RSS
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
There Goes The Neighborhood: Gay People Moving In, Increasing Your Property Value
NOVEMBER 9, 2011
Posted by Carolyn
According to a study of Columbus, Ohio, areas that support marriage equality may have an increase in property values when gay couples move in, while areas that don’t support marriage equality will suffer a decrease in values.
The study looked at the way two neighbourhoods voted on Ohio’s Defense of Marriage Act in 2004, which defines marriage as between a man and woman and which became law. After controlling for various factors, the authors, which are economics professors, concluded that an increase in the gay concentration by one couple in 1,000 households is associated with a 1.1% price increase in areas that supported gay marriage. In areas that supported the act, it was linked to a 1% decrease.
According to University of Toronto professor Richard Florida in The Daily Beast, “While politicians and voters continue to debate whether LGBT people have the right to marry, to adopt children, or serve openly in the U.S. military, a growing body of research suggests that considerable benefits accrue to those cities and metro areas that have sizeable, visible concentrations of gay men and lesbians. Income levels are higher, as are many other measures of life satisfaction.”
Launched in August 2010, TheMetropreneur.com is a local online resource devoted to small business development and entrepreneurship. Its aim is to tell the stories of Central Ohio's business community, foster regional economic development and assist entrepreneurs with its resource-heavy focus.