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The expansion of metropolitan areas into the countryside, a trend that became particularly pronounced after World War II, has caused considerable concern because of its potentially deleterious effects on farming (Raup 1975; Plaut 1980). These effects can be of two kinds. First, metropolitan expansion involves the direct conversion of farmland to provide the land needed for housing, commercial development, and transportation. To slow this loss, many states and counties have instituted farm-
William Lockeretz (1989) studied this question.