OCR Text |
Show CHARACTER OF ROADS AFFECTS LAND VALUE Two Virginia farmers recently made comments on road improvements that are worth considering. The first mnn had bought his place only a few years ago and had selected it because of the character of the people in the vicinity, as well as the actual value of the land. He said his experience during his rather rath-er brief stay on his farm showed that a man who bought land in that section had to work it both intelligently and economically in order to make it pay, for the first cost per acre was higher than that of equally good land in somo other sections without its social attractions. at-tractions. The second man complained about the slowness with which good land was being1 taken up in some sections, owing to the roads being so bad that the class of people needed to develop the country preferred to pay much more money for no better land where they could live more happily. In other words, the lack of fairly good roads inj some sections was keeping down tho market value of property there below Its proper level and even tending, with the suitable traveling facilities in other sections, to raise the value of land in the latter. The property owners own-ers in the first district, by allowing their roads to remain very poor, were not only depreciating their own estates, but Increasing, by contrast, the value of those of the owner of land along well-maintained roads. This is hardly considered good business busi-ness policy by shrewd persons. |