We test the null hypothesis that municipalities defined as central cities by the US Bureau of the Census in 1990 are homogeneous-a hypothesis we reject. Rather, we find that US central cities consist of 2 distinct subsets of municipalities that are aggregated from 13 cluster groupings. The article has two purposes. The first is methodological. We develop a method that uses cluster analysis to group US central cities; then we employ discriminant analysis to establish the statistical validity of those groups. We also develop techniques to minimise the role of judgement in selecting the appropriate cluster solution. The second purpose of the article is to test the substantive null hypothesis. Our rejection of the homogeneity assumption raises the spectre of specification error in research and public policies that assume homogeneity among central cities.
References
1.
Aldenderfer, M. and Blashfield, R. (1984) Cluster Analysis. Beverly Hills : Sage Publications.
2.
Berry, B. (1996) Technology-sensitive urban typology, Urban Geography, 17, pp. 674-689. Berry, B. and Smith, K. (1972) City Classification Handbook. New York: Wiley-Interscienc e.
3.
Bradbury, K., Downs, A. and Small, K. (1982) Urban Decline and the Future of American Cities . Washington, DC: Brookings Institution .
4.
Coulton, C., Chow, J., Wang, E. and Su, M. (1996) Geographic concentration of affluence and poverty in 100 metropolitan areas, 1990, Urban Affairs Review32(4), pp. 186-216.
5.
Dahmann, D. and Fitzsimmons, J. (1995) Introduction, in: D. Dahmann and J. Fitzsimmons (Ed.) Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Areas: New Approaches to Geographical Definition, pp. 1-8. Working Paper No. 12, US Bureau of the Census , Washington, DC.
Forestall, R. (1967) Economic classification of places over 10 000, 1960-1963, in: The Municipal Yearbook 1967, pp. 30-65. Chicago : Intemational City Managers' Association.
8.
Gittleman, M. and Howell, D. (1995) Changes in the structure and quality of jobs in the United States: Effects by race and gender, 1973-1990, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 48, pp.420-440.
9.
Hair, J., Anderson, R. and Tatham, R. (1987) Multiavariate Data Analysis, 2nd Edn. New York: Macmillan Publishing .
10.
Harris, C. (1943) A functional classification of cities in the United States, Geographical Review, 33, pp. 86-99.
11.
Hart, J. (1955) Functions and occupational structures of cities in the American south, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 45, pp. 269-286
12.
Hauser, P. (1965a) Urbanization: an overview, in: P. Hauser and L. Schnore (Eds) The Study of Urbanization, pp. 1-48. New York : John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
13.
Hauser, P. (1965b) Observations on the folk-urban and urban-rural dichotomies as forms of western ethnocentrism, in: P. Hauser and L. Schnore (Eds) The Study of Urbanization , pp. 503-518. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
14.
Hauser, P. and Schnore, L. (Ed.) (1965) The Study of Urbanization. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
15.
Hill, E. and Bier, T. (1989) Economic restructuring: earnings, occupations and housing values in Cleveland, Economic Development Quarterly , 3, pp. 123-144.
16.
Hill, E. and Wolman, H. (1997a) Accounting for changes in income disparities between US central cities and their suburbs from 1980 to 1990, Urban Studies, 34, pp. 43-60.
17.
Hill, E. and Wolman, H. (1997b) City-suburban income disparities and metropolitan employment: can tightening labor markets reduce the gaps?, Urban Affairs Review, 32, pp. 558-582.
18.
James, F. (1990) City needs and distress in the United States: 1970s to the mid 1980s, in M. Kaplan and F. James (Eds) The Future of National Urban Policy, pp. 13-31. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
19.
Jones, V. and Forestall, R. (1963) Economic and social classification of metropolitan areas, in: The Municipal Yearbook 1963, pp. 31-44. Chicago : International City Managers' Association.
20.
Keeler, E. and Rodgers, W. (1973) A Classification of Large American Urban Areas . Santa Monica, CA: The Rand Corporation .
21.
Klecka, W.R. (1980) Discriminant Analysis. Beverly Hills and London : Sage Publications.
22.
Ladd, H. and Yinger, J. (1989) America's Ailing Cities. Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press.
23.
Lynch, K. (1960) The Image of the City. Cam-bridge, MA: MIT Press.
24.
Lynch, K. (1984) Reconsidering the image of the city, in: L. Rodwin and R. Hollister (Eds) Cities of the Mind, pp.151-162. New York: Plenum Press.
25.
Nelson, H. (1955) A service classification of American cites, Economic Geography, 31(3), pp.189-210.
26.
Noyelle, T.J. and Stanback, T.M. (1983) The Economic Transformation of American Cities . Totowa, NJ: Rowan & Allanheld .
27.
Ottensmann, J. (1996) The new central cities: implications of the new definition of the metropolitan area, Urban Affairs Review , 31, pp.681-691.
28.
Rodwin, L. and Hollister, R. (Eds) (1984) Cities of the Mind. New York: Plenum Press.
29.
Rusk, D. (1993) Cities Without Suburbs. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press.
30.
Sjoberg, G. (1965) Theory and research in urban sociology, in: P. Hauser and L. Schnore (Eds) The Study of Urbanization, pp. 157-190. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
31.
Teitz, M. (1989) Neighborhood economics: local communities and regional labor markets, Economic Development Quarterly, 3, 111-122.
32.
Us Bureau Of The Census (1947) County Data Book. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
33.
Us Bureau Of The Census (1952) County and City Data Book, 1949. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
34.
Us Bureau Of The Census (1953) County and City Data Book, 1952. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
35.
Us Bureau Of The Census (1957) County and City Data Book, 1956. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
36.
Us Bureau Of The Census (1962) County and City Data Book, 1962. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
37.
Us Bureau Of The Census (1973) County and City Data Book, 1972. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
38.
Us Bureau Of The Census (1978) County and City Data Book, 1977. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
39.
Us Bureau Of The Census (1991) State and Metropolitan Area Data Book. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
40.
Varady, D. and Lipman, B. (1994) What are renters really like? Results from a national survey, Housing Policy Debate, 5, pp. 491-531.
41.
Wolman, H., Ford, C. and Hill, E. (1994) Evaluating the success of urban success stories, UrbanStudies, 31, pp. 835-850.
