While the relationship between automobile ownership and the built environment is well established, less is known about how household relocations—specifically, moves between urban and suburban geographies—affect the likelihood of owning an automobile. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and a refined neighborhood typology, I examine the relationship between inter-geography moves and transitions into and out of carlessness. Results suggest that among low-income households, urban-to-suburban movers have an increased likelihood of becoming car owners; those moving in the “opposite” direction—from suburban to urban neighborhoods—show a high propensity to transition into carlessness. Patterns among higher-income households, while similar, are more pronounced. In particular, higher-income carless households that make urban-to-suburban moves are far more likely to become car owners than their low-income counterparts. This highlights the ease with which higher-income households adjust their car ownership levels to suit their post-move neighborhoods. Higher-income suburban-to-urban movers are also more likely to transition into carlessness than low-income households. Importantly, however, only households at the bottom end of the “higher income” distribution have an increased propensity to become carless; suburban-to-urban movers with more financial resources maintain vehicle ownership rates similar to households that remain in the suburbs.

尽管拥有汽车和建筑环境之间的关系已经很好地建立了，但人们对家庭搬迁（尤其是在城市和郊区之间的迁移）如何影响拥有汽车的可能性知之甚少。使用收入动态小组研究和完善的邻域类型，我研究了地理之间的移动与无车状态之间的关系。结果表明，在低收入家庭中，城市到郊区的搬家者成为汽车拥有者的可能性增加。从郊区到城市社区朝着“相反”方向发展的人们表现出极高的向无车状态过渡的倾向。高收入家庭的格局虽然相似，但更为明显。特别是，进行城市到郊区转移的高收入无车家庭比低收入家庭更有可能成为汽车拥有者。这凸显了高收入家庭调整汽车拥有量水平以适应其搬迁后社区的难易程度。与低收入家庭相比，高收入郊区到城市搬家者更容易陷入无车状态。然而，重要的是，只有处于“较高收入”分配最低端的家庭拥有无车通行的倾向才会增加。具有更多财务资源的郊区到城市搬家者的车辆拥有率与郊区中的家庭类似。这凸显了高收入家庭调整汽车拥有量水平以适应其搬迁后社区的难易程度。与低收入家庭相比，高收入郊区到城市搬家者更容易陷入无车状态。然而，重要的是，只有处于“较高收入”分配最低端的家庭拥有无车通行的倾向才会增加。具有更多财务资源的郊区到城市搬家者的车辆拥有率与郊区中的家庭类似。这凸显了高收入家庭调整汽车拥有量水平以适应其搬迁后社区的难易程度。与低收入家庭相比，高收入郊区到城市搬家者更容易陷入无车状态。然而，重要的是，只有处于“较高收入”分配最低端的家庭拥有无车通行的倾向才会增加。具有更多财务资源的郊区到城市搬家者的车辆拥有率与郊区中的家庭类似。