The results of an effort to develop a body of internally consistent economic data which facilitate comparison of the population, housing, employment, and income characteristics of 56 Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas with a population of over 500,000 are reported in this publication. Part of a continuing research program on local government…

Interrelated forces which have shaped the distribution of population in metropolitan areas, and the social geography of the suburbs in particular, are described in this work. Contemporary patterns and problems concerning the organization of social space in the outer city are reviewed. Suburbia's residential spatial structure is examined in terms…