"outskirts" in the noun sense
1. outskirt, fringe
a part of the city far removed from the center
"they lived on the outskirts of Houston"
"they mingled in the outskirts of the crowd"
"they built a factory on the outskirts of the city"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
Princeton University "About WordNet®."
WordNet®. Princeton University. 2010.
View WordNet® License