Comparing Classification Methods Used for Cities in Terms of Financial Behavior.

Researchers in the area of municipal finance have traditionally classified cities for comparison purposes based on the form of government (mayor versus manager) or metropolitan status (central versus suburb) of the city. However, with changes in the governing structure and general nature of cities, the continued validity of such classification methods has been called into question. The National League of Cities (NLC) has developed a typology that consists of six categories of cities: Spread cities; Gold coast cities; Metro centers; Meltingpot cities; Boomtowns; and Centervilles.This paper compares the NLC typology to the more traditional means of classification in terms of the financial behavior of U.S. cities. The analysis uses institutional, demographic, and financial data for 936 cities obtained from the U.S. Bureau of the Census and the International City/County Management Association. Several regression models are used to measure the utility of each classification scheme to predict fiscal outputs of the cities and to compare their usefulness. Results show that the regression model utilizing the NLC typology classifications is the most predictive for spending on common functions. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]