses.