Metropolitan America: beyond the transition.

Abstract

Americans have always gravitated toward cities, and for most of this century, urban growth has continued at a fast pace. During the 1970s, however, nonmetropolitan area grew at the expense of many large metropolitan areas, especially those in the industrial Northeast and Midwest. New patterns of population distribution appeared to be emerging. This Bulletin analyzes the trends of the 1970s, the shifting patterns of the 1980s, and likely prospects for future growth in metropolitan areas. The "rural renaissance" resulted from a combination of forces, including improved infrastructure in nonmetropolitan area, growing demand for retirement and recreation spots, the entrance of the large baby-boom cohort into the labor force, and the economic situation both at home and abroad. Some of these same forces have shifted settlement patterns in the 1980s, helping create "World Cities," like New York and San Francisco, and regional "Command and Control Centers" such as Atlanta and Minneapolis-St. Paul, that will continue to gain in both population and influence. Yet nonmetropolitan areas still attract retirees and other former urbanites. The distribution of minority groups among metropolitan populations is also undergoing significant change. The heavy immigration of Hispanics and Asians in the 1980s has increased the proportion of these groups, particularly in metropolitan areas in the South and West. More black Americans are moving to the suburbs formerly dominated by whites. Yet large pockets of poverty--of both black and whites--remain in both suburban and central city areas.

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