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Abstract
This paper uses 2004 polling data for New York State residents to examine the
relationship between attitudes about terrorism threats, in the aftermath of 9/11, and
residential preferences. The analysis shows that, risk aversion notwithstanding, the
percentage of people planning to move because of added risks of terrorism was low but
proximity to the New York City core increases this impulse slightly. The status quo is
pronounced. People weigh flight against the solidarity and security of established social
networks and opt to take their chances with the latter. Despite a widely reported
consensus that further terrorist attacks are coming, our findings reinforce the conclusion
that this is a relatively small consideration in residential location decisions. Connections
between threat awareness and location are strongest in Upstate New York urban places.
In rural upstate New York, arguably communities with least perceived threat, terrorism
seems to have fortified residents’ tendencies to stay put.