Bacon's Rebellion

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Welcome to the Big Leagues, Staunton-Waynesboro

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by

James A. Bacon
in

MSAsImportant news for data junkies: The Office of Management and Budget has updated its boundaries for America’s metropolitan and micropolitan areas. The Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service has helpfully provided a map of the newly drawn boundaries. Here is a summary of the changes:

  • Staunton, Waynesboro, and Augusta County was upgraded from a micropolitan to a full-fledged MSA.
  • Danville and Pittsylvannia County were downgraded from an MSA to a Micropolitan Area.
  • Norton, Dickenson and Wise Counties became part of the Big Stone Gap Micropolitan Area
  • The Richmond MSA shrank with the removal of Cumberland, King and Queen, and Louisa Counties
  • The Virginia Beach MSA lost Surry County
  • The Charlottesville MSA gained Buckingham County
  • The Blacksburg MSA expanded to include Floyd County
  • The Northern Virginia MSA absorbed Rappahannock County

To be included in an MSA, at least 25% of a county’s workforce must commute into an MSA’s urban area.

— JAB

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8 responses to “Welcome to the Big Leagues, Staunton-Waynesboro”

  1. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    interesting.

    there are at least three (maybe more) planning bodies in Va whose work is related to MSAs – the Federal MPOs, VDOT and the State Planning Districts.

    The Federal MPOs are related to the MSAs but in somewhat inscrutable ways sometimes – although it makes a LOT of sense in my view for the MPOs to be virtually in lock-step with the MSAs since we _are_ talking about commuting and other transportation issues that essentially define the MSA.

    The VDOT transportation districts are defined by 1922 Congressional boundaries and are totally out of whack with realities.

    Virginia’s planning districts .. I’m not sure how static their boundaries are – which were originally done in the 1960’s I believe. Might be interesting to know if their boundaries shift as MSAs evolve…

    good article!

  2. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    re:

    ” The U.S. Office of Management and Budget defines a set of core based statistical areas (CBSAs) throughout the country. CBSAs are delineated on the basis of a central urban area or urban cluster – in other words, a contiguous area of relatively high population density. CBSAs are composed of counties and county-equivalents.[2] The counties containing the core urban area are known as the central counties of the CBSA. Additional surrounding counties, known as outlying counties, can be included in the CBSA if these counties have strong social and economic ties to the central counties as measured by commuting and employment. Outlying counties are included in the CBSA if the employment interchange measure (total of in- and out-commuting) is 25% or more, although these numbers are estimates and exceptions are made. Some areas within these outlying counties may be rural in nature. As well as MSAs, CBSAs are subdivided into micropolitan statistical areas (μSAs) based on the population of the core urban area. Under certain conditions, one or more CBSAs may be grouped together to form a larger statistical entity known as a combined statistical area (CSA).”

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_statistical_area

  3. Peter Galuszka Avatar
    Peter Galuszka

    Why should we care? The winner is…?

  4. James A. Bacon Avatar
    James A. Bacon

    Not a matter of winners or losers. Just taking note of the evolution of the state’s micropolitan and metropolitan regions.

    1. larryg Avatar
      larryg

      oh it’s important, believe me – all manner of transportation funding and other things are keyed to MSA designations – including things like air-quality attainment and other regulations.

  5. DJRippert Avatar
    DJRippert

    Well … at the risk of piling on – this article hardly supports your contention that people are moving closer and closer to the urban core. Rappahannock County now has 25% of its workforce commuting to NoVa’s urban areas? I had dinner last Saturday night in Rappahannock County – The Inn at Little Washington. Wow. What a great restaurant. Is it the best restaurant in Virginia. By a wide measure. In fact, it’s the only restaurant in North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia or Delaware on the Top 101 restaurants in America (it is #24).

    http://www.thedailymeal.com/101-best-restaurants-america

    However, there are 5 restaurants in Washington, DC among the Top 101.

    1. larryg Avatar
      larryg

      there is lots of potential fodder for the compact settlement/smart growth conversation – some of it contravening the conventional advocacy.

      perhaps we should be looking at the most compact, dense MSAs or CBSAs.

      so it appears that arbitrary, artifact boundaries mean little compared to the more modern ways of representing the geography of economics.

      I would .. ask why any study by anyone or any group should not – be with respect to MSA and CBSA to start with….

      and I would further ask DJ and others.. if you have an MSA or CBSA what kind of sense does “home rule” make when the adjacent localities in the MSA/CBSAl have different rules?

      should there be one set of rules for the MSA or CBSA? what is the argument that it should not be?

  6. billsblots Avatar
    billsblots

    VDOT’s 9 District boundaries make a lot of sense compared to the State Police 7 Divisions. I-81 from Lexington north to the state line is all the same District, making it easy to coordinate maintenance, snow removal, and motorist assistance, incident management and emergency response.

    By comparison, that same long stretch of interstate cuts across State Police Divisions Six (Salem), Three (Appomattox), and Two (Culpeper). Note that Division Three and Two are headquartered well east of the mountains, yet have to traverse northwest up and over and down the ridge to get to that part of their Area of Operation. This makes little sense. VDOT’s boundaries are mostly aligned with geographic features (read, “obstacles”) making it much easier to respond. It would make no sense for VDOT – Culpeper to have to drive for an hour and a half up Hwy 522 through Sperryville to the mountain pass, drop down slowly through a dozen more switchbacks, then negotiate further to the south or north through Front Royal to get around the Massanutten ridge to respond to the Edinburgh area, yet that is what the State Police do. VDOT just jumps up and down I-81, cleanly working the west side of the ridge from Staunton instead of having to go up and down and up and down two-lane mountain highways that are sometimes not easily negotiated.

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