Walkability has been linked to quality of life in many ways. Health related benefits of physical exercise, the accessibility and access benefits of being able to walk to obtain some of your daily needs, or the mental health and social benefits of reduced isolation are a few of the many positive impacts on quality of life that can result from a walkable neighborhood. In the age of increasing energy costs and climate considerations, the ability to walk to important locations is a key component of sustainable communities. While the health and environmental implications of walkable communities are being extensively studied, the social benefits have not been investigated as broadly. Social capital is a measure of an individual's or group's networks, personal connections, and involvement. Like economic and human capital, social capital is considered to have important values to both individuals and communities. Through a case study approach this article argues that the generation and maintenance of social capital is another important component of quality of life that may be facilitated by living in a walkable community. Residents living in neighborhoods of varying built form and thus varying levels of walkability in three communities in New Hampshire were surveyed about their levels of social Applied Research Quality Life (capital and travel behaviors. Comparisons between the more walkable and less walkable neighborhoods show that levels of social capital are higher in more walkable neighborhoods.

Protest bids are often excluded during analysis of contingent valuation method data. It is suggested that this procedure might introduce significant bias. Protest bids are often registered by respondents who may actually place ahigher-orlower-than-average value on the commodity in question but refuse to pay on the basis of ethical or other reasons. Exclusion of protest bids may therefore bias willingness to pay (WTP) results, but the direction of bias is indeterminate a priori.

Policy makers often face the problem of evaluating how water quality affects a region's economic well-being. Using water clarity as a measure of the degree of eutrophication levels (as a lake becomes inundated with nutrients, water clarity decreases markedly), analysis is performed on sales data collected over a six-year period. Our results indicate that water clarity has a significant effect on prices paid for residential properties. Effects of a one-meter change in clarity on property value are also estimated for an average lake in four real estate market areas in New Hampshire, with effects differing substantially by area. Our findings provide state and local policy makers a measure of the cost of water quality degradation as measured by changes in water clarity, and demonstrate that protecting water quality may have a positive effect on property tax revenues.

Deller is a professor of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an extension community development economist. His work focuses on rural economic development policy, including how the structure and fi scal policies of local governments infl uence local economic growth and development. His most recent book is Targeting Regional Economic Development.