Do cities or suburbs offer higher quality of life? Intrametropolitan location, activity patterns, access, and subjective well-being

Critics deride American suburbs as dull, aesthetically displeasing, socially isolating, unhealthy, environmentally unsound, and lacking in accessibility. However, the dramatic shift of the American population to the suburbs in the post-WWII period suggests suburban living may have advantages. Using data from the American Time Use Survey, this paper examines whether residence in a principal city versus the suburbs offers a more emotionally satisfying lifestyle. First, the findings show that demographically similar city residents and suburbanites engage in a very similar amount and composition of out-of-home activities. Second, the ratio of travel time to activity time for specific travel/activity couplets is lower for city residents for a few activities, and lower for suburbanites for others, but on the whole the differences in accessibility implied by these travel time prices are minor. Third, the activities in which city residents and suburbanites engage are associated with very similar degrees of subjective well-being (SWB), including both life satisfaction and affect. The most noteworthy difference between the two geographies is that suburbanites have modestly but measurably higher SWB than demographically similar urbanites in terms of feelings of happiness (hedonic affect), a sense of meaning (eudaimonic affect), and life satisfaction. These findings suggest that there may be advantages to suburban living. •Demographically similar city residents and suburbanites are predicted to engage invery similar out-of-home activities.•The ratio of travel time to activity time is similar for demographically similar city residents and suburbanites.•The activities in which city residents and suburbanites engage are associated with very similar degrees of subjective well-being.•Suburban living is associated with better feelings of happiness, a sense of meaning, and life satisfaction than city living.