The Impact of City/Suburban Location on Moving Plans: A Cincinnati Study

Abstract

In order to improve the ability of central-city policymakers to retain middle-income families, this paper tests for the importance of city/suburban location as well as other background characteristics in explaining variations in moving plans. Stepwise discriminant analysis is applied to a mailed questionnaire sample of 1,738 households who purchased homes in Hamilton County (Cincinnati), Ohio, during the first half of 1986. The city buyers' greater propensity to move reflected compositional effects, with younger households purchasing modest homes. Contrary to what was expected, recent city buyers with urban tastes didnot have strong attachments to their location. The implications of these and other results to stem outmigration flows are discussed. HE CONTINUED OUTMIGRATION OF MIDDLE-INCOME FAMILIEST from central cities undermines the fiscal viability of those cities and increases the level of racial and social class segregation in the public schools. Policymakers seeking to develop programs to attract and hold middle-income families in the central city are hindered by the lack of knowledge about the causes of mobility decisions of metropolitan homebuyers during the 1980s. As Kendig (1984) notes, the motives of these families for purchasing, and possibly for moving, are likely to bedissimilar to the motives of those who arrived earlier, when housing market conditions were different. Analysis of the determinants of mobility of this recently arrived group can inform policymakers of the attachments and motives of those who are currently choosing central city locations.The present paper responds to Kendig's call for research by attempting to answer two questions. Firstly, to what extent are differences in mobility propensity between recent city and suburban buyers attributable to (a) variations in the types of David P. Varady is a professor in the School of Planning at the University of Cincinnati. He wishes to state that this research was made possible by grants from the

Neighbourhood Change... Reason to Leave?

“…Several factors are known to infl uence moving wishes and we need to control for these in our analysis of the wish to leave the neighbourhood. The fi rst set of control variables are personal and household characteristics: age, household composition, income, level of education, ethnicity and recent mover status (see Morris et al, 1976;Varady, 1989;Kearns and Parkes, 2003;van Ham and Feijten, 2008). The second set of control variables are characteristics of the dwelling.…”

“…The first set of control variables are personal and household characteristics: age, household composition, income, level of education, ethnicity and recent mover status (see Morris et al, 1976;Varady, 1989;Van Ham & Feijten, 2008). The second set of control variables are characteristics of the dwelling.…”

“…We follow in the footsteps of Lee and colleagues (1994), but are able to use a much larger geocoded dataset for the Netherlands. Although most residential mobility studies analyse realised moving behaviour (some exceptions are Morris et al, 1976;Galster, 1987;Varady 1989; we explicitly study people's wish to leave their neighbourhood. Moving wishes are a direct response to residential stress without people taking into account their resources and restrictions or opportunities or constraints on the local housing market.…”

Who Wants to Leave the Neighbourhood? The Effect of Being Different from the Neighbourhood Population on Wishes to Move

“…Most literature on residential moving behaviour deals with actual moves and not with people's wishes or intentions to move (some exceptions are Morris et al, 1976;Varady 1989;Kearns & Parkes, 2003). We analyse people's wish to leave the neighbourhood rather than moving intentions or actual moving behaviour.…”

The Criteria of Residential Satisfaction in Gated Community: Medan City

“…In this selection process, residential satisfaction becomes the main reason. Regional sections for inhabitation can be called as residential preferences (Varady 2001). Residential satisfaction is more focused on the occupant's attitude towards their residence and neighborhood (Francescato, 1987;Bajunid et al, 2012).…”