In choosing where to live, young people in Canada are trending toward transit-rich urban cores over the suburbs, a study indicates.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario say young adults want to live close to transit, high-density housing and urban amenities.

In a study that focused primarily on young adults between the ages of 25 and 34 in Montreal and Vancouver, the researchers found urban core areas increasingly populated by young adults who have delayed child-bearing and increased their educational attainment as they experience a decline in economic prospects and embrace an extension of a youthful phase, a university release reported Monday.

"Part of the reason young adults are residing in higher-density locations is the lower incomes in a context of rising housing costs," researcher Markus Moos, a professor in the university's School of Planning, said. "They are residing in higher-density neighborhoods that cost less because of the small size of apartments.

"The data still shows households moving away from central areas when they have children. The young-adult stage of life is now the defining characteristic of many downtowns," he said.

The study used Statistics Canada census data from 1981 and 2006.