Correlates of Commutation Between Central Cities and Rings of SMSAs

An attempt was made to relate variations in metropolitan characteristics to those in rates of commutation between central cities and rings of 95 SMSAs that contained 250,000 inhabitants or more in 1960 based on the data drawn from the U.S. Census of Population. Net commutation rate and ring-to-city commutation rate were employed as dependent variables and twelve independent variables reflecting demographic, socioeconomic, and industrial characteristics of each SMSA were used for the analysis. Multiple stepwise regression and correlation techniques were utilized in order to identify the relevant variables linked to the commutation rates. Several metropolitan characteristics have been found to explain significant portions of variation in commutation rates after controlling for the effect of the location of the line between central city and ring. Factors showing a positive association are manufacturing job concentration in the central city, percent Negro in the central city, median earnings of SMSA workers, and percent of workers in centralized industries. Those showing a negative association are population size of SMSA and percent of workers in extractive industries. Findings of this study clearly indicate that the level and direction of the commutation between the central city and ring of SMSAs are largely determined by the industrial and socioeconomic structure of SMSA and the locational pattern of manufacturing jobs between the city and ring. The growth of the metropolitan areas has been a dominant feature of urbanization in America since the beginning of the twentieth century. The number of metropolitan areas as well as the population living in them have increased greatly. By 1960 there were 212 Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSAs) containing 63 percent of the American population. During this period, a combination of technological and other factors has contributed to complex changes in the functions and structures of the cities and suburbs. Prominent among these are: centralization of such activities as wholesale trade and finance; decentralization of heavy manufacturing activities and of high-income residences; and an increasing separation between home and workplace over greatly extended spatial areas in the metropolitan community. This trend in home-and-work separation has resulted in a tremendous volume of daily commuter movements between the central and surrounding areas of modern metropolis. A basic understanding of commuter movements is essential for a sound urban, regional, and transportation planning. A number of analyses of commuting have been made for the United States and for European countries. Most investigations are confined to one city or region. Thorough analyses of nationwide commuting patterns are rare. Many studies are mainly concerned with direction, distance, cost and volume of commuting, and have not attempted to relate the commuting patterns to social and economic characteristics of the area being studied (Schnore, 1960). Despite the abundant data on journey to work available from the 1960 census (Bureau of the Census, 1963c) there has been little comparative analysis of the patterns of commutation in metropolitan areas in the United States. The present study therefore attempts to relate variations in metropolitan characteristics to those in rates of commutation that were taking place between the central city and the ring of the large metropolitan areas of the United States at the time of the 1960 census. * This is a revised version of a paper presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, Atlantic City, New Jersey, April 1969. The paper is based on the author's Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania, May 1969. I wish to express my appreciation to Hope T. Eldridge, Edward P. Hutchinson, Ralph Thomlinson, and Eli S. Marks for their advice and comments.