11 



THE EFFECT ON PROPERTY. 



The effect of what has already been done by the 

 improvements has been to more than quadruple the 

 value of a certain portion of this land, and we have 

 thus an expression, of the most simple character, in 

 regard to the commercial estimate which, at this 

 period in the history of towns, is placed upon the 

 circumstance of convenient access from a residence to a 

 public pleasure ground, and upon the sanitary and 

 social advantages of a habitation thus situated. The 

 advance in value, in this case, is quite marked at a 

 distance of a mile, and this local advantage has certainly 

 not been attended by any falling back in the value of 

 other land in Brooklyn. 



If we analyze the conditions of this change in value, 

 we shall find that it is not altogether, or even in any 

 large degree, dependent upon mere vicinity to the 

 sylvan and rural attractions of the Park, but in very 

 large part, in the first place, upon the degree in which 

 these attractions can be approached with security from 

 the common annoyances of the streets, and with 

 pleasure in the approach itself. If, for instance, the 

 greater part of the Park were long and narrow in form, 

 other things being equal, the demand for building sites, 

 fronting on this portion of it, would not, probably, be 

 appreciably less than for those fronting on the broader 

 parts. Secondly, the advance in value will be found 

 to be largely dependant on the advantages of having 

 near a residence, a place where, without reference to the 

 sylvan attractions found in a large park, driving, riding, 

 and walking can be conveniently pursued in association 

 with pleasant people, and without the liability of en- 

 countering the unpleasant sights and sounds which 



