Housing market trends could drive increased transit use, suggests a study by TransitCenter, a philanthropy focusing on mass transit located in New York City....

Of particular interest to urbanists: “The top predictor of whether or not you use transit is what type of neighborhood you live in,” the report states. “This is especially interesting when you consider that: Many Americans would prefer to live in a different type of neighborhood than they do now.”

The biggest unmet desire in the housing market, according to the report called Who’s On Board 2014, is to live in a mixed-use neighborhood. TransitCenter surveyed more than 11,000 people in 46 metropolitan statistical areas spanning the US geographically. Thirty-nine percent of respondents currently live in mixed-use neighborhoods, but 58 percent would like to do so. If that sample is nationally representative, the gap in unmet demand approaches 60 million people.

The biggest dissatisfied group lives in suburban bedroom communities. Thirty percent of those surveyed currently live in residential-only, suburban areas. Only 16 percent of respondents pick this kind of living arrangement as their ideal.