In 1969, 48% of students walked or biked to school. By 2001, that proportion had fallen to 15%. Increasing children's active travel to school is important for a variety of reasons, including the rising rates of childhood obesity and increasing fuel costs. Recent studies indicate that elements of the built environment affect the amount of time people engage in physical activity. This study evaluates two indicators of the urban form as measures of walkability potential: street connectivity and residential density around elementary schools in Pasco and Hillsborough counties in Florida. By means of controlling for school age on the basis of the growth management legislation history in Florida, four growth eras are compared. Pedestrian sheds of ½- and 1-mi radii around school points are used as study areas. These indicators offer insight into the evolution of the urban form around elementary schools and its implications for students’ ability to walk to school. Preliminary findings suggest that walkability indicators in the vicinity of elementary schools built before 1950 exhibited high levels of street connectivity and residential density. These values declined consistently until stricter school planning legislation was enacted, when values started to increase and sometimes approached pre-1950 levels. This pattern is stronger, however, in Hillsborough County.

While the role of life events on residential mobility for the general population is well documented, little is known for low-income, subsidised households. Insights into this line of inquiry are instrumental for improving housing policies and programmes that aim for a more equal distribution of residents across the economic spectrum. The present study draws on a unique data set that covers the entire low-income population participating in the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) programme from 2007 to 2013 in the state of Florida, USA. Results show that life events are strongly and significantly related to mobility decisions, while the relationship between life events and changes in neighbourhood poverty is less prominent. In light of this, a full understanding of residential mobility requires the consideration of life events by accounting for housing assistance, given its compounding effect on the mobility process and outcomes for low-income households.

Recent attention has highlighted the importance of providing low‐income households access to opportunity‐rich neighborhoods. Using a neighborhood opportunity framework developed specifically for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, this study investigates whether low‐income households participating in the program live in opportunity areas. The results indicate that with scarce high‐opportunity neighborhoods, most HCV households reside in mixed opportunity areas and face tradeoffs when deciding where to live. Voucher holders reside in areas with moderate or poor accessibility and neighborhood conditions compared to other assisted and nonassisted low‐income renters. Opportunity outcomes also vary among different household types of HCV recipients.