This briefing book provides an overview of the condition of America's central cities in social, economic, and fiscal terms, particularly in relation to the suburbs.

Central city refers to the portion of astandard metropolitan statistical area within the boundaries of the major city or cities of the area, with suburbs comprising the remainder of the SMSA. An SMSA is a county or group of contiguous counties which contain at least one city of 50,000 inhabitants or more or "twin cities"with a combined population of at least 50,000. Contiguous counties are included in the SMSA if they are socially and economically integrated with the central city. Nonmetropolitan areas are all counties outside SMSA 's.

This report is part of the collection of scanned historical documents available to the public.