Home Relocation and the Journey to Work

Abstract

Relocation decisions are complex. Each household has a bundle of attributes that make a location attractive to it, including the ability to access different activity locations easily, neighborhood quality, house amenities etc. Relocating households have an opportunity to find housing closer to their work. Using data collected in the Twin Cities area, we investigate how distance to home and travel time to home change among individuals who have changed their residence since they started their current job. Comparing the home-to-work distance after the move to the previous-home-to-work distance, we find that the average home to work distance is reduced as a result of the move. We also find that the reduction depend on the previous home to work distance as well as the previous homes’ proximity to downtown Minneapolis. The findings show that households that are either very close to their work, or very close to downtown, or both did not significantly increase or decrease their commute after relocation. This suggests that access to work as well as access to the opportunities that proximity to downtown offers (to jobs, urban spaces, etc.) are important in the decision making process.

Keywords: household relocation, travel, commute, employment, transportation

JEL Classification: P46, R40