A little of both -- draw your own conclusions

  Census City   	Metro   	Region
  1940 	1,623,452 	2,544,287 	2,911,681 
  1950 	1,849,568 	3,219,256 	3,700,490
  1960 	1,670,144 	4,012,607 	4,660,480
  1970 	1,514,063 	4,490,902 	5,289,766
  1980 	1,203,368 	4,387,783 	5,203,269
  1990 	1,027,974 	4,266,654 	5,095,695
  2000 	951,270 	4,441,551 	5,357,538
  2010 	713,777 	4,296,250 	5,218,852