Household location in English cities

This paper is the first to test an amenity-based sorting model for cities in England. We explore household location under both monocentric and polycentric assumptions about city structure. On average, we find no systematic relationship between income and household distance to the city centre. However, there are differences between cities, with a positive income-distance relationship in Birmingham and Leeds, and a negative relationship in Newcastle. Household heterogeneity is also important; for example, on average households with heads who are migrants live 25% closer to the centre than non-migrants. We also find that only the employed (and those above the poverty line) are influenced by the availability of public transport, which is in direct opposition to the US evidence.