Minor stadiums, major effects? Patterns and sources of redevelopment surrounding minor league baseball stadiums

Abstract

Minor league baseball stadiums are a popular redevelopment anchor in mid-sized to small American cities seeking to revitalise their downtowns. This paper uses a panel study of 16 minor league baseball stadiums built around the time of the 2000 census to understand how they affect immediately adjacent census tracts on measures of residential development one decade later. Regressions show that census tracts near new stadiums have larger increases in their median home prices and new housing construction relative to similar areas in the rest of their cities. However, when compared with a sample of tracts in cities that did not build any stadiums, the significant difference in median housing prices disappears, leaving the effect on new housing construction along with an increase in vacancy rates. Taken together, the findings indicate minor league baseball stadiums can revitalise a city’s downtown, but also act to concentrate redevelopment rather than create growth.