Neutron powder diffraction studies of the layered compounds R1.2Sr1.8Mn2O7, (R = La,Pr, Nd), RSr2Mn2O7 (R = Pr,Nd),and La1.4Sr1.6Mn2O7 show that the degree of distortion of the MnO6 octahcdra do not correlate with the appearance of a metal-insulator (MI) transition in these compounds. Instead, the in-plane Mn-O bond length appears to be a better indicator of the electronic behavior. Detailed bulk magnetization studies on single crystal La1.2Sr1.8Mn2O7 show thai there are three magnetic regimes as a function of temperature: paramagnetic insulator, short-range ordered (SRO) fcrrromangct, and long-range ordered (LRO) fcrromagnct. Scaling analysis indicates that a 2D finite-size XY model is an appropriate description of the magnetic state in the SRO regime.