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Urban revival in America

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  • Couture, Victor
  • Handbury, Jessie

Abstract

This paper documents and explains the striking rise in the college share near city centers since 2000. We show that this urban revival is driven by younger college graduates in larger cities. A residential choice model reveals that the rising tendency of young college graduates to reside near non-tradable services accounts for more of their movement toward city centers than other commonly-cited hypotheses. We document corresponding changes in restaurant and nightlife consumption. We then link these changes in both consumption and urbanization to secular trends of top income growth and delayed family formation amongst young college graduates.

Suggested Citation

  • Couture, Victor & Handbury, Jessie, 2020. "Urban revival in America," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juecon:v:119:y:2020:i:c:s0094119020300383
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jue.2020.103267
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Residential choice; Consumption amenities; Job location; Gentrification;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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