MACRO-LEVEL ACTIVITY SPACES: SOME NATIONWIDE VISITATION PATTERNS∗

∗The survey data used were collected as a portion of a research project sponsored by the National Science Foundation (SOC 78-07416). I am also grateful to Paula Fairburn who produced the figures for this paper and to the reviewers, Martin T. Cadwallader and Rebecca Smith, for their valuable suggestions on improving the manuscript.

The macro-level activity spaces of residents in Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Denver, Kansas City, and San Francisco differ significantly in areal extent, compactness and shape. They fail to conform closely with the pattern expected based on gravity formulations of distance to and size of potential destinations. Activity space is defined as the percentage of respondents in each city who have visited thirty other metro areas within a decade. Maps of residuals from regression indicate that the major visitation flows from each city are neither random nor concentric but spatially concentrated and easily identified. Macro-level activity spaces may be useful in understanding interregional migration flow bias.

Key Words:

• activity space
• migration
• gravity model
• visitation
• intensity
• areal extent
• shape
• compactness

Notes

∗The survey data used were collected as a portion of a research project sponsored by the National Science Foundation (SOC 78-07416). I am also grateful to Paula Fairburn who produced the figures for this paper and to the reviewers, Martin T. Cadwallader and Rebecca Smith, for their valuable suggestions on improving the manuscript.

His major research interests are interregional migration, perception of groundwater depletion, and Appalachia.