The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1913-10-04

-
ce,nlng what they have most to
do with 10 their activities III i
community, that constitutes The
tremendous lack OF efficiency IN
the assessment Of land values in
centers Of population. And in
addition TO this waste, there Is an
attempt to carry out the impossi
bic, in attempting to appraise
particular sites, over which there
is constant and substantial disa
greement, as IN the case Of the
twenty persons who cannot agree
about the value OF any particular
site Oh any street IN their town
ORIGIN OF La>D NAlt Us
An analysis OF the origin OF
what is usually called 'Iand val
ue1 as applied to city sites. is ab
soluteiy necessary for the proper
solution of any land appraisal
problem Without access TO the
life and business of the co,nmunl
ty through the highways, a plot
of ground in any community
would be without use it would
not be worth" anything, as /!
would be expressed in common
talk. 1t must be apparent that
whatever value a plot OF
ground may be said to have come
entirely from the accessibility OK
possibility of accessibility that it
has or may have in prospect
through some street Or pobl,c
highway. This "value" varies as
between plots because the streets
or highways through which vari-
Gus plots obtain their usefulness
and therefore their value, vary in
Importance and in use; but he the
"value' high or low, it comes en-
tirely from the streets.
Now let us analyze the effect of
the streets upon the plots, vary.
ing as they do in size and shape.
We know first that large plo: is
worth more than a small plot on
the same street-due entirely to
the difference in area. We find
that two plots Of the same area
are sometimes of different value If
they are of differing shape. The
one with the greatest accessibili-
" to the street will be worth
more than the one with less aces
sibility. But whatever the value
is, it may be traceable back to the
usefulness of the street.
| When we come to corner lots
and near.cOlner lots We find that
! tue same street effects are to be
found, only in more complicated
way. One corher lot is better
than another when the streets
making the corner are better IL
their combined effect than is a
corner lot where the streets form
ing the corner are not 80 good 10
their combined effect.
CONSIDER STREET VALUES.
Haring analysed this street eft
feet thus far, it would appear tt
be the natural thing to do 20 con
slider the value Of streets, regard
less OF the sites that are cOntIgu
Gus thereto. In every community
there is more knowledge about thu
usefulness of streets than there il
about particular sites. As in thu
illustration of the twenty persons
most people in a community hav'
t very well-defined notions or opini
. oDs Of the relative usefulness o.
r the streets that make up theil
town. The variations Of opinion
among them when all of tn,
+ streets are considered will b.
found in the last analysis to he Of
very narrow range 40 narrow il
fact that those differences may
, easily and satisfactorily be com
promised and adjusted.
D The value of anything 10 de
0 ps ndent entirely upon the Oplni0l
s Of those at interest. This is as tru'
r when we speak of market value
D as of the market value of wheat
I as it is of the value of land in ci
Z ties, which has no market value
y When we are to attempt to get a
e the values of sites in cities W.
ought to attempt to obtain th
! widest opinion possible. Thi
e opinion of the value of specifi
q plots of ground cannot in tn
, very nature Of things be yer,
vide. because few neOnle in An,