Referee Report: The floor area ratio gradient

Barr, J., & Cohen, J. P. (2014). The floor area ratio gradient: New York City, 1890–2009. Regional Science and Urban Ez conomics, 48, 110-119.
1. What is the main research question?
Barr and Cohen (2014) have formulated the following research questions to address in their study;
(1) What does the structural density gradient look like relative to the center?
(2) Has it changed appreciably over time?
(3) Is there evidence of poly-centricity within the city itself?
(4) Does controlling for the building age affect the estimates of the FAR gradient?
2. What are the data sources used?
The data sets used in this study were obtained from the 2012 ―PLUTO‖ file that is provided by the New York Department of City Planning and available at /html/dcp/html/bytes/dwn_pluto_mappluto.shtml, 2013. The file contains a list of extensive information on all the property found within the City. This information contains the data that was reuired to conduct this study and address the formu...