Summary

This paper is a preliminary report on an ecological analysis of recent changes in the spatial distribution of socioeconomic strata within 363 Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (or substituted units) in the United States. The central hypothesis guiding the study is that certain population subgroups in and around the larger urban areas are shifting their residential locations in predictable directions. Changes in the distribution of educational classes between the central city (or cities) and their surrounding rings from 1950 to 1960 are traced by using census data. A special feature of the analysis is the inclusion of 163 “lquasi-metropolitan areas” centered on cities that had 25,000–50,000 inhabitants in 1960.

The initial results indicate that residential redistribution according to “social class” is occurring in all these metropolitan areas and that the pattern of change varies systematically. Regional differences are pronounced, and, as prior research has suggested, age of the city and population size appear to be important factors. The percent of adults in the high school and college categories in the rings of older and larger metropolitan areas generally increased disproportionately compared to the central cities. A variety of patterns of change, however, occurred among the younger and smaller metropolitan areas.

Subsequent analyses will include (a) alternative methods of controlling color and regional location, (b) other measures of the independent and dependent variables used here, and (c) a multivariate approach to the problem of identifying and assessing the explanatory power of additional independent variables (including population growth, the over-all rate of decentralization, annexation history, economic base, and the character of the ring). The extent as well as the direction of change will also be investigated. Finally, the feasibility of quantifying an “evolutionary sequence” in the distribution of social classes will also receive attention.

Resumen

Este trabajo es un informe preliminar sobre un análisis eco1ógico de los cambios recientes en la distribución espacial de los estratos económicos dentro de 363 áreas estadísticas metropolitanas standard (o unidades substituidas) en los Estados Unidos. La hipótesis central del estudio es que ciertos subgrupos de población dentro y alrededor de grandes áreas urbanas están cambiando sus lugares de residencia en direcciones predecibles. Los cambios en la distribución de los niveles educacionales entre la ciudad o ciudades centrales y sus anillos circundantes de 1950 a 1960 se determinaron mediante los datos censales. Un aspecto especial del análisis lo constituye la inclusión de 163 áreas cuasimetropolitanas con centro en ciudades que tenían entre 25.000 y 50.000 habitantes en 1960.

Los resultados iniciales indican que la redistribución de la residencia de acuerdo con la clase social está ocurriendo en todas estae áreas metropolitanas y que el patrón de cambio varía sistemáticamenie. Las diferencias regionales son pronunciadas y como lo sugieren estudios anteriores, la edad de las ciudades y el tamaño de la población son factores importantes. El porcentaje de adultos en enseñanza secundaria (high school) y universitaria (college) en los anillos de las áreas metropolitanas más grandes y viejas aumentó desproporcionadamente en comparación con la ciudad central. En cambio, entre las áreas metropolitanas más jóvenes y pequeñas se encontró toda una variedad de patrones de cambio.

Análisis subsecuentes contendrán: (a) métodos alternativos para controlar las características de raza y localización regional, (b) otras medidas para las variables dependientes e independientes usadae aquí, y (c) análisis de variable múltiple para identificar el poder explicativo de las variables independientes adicionales, el cual incluirá: crecimiento de población, tasa total de descentralización, historia de la anexión, base económica y caracteristicas del anillo. La magnitud y dirección del cambio serán esiudiados iambién, Por último, se le dará atención similar a la confiabilidad que merezca la cuantificación de una “secuencia de evolución” de la distribución de las clases sociales.

Metropolitan Area, Central City, Socioeconomic Stratum, Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area, Politan Area

References

1
All quotations were taken from a news story in the AFL-CIO News (Washington, D.C., January 29, 1966), p. 12.
2
James R. Pinkerton, “City-Suburban Residential Patterns by Social Class: A Review of the Literature” (paper prepared for the annual meetings of the Midwest Sociological Society, Madison, Wisconsin, April 23, 1966).
3
These units are virtually identical with the “small metropolitan areas” independently devised by Parker G. Marden in “A Demographic and Ecological Analysis of the Distribution of Physicians in Metropolitan America, 1960,” Amerir.an Journal of Sociology, LXII (November, 1966), 290–300. A list of the areas used in this study may be secured from the senior author.
4
The two-county “quasi-metropolitan areas” (together with their “central cities”) are: Cole-Callaway (Jefferson City), Missouri; Jaspar-Newton (Joplin), Missouri; Cabarrus-Rowan (Kannapolis), North Carolina; Nash-Edgecombe (Rocky Mount), North Carolina; Marion-Polk (Salem), Oregon; Washington-Carter (Johnson City), Tennessee; Calumet-Outagamie (Appleton), Wisconsin; and Chippewa-Eau Claire (Eau Claire), Wisconsin. In Virginia, the city-county combinations employed were: Charlottesville city plus Albe-marle county; Danville city plus Pittsylvania county; and Petersburg city plus Dinwiddie and Prince George counties.
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This work will be accomplished as part of a Master's thesis at the University of Wisconsin by Mr. John W. Rabidou.
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James R. Pinkerton, The Residential Redistribution of Socioeconomic Strata in Metropolitan Areas (unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1965), chap. iii.
13
Some writers prefer a tripartite classification, consisting of the central city, suburbs, and the fringe. See Joel Smith and Herbert Collins, “Another Look at Socioeconomic Status Distributions in Urban Areas” (paper prepared for the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association,Chicago, 1965),and Harold F. Goldsmith and Edward G. Stockwell, “Occupational Selectivity within the Larger 1960 Metropolitan Areas” (paper prepared for the annual meetings of the Population Association of America, New York City, April 30, 1966).
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The senior author has spelled out the theoretical reasons for expecting such a determinate sequence in an essay entitled “On the Spatial Structure of Cities in the Two Americas,” in Philip M. Hauser and Leo F. Schnore (eds.), The Study of Urbanization (New York: John Wiley, 1965), chap. x.
16
This work will be accomplished as part of a Master's thesis at the University of Wisconsin by Miss Joy K. Oren.
© Population Association of America 1966
1966