Patterns of Residential Movement in Metropolitan Toronto

Each year in North America one family in five moves to a new home, and in the process the environment is altered. The complex relationships between individual households and the aggregate social structure, and the effect of relocation on the urban environment, are examined in this study of household movement patterns within Metropolitan Toronto. Although assumptions about household relocation are implicit or explicit in every model of urban development, it has been difficult to verify these statements or to explore the relocation process. In simple language Professor Simmons poses some vital questions and then answers many of them through adroit analysis of the data. He describes the basic spatial patterns of movement and the variations of those patterns for a full range of household types. Three other concerns are also investigated: the problems of analysis and presentation of flow data; the temporal evolution of the housing market and the residential pattern; and the possibilities and nature of social change.

University of Toronto Department of Geography Research Publications 13

James W. Simmons is Professor Emeritus of the Department of Geography at the University of Toronto.