The Youthification of Tall Building Neighbourhoods: An Analysis of the Age Composition of Different Housing Market Segments

We segment the housing market into clusters using dwelling type, tenure, and number of rooms, and analyze the population age distribution of the clusters in Canadian cities. We find four clusters: owned single-detached houses, low-rise rented apartments, tall building rented apartments, and owned attached dwellings (townhouses, duplexes, and semi-detached). The tall building cluster shows the most pronounced differences in age, has the highest share of young adults and is the only cluster to see an increase in young adults over a 40-year period. Shares of older cohorts increased in the single-detached and attached clusters. We find evidence of youthification of tall building neighbourhoods as young adults are channelled into higher density neighbourhoods by structural pressures shaping cities.