Lawton, PhilipPhilipLawtonMurphy, EndaEndaMurphyRedmond, DeclanDeclanRedmond2013-04-182013-04-182012 Elsev2013-04Citieshttp://hdl.handle.net/10197/4265The desire for ‘vibrant’, ‘bohemian’ neighbourhoods forms a focal point of the amenity preferences of Richard Florida’s ‘creative class’ thesis. Here, a vibrant street culture, which includes cafes and restaurants spilling onto the pavement, is implied as being of key importance in the selection of a residential area for creative and knowledge workers. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data, this paper examines the residential preferences of the ‘creative class’ in Dublin, Ireland. The results illustrate the continued importance of classic factors in residential decision-making, including housing cost, accessibility and travel-time to place of employment. Moreover, the results also illustrate how changes in the life-cycle, including the decision to have a family, have a direct influence on residential location choice. While there is a tendency for younger workers to select the city centre, older workers predominantly opt to live in suburban areas with good transport connections to the city centre or their place of employment.enThis is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Cities. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Cities, Volume 31, April 2013, Pages 47–56. DOI:10.1016/j.cities.2012.04.002 Elsevier Ltd.Creative classResidential preferencesLife-cycleClassic location factorsJournal Article312475610.1016/j.cities.2012.04.0022013-03-22https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ie/