Valuing Central Park's Contributions to New York City's ... - Appleseed

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is not something that is fully captured by a snapshot of a single year’s activity.
Central Park as it exists today is the product of 150 years’ investment in the creation,
preservation and continuing improvement of the Park.
Similarly, the area around the Park – the most valuable concentration of residential,
office, retail, hotel and cultural real estate in the U.S. – is the product of 150 years of
investment by property-owners, developers and institutions that recognized the value
of proximity to the Park.
This is not to say that the Park alone determines the value of these properties, or the
location of households, businesses and institutions that occupy them. It means rather
that the creation of Central Park started a process of development and a continuing
series of investment decisions that made the surrounding area what it is today. Each
decision built on those that came before it. The concentration of so much high-value,
high-quality housing makes the Central Park area one of the country’s most desirable
corporate office locations; the concentration of homes and offices, and the presence
of so many cultural institutions make it an especially attractive location for high-end
hotels; and all of these things together help make the Central Park area one of the
world’s premier shopping districts.
But it is likely that none of this would be there today, had it not been for the creation
of the Park 150 years ago. Without the Park, there would be no concentration of
high-priced residential real estate along Fifth Avenue – no Museum Mile – no
concentration of luxury hotels along Central Park South.
This connection between Central Park and the amazing economic ecosystem that
surrounds it is not just a historical artifact. The evidence clearly suggests that the Park
continues to enhance the attractiveness of the surrounding area as a place for living,
working, doing business, visiting, shopping, recreation and cultural activity.