Location Choice vis-à-vis Transportation

Abstract

An understanding of residential location choice is fundamental to behavioral models of land use and, ultimately, travel demand. Detailed data and predictive models are needed. This research examined choices of apartment dwellers and their reasons for moving, their priorities when choosing a residential location, and the trade-offs involved. In addition to summary statistics of the data, linear regressions, binary logit, and ordered probit models were used to investigate variations in rent and apartment size and stated preferences of housing, location, transportation, and access. Binary logit and ordered probit models reveal similar results concerning people's preferences for accessibility. For instance, families and other multiperson households tend to place less value on commute times and freeway access and choose apartment improvements over travel savings. Women are more likely to state that they place a higher importance on commute time and freeway access, but, when asked to choose between travel times and apartment size, they are more likely to choose the larger apartment. Other models suggest that being within walking distance of a commercial center increases average rent by $24 per month. Increases in distances to the central business district (CBD) and mean neighborhood commute times reflect lower monthly rents, about $20 per mile from the CBD and $24 per added minute of commute (one way). Apartments in the urban area tend to be, on average, 75 ft² smaller, all things being equal (including population density, which has an added effect). These results and many others provide several valuable insights regarding the location choice of those residing in apartments.