Residential Satisfaction in Relationship to Size of Place

Evidence from a national sample confirms the expectation that much of the dissatisfaction expressed by residents of large cities can be explained in terms of a set of economic factors. A competing explanation for which little supporting evidence was found is that compositional differences account for the greater dissatisfaction of urban residents. The primary mediating variable related to economic conditions is expressed level of satisfaction with standard of living, which is a function of levels of adaptation and expectation as much as or more than it is a function of objective economic factors. Although the urbanization of the world's population is a longstanding and almost universal phenomenon, there is considerable evidence that for most people large cities are relatively undesirable places to live. Data from a variety of polls conducted between 1948 and 1972, as summarized by Elgin et al. (1974), consistently show that a majority of those questioned would prefer to live in rural areas or small towns, and only small minorities would prefer to live in large urban areas. (Perhaps, however, most people want the services and amenities