The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 plus 4 letter word COMMUTER BELT
C
O
M
M
U
T
E
R
B
E
L
T
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "area near city" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case area near city = commuter belt.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.