The district lost about half its population in 1996, when an expanded City of York became a unitary authority, specifically the parishes of Clifton Without, Earswick, Haxby, Heworth Without, Holtby, Huntington, Murton, New Earswick, Osbaldwick, Rawcliffe, Skelton, Stockton-on-the-Forest, Strensall, Towthorpe, and Wigginton.
The creation of model company towns was particularly evident in Britain during the latter half of the nineteenth century with the creation of Saltaire (1851), Bournville, Port Sunlight, Creswell and New Earswick (1901) and coincided with the housing-reform movement, which emphasised the improvement of housing for the working class.
To the south is the garden village of New Earswick and the York Outer Ring Road (A1237) with the open farmland to the north as far as the villages of Sutton-on-the-Forest and Strensall.