Identifying the Urban: Resident Perceptions of Community Character and Local Institutions in Eight Metropolitan Areas

What does the term “urban” signify as a descriptor of contemporary communities in the United States? We investigate this question using data from the Soul of the Community survey, examining how people within eight metropolitan areas characterize their communities. A substantial disjunction exists between where within their regions respondents live and how they describe those areas. Many central-city residents label their communities “suburban” or “rural,” while many outlying residents label their communities “urban.” We contend that people's experiences with important local institutions—specifically, local schools and the local public safety apparatus—shape their understanding of their communities. Logistic regression models support this contention. Controlling for where within their regions respondents live, they are more likely to label their communities “urban” if they perceive local schools to be low in quality and their neighborhoods to be unsafe. Notably, these effects are not consistent across racial and ethnic groups.