This paper explores residential and job location decisions in a general microeconomic model, and then specifies the traditional categories of urban location theory within that framework. We examine the vector of housing services including the role of neighbourhood amenities, incorporate search behavior, and investigate a model of out-commuting and cross-commuting in a context of excess commuting. special quality characteristics of commodities of the general model are examined as special housing needs and job skills as they apply in the traditional model. Data from a Minneapolis survey of 1990-92 are analyzed for their conformity to the price and density gradients of theory, and a set of basic relationships arising from the model are tested. Respondents' adherence to the patterns of the model, the impact of skills and special needs, the influence of family structure, and the incidence of excess commuting are examined in crosstabulations, and regression analysis.