Social Area Analysis
13.3
The Census
Effective use of the model depends on the availability of data at the scale of individual neighborhoods. In the United States and many other countries, that information comes from a national census. Urban areas in the United States are divided into Census tracts that contain approximately 5,000 residents and correspond, where possible, to neighborhood boundaries.
Combining The Three Models
The three models taken individually do not explain why different types of people live in distinctive parts of the city. But if the models are combined rather than considered independently, they help geographers explain where different types of people live in a city, such as Dallas Texas.
Limitations Of The Models
Critics point out that models are too simple and fail to consider the variety of reasons that lead people to select particular residential locations. Because the three models are all based on conditions that existed in U.S cities between the two world wars, critics also question their relevance to contemporary urban patterns in the United States or in other countries.
Homeless Americans
How the Average American Spends Their Paycheck
Wealth Inequality in America