The Spillover Effects of Suburban Amenities

Author: Thomas A. Mlay

Dissertation School: The Ohio State University

Abstract:

The objective of this research is to extend the knowledge of urban structure by investigating the interplay between segments of urban areas at political borders. While there is extensive literature on the spatial interactions of cities and suburbs through employment changes, migration and growth controls, much less attention has been paid to the spatial interactions across boundaries. The research will look both at the spillovers between city and suburb as well as among suburbs that share common borders. My hypothesis is that because some amenities are less excludable than others, property values would reflect a decay function at the political boundary as opposed to the more commonly anticipated step-function.

The hypothesized spillover effect would affect issues of tenure and migration. Patterns of urban infill could show that higher property values near suburban communities lead to higher rates of infill and possibly higher density infill in these areas. Workforce and spatial mismatch issues could both be affected and have an effect on the issue of spillover because living near a suburban community makes both the amenities and the suburban employment accessible.

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