Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 83.djvu/508

504 Twenty-four years show a total increase of slightly more than 100 per cent.

The land values of Boston are therefore increasing at less than half the rate of those of New York. During the years for which comparison may be made (1906-1911) the land values of New York rose 38 per cent., while those of Boston rose less than 8 per cent.

Two other cities in the East make separate assessments of land and improvements. The increase for these cities is:

Although the period covered in both cases is short, the rate of increase is very similar to that of Boston for a similar period. The seven years in Trenton show an increase of slightly less than one tenth and in Newark of one seventh.

The records of some western cities furnish a striking contrast in this ratio of land value increase. Milwaukee in the Middle West assessed land in 1890 at $52,386,000. For succeeding years the assessment was:

For 1911 and 1912, the basis of assessment was increased from 60 per cent, to 100 per cent. The 1912 valuation was $193,799,000. The rate of increase for Milwaukee is somewhat greater than for Boston, though not so great as for New York. (Between 1891 and 1912, the area of Milwaukee was increased from 21 to 24 square miles.)

The three far western cities for which separate land assessments were secured (Dallas and Houston, Texas, and Seattle) report far more rapid rates of increase.