While there exists considerable sentiment about the older urban areas of the United States, little empirical work dealing explicitly with the problems of these areas has been done. This study is a preliminary investigation into the use of urban age as an independent variable. Preliminary results indicate that: (1) racial transition is not related…

Discusses the increasing proportion of minority enrollments in urban schools and the ensuing social isolation of Black and Hispanic American students. Reviews four models of metropolitan school desegregation plans. Suggests a federal initiative that would require states to develop plans involving multiple school districts. (FMW)

This paper is part of a larger project comparing civic capacity and urban education in 11 American cities. The paper is divided into four sections. The first section attempts to explain why civic capacity and public education in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Boston (Massachusetts), and St. Louis (Missouri), evolved from different paths, although they…

Interviews with a random sample of 1,598 persons aged 65 years and older in 1975 with followups in 1984 provide information about the distribution between community and institutional care of urban elderly in Cleveland (Ohio). Support factors that enable persons to remain in the community are identified. (SLD)

The 1980 United States Census showed a marked acceleration in the suburbanization of blacks during the 1970s. This study analyzes statistical data from the 1985 American Housing Survey (AHS) National and Metropolitan Files to determine if that pattern of acceleration continued in the 1980s. These sets of data also permitted racial and…

A study was conducted to assess El Paso Community College's (EPCC's) role in serving the educational needs of its multi-racial, economically diverse border area community. Uniquely positioned on a rapidly expanding industrial corridor, EPCC's constituency is quickly changing in size, demographics, and academic needs. To determine the current needs…

This study tested for the existence of neighborhood effects on end of school educational attainment some 2,500 urban youth who left school between 1984 and 1986 in one educational authority in Scotland. Data were drawn from a student survey and from the United Kingdom 1981 Census of Population. A hierarchical linear regression model was used to…

Exploring the idea that urban culture has changed food sharing practices and, in effect, produced a cultural "advertisement" in the marketing and selling of the fast food franchise, this paper discusses the commercial replication of community and the communion of food sharing in this new fast food culture. Following an introduction that…

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences found in areas with high delinquency rates in relation to the ecological structure in Los Angeles County, California. Previous studies suggest that delinquency was the consequence of the availability of low cost housing found in deteriorating residential areas, and that the housing matched…

Several of the major difficulties that faced urban school systems during the decade from 1965 to 1975 are considered briefly in this short document. One of these problems is the changing nature of the urban population and the resultant stresses on urban districts. Other issues include declining enrollment; insufficient financial support at local,…

The history of European immigration to the United States and the roles that white ethnic groups have played in American industrialization, urbanization, and suburbanization are discussed in this paper. Focused on is the process by which major American cities grew and changed in terms of their ethnic composition. Fluctuations in the national…

Among the financial problems facing urban schools are high expenditures per pupil required to provide educational services in urban schools enrolling a disproportionately high percentage of students with exceptional educational needs. Special programs are more costly than regular programs. City schools are frequently confronted with expenditures…

Two surveys of urban public universities, conducted in 1978 and 1987, provide a rich database for analyzing and explaining change in these institutions over a 10-year period. Continuing an analysis of trends and conditions begun in 1987, data from a sample of urban universities are compared to those for higher education in general. Local…

Data from the 1980 Census were used in a study of the major demographic and socioeconomic differences between Puerto Ricans and "Other Hispanics" (excluding Cubans and Mexicans) residing in New York City. The research was conducted partly to understand whether the Puerto Rican population, with a much longer residence history in New York…

This report contains the text of five briefings on research in Rand's Urban Policy Analysis program. "Brief History of Rand's Urban Policy Analysis Program," by Barbara R. Williams, discusses the changing Federal role in urban policy, problems encountered in Rand's attempt during the early 1970s to examine the central policy problems of…