Urban mobility and the experienced isolation of students

Abstract

Cities provide access to stores, public amenities and other people, but that access may provide less benefit for the lower-income and younger urbanites who lack money and means of easy mobility. Using detailed GPS location data, we measure the urban mobility and experienced racial and economic isolation of the young and the disadvantaged. We find that students in major metropolitan areas experience more racial and income isolation, spend more time at home, stay closer to home when they do leave, and visit fewer restaurants and retail establishments than adults. Looking across levels of income, students from higher-income families visit more amenities, spend more time outside of the home, and explore more unique locations than low-income students. Combining a number of measures into an index of urban mobility, we find that, conditional on income, urban mobility is positively correlated with home neighborhood characteristics such as distance from the urban core, car ownership and social capital. Cities offer higher wages and more opportunities for adults but provide limited upward income mobility for children. This study finds that movement around cities varies more among US students of different income levels than among students and adults. Students from higher-income families spend more time outside the home and explore more unique locations, suggesting urban income mobility echoes physical mobility.