Historical evidence on the monocentric urban model: a case study of Cleveland, 1915–1980

Abstract

Much of the empirical work in urban economics focuses on Chicago because of the land value data gathered by Hoyt and Olcott. This article presents new land value data for Cleveland, Ohio and I uses it to show that while the urban form of Cleveland evolved much as Chicago's did, the timing of the changes was quite different. These results suggest that urban economists must be careful about inferring too much about the evolution of urban form from the work that has been done on Chicago.