Chapter 9: Evaluating Measures of Job-Housing Proximity: Boston and Atlanta, 1980–2000¹

Balanced growth has been a major policy component of the ‘smart growth’ initiative. Increased congestion, particularly in suburban areas, has been linked to numerical imbalances and qualitative mismatches between jobs and housing. Balanced growth that improves job-housing proximity (that is, the spatial proximity between workplace and residence) is believed to have the potential to reduce commuting time and distance (Cervero, 1989).

Different studies, however, contain contrasting arguments on the commuting impacts of job-housing proximity, using different measures for the spatial relationship between workplace and residence. For instance, Guiliano and Small (1993), in their studies of Los Angeles, find that the impacts of job-housing proximity on commuting are weak, if job-housing proximity is measured with minimum required commuting (MRC). Shen (2000), using demand-adjusted job accessibility to represent residence’s proximity to workplaces, finds that in Boston, average residence commuting time at the level of transportation analysis zones (TAZ) is strongly affected by job-housing proximity.