According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 83 percent of Americans live in one of the 362 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA), as defined by the Office of Management and Budget. When you also consider the smaller Micropolitan statistical areas, about 93 percent of Americans live in an urban area.
Despite the fact that American farmers feed much of the rest of the world — more a testament to productivity than to the number of farmers — we are an overwhelmingly urban society.
But what exactly is a metro area?
First of all, a metro area is almost never limited to just one city. In fact, it’s not at all uncommon for a metro area to consist of a dozen or more cities. While metro areas usually still carry the name of the traditional city in the region, many former bedroom communities have grown over the years into cities with over 100,000 residents.
| In a way, all metros grow outwardly in roughly concentric circles, similarly to trees. Unless they are constrained by a significant geographic feature — usually water or mountains — metros gobble up virgin land as they expand outward. Whether you call it sprawl, or call it progress, it is what it is. |
A good example of that is the Kansas City metro, where I live. The official name of the metro area is the Kansas City, Mo.-Kan. MSA, named for the two traditional big cities in the area. However, one of those cities, Kansas City, Kan., has fewer people than does suburban Overland Park, a bedroom community with more than 160,000 residents.
In fact, the Kansas City MSA is ringed by a number of suburban cities with populations over 100,000, like Olathe and Overland Park, Kan., Lee’s Summit and Independence, Mo., etc.
Still, it is Kansas City, Mo., that gives the metro area its identity, especially to the outside world. This is despite the fact that less than one in four metro residents actually live in Kansas City, Mo. The rest live out in the surrounding suburbs.
Most MSAs are very much like Kansas City. They consist of the older central city, which gives the region its name, and one or more rings of suburban cities. In a way, all metros grow outwardly in roughly concentric circles, similarly to trees. Unless they are constrained by a significant geographic feature — usually water or mountains — metros gobble up virgin land as they expand outward. Whether you call it sprawl, or call it progress, it is what it is.
As a business executive evaluating potential locations for a future facility expansion, however, there are some general rules of thumb that you can apply to most metro areas, and most of which are intuitively obvious.
For example, land is almost always cheaper on the outskirts of town, and zoning issues are more easily resolved, especially if you are the only thing out there. You are also less likely to encounter environmental issues in a “greenfield” site on the edge of town than in a “brownfield” site in the older, established part of town. Traffic congestion is lighter the further you get from downtown. The schools are generally better the farther you get out in the suburbs.
On the other hand, according to most professional site consultants, roughly three out of four site selection searches end up in an existing building, and those are generally found in the older, more established parts of town.
The important thing to remember is that a metro is a reuseable resource. While cost considerations or zoning constraints may very well drive you to the outskirts of town, don’t forget the older parts. There’s still a lot of opportunity there.
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