High Line property value effect (New York)
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
A 2020 study reported that homes within 0.1 mile of New York's High Line gained 35.3% more in value than homes in the 0.1 to 0.4 mile band. The sources reviewed measure prices, not the number of people displaced.
Figure reported in a 2020 study (via Kenyon College); a relative gain, not a dollar value.
Status As of 2020: the study reports a 35.3% extra value gain near the High Line; no displacement figures are on record in the sources reviewed.
- Owners of homes within 0.1 mile of the High Line — Relative value gain of 35.3% (2020 study) Kenyon College
What happened
A 2020 study published in Landscape and Urban Planning, summarised by Kenyon College, compared housing near New York's High Line. It reported that homes within 0.1 mile of the High Line gained 35.3% more in value than homes in the 0.1 to 0.4 mile band.
A broader literature review of 28 cities in the United States, Canada and Europe (Anguelovski et al., 2022) found that greening was strongly and positively associated with later gentrification in 17 of them. In 8 of those the greening was the leading factor. The High Line is one of the cases in that literature; the review is cited here from the researchers' summary, whose page could not be checked.
The literature on northern cities measures prices, rents, income and education. It does not measure how many people were displaced or where they went, according to the reviewed methods summary (2022).
- 2005West Chelsea rezoning approved (reported by CityLand; affordable-housing share unverified, see unknowns)
- 2020Study reports a 35.3% extra value gain within 0.1 mile of the High Line
How it looked
Shown
Recorded
- Homes within 0.1 mile of the High Line gained 35.3% more in value than homes in the 0.1 to 0.4 mile band (2020 study).
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Figures
- Insufficient Affordable units west chelsea rezoning: Reported by CityLand as 1,195 of 5,557 homes, so unverified.
Record
- Not measured How many people were displaced, and where they went, is not measured in the northern-city literature reviewed.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: CityLand (2005) is cited for the West Chelsea rezoning including 1,195 affordable homes out of 5,557.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a secondary account attributes to a High Line founder a 2017 statement that the project had failed on gentrification, and says he later said the words were taken out of context; the original interview could not be checked.
- None on record Ecological outcomes of the High Line are not assessed in the sources reviewed.
Did the harm stop?
Not applicable in the sources reviewed: no harm to nature is recorded for this case.
Who paid?
Not established: the sources reviewed measure the price effect and do not record who bore costs or whether anyone was displaced.
Sources
Press and investigations
- High Line/Chelsea Rezoning Gets Go AheadCityLand · 2005
Researchers
Connected cases
- Atlanta BeltLine United States · 2005–2026 Related matter
- Chicago 606 trail gentrification United States · 2012 Related matter