Like most metropolitan areas, the Twin Cities has seen significant decentralization of population and jobs during recent decades. Although these trends have not been as dramatic in the Twin Cities as in many other metropolitan areas, development in the region has been unbalanced: growth in a few suburban areas has outstripped the urban core and the rest of the suburbs. These areas have attracted much of the wealth of the region, including high-end housing, transportation funding, and many of the new high-paying employers. This article reports on a study that used a unique data set to investigate job growth, job deconcentration, and commuting patterns in the Twin Cities during the 1990s, including where the job growth is greatest, how suburban jobs have clustered or become more scattered, and commuting patterns. The work focuses particularly on how these patterns affect the opportunity structuresﾗthat is, the ease of access to growing job centers and adequate, affordable housingﾗfacing people of color and lower income households. The policy implications are also explored with particular focus on the implications for planners.

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