Abstract Differences in the distribution of population within and across metropolitan areas are seen as a product of the development of the metropolis during different transportation epochs. Age cohorts of census tracts in Cleveland, Ohio, may be split into three groups of development patterns based on the time of their early development: (1) before the development of the automobile, (2) during the early period of the auto’s diffusion to the population, and (3) during the period of the mass diffusion of the auto. Patterns of population concentration and congestion across metropolitan areas are heavily selective of places with large population growth before the development of the streetcar and the automobile. More recent population growth has had little effect on population congestion but has led to a deconcentrated metropolis.