“There’s nothing left to tax”: the effects of automobility on the downtowns of America’s mid-size cities 1913–2013

Abstract

This article uses digitized Sanborn fire insurance maps and property tax data to assess the combined effects of highway construction and the increase in parking in downtown Bridgeport, CT. We find that between 1913 and 2013, Bridgeport lost nearly 1.9 million square feet of taxed effective square feet to interstate construction and devoted another roughly 2.2 million square feet to surface parking. Using 2013 tax rates, we find that property tax revenue shrank to just over a quarter of 1913 levels, from a projected $19 million (in 2013 dollars) in 1913 to $5 million in 2013. Land use also became less diverse and more concentrated, dominated by large commercial and tax-exempt parcels. The concentration and lower tax revenue reduced the resilience of downtown. This paper provides a new method to estimate the effects of highway construction and develop predictions for the effects of highway removal. We estimate that $3 million in tax revenue could be restored by highway removal, and a further $2 million by building housing on surface parking lots, doubling the current tax base. Increasing residential uses downtown would be particularly useful in restoring the diversity of uses, supporting neighborhood retail, and providing citizen advocates for downtown.

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