This paper draws on the literature on residential mobility in order to address the housing choice of gentrifiers and its different dimensions (profile, trajectories, and motivations). The gentrification literature is reviewed in regard to these dimensions. Empirical material is based on questionnaires sent to the inhabitants of new high-status developments (new-build gentrification) in two Swiss cities (Zurich and Neuchâtel). By pointing out some of the characteristics found in the Swiss context, the results contribute to an understanding of the attributes of contemporary gentrifiers, such as their diversity in terms of life-course position, the transitory stage that living in a gentrified neighbourhood may represent, and the predominance of the convenience of urban life (proximity and mobility) in their motivations.
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