Walkability = Higher Home Values

Here is a really interesting article from MSN Real Estate, reporting on a study that finds a higher "walkability" index translates into higher home values in 13 out of 15 metropolitan areas. The data supports what we real estate agent who represent certain City of Richmond neighborhoods have known, without being able to quantify - walkable urban neighborhoods are more and more desirable, and therefore more and more valuable.

The two exceptions to the rule: Bakersfield, California, which showed no correlation between walkability and higher property values, and Las Vegas, Nevada, which showed a NEGATIVE correlation between walkability and property values.

Really? Being within walking distance of all those casinos, strip clubs, and T-shirt stores doesn't increase property values? I'm shocked. Shocked, I say.