While there exists considerable sentiment about the older urban areas of the United States, little empirical work dealing explicitly with the problems of these areas has been done. This study is a preliminary investigation into the use of urban age as an independent variable. Preliminary results indicate that: (1) racial transition is not related to urban age; (2) population decline is only weakly related to urban age; (3) wages and incomes are not related to urban age; (4) older cities do not have a higher percentage of employment in manufacturing compared to younger cities; and (5) there is little relationship between land area and urban age, while there is a significant relationship between urban age and population density. Thus older areas may enjoy certain economies of scale and agglomeration. These results signify that the economic health of older urban areas may be more robust than expected and that the myths of urban age are probably based on urban size or regional differences rather than on age itself. (Author/GC)