Hi Everyone:
I posted a link to the FR notice on August 24. (a copy of that post is at the bottom of this message)
The CB proposed criteria are best evaluated at the local
level, as the impacts will vary widely, based on how much the jump criteria
influenced the existing urbanized areas, population growth and decline over the
last decade, and the proximity to other urbanized areas and urban
clusters.
As a starting point, people might want to review the
existing UAs by using HEPGIS.
http://hepgis.fhwa.dot.gov/hepgis_v2/UrbanBoundaries/Map.aspx
This GIS was created by Bruce Spear, and is now maintained
by Supin Yoder at FHWA. The link above takes you to the part showing the
Census urbanized areas (50k+) and urban clusters (below 50k). It also
includes an approximation of MPO planning areas.
You can use the “info” button and click on
specific areas, and the Census 2000 population for that area will be shown in a
box below the map (you might have to scroll down to see it). You
can use American FactFinder to see an ESTIMATED population for the existing urbanized
areas (current boundaries). http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=ACS&_submenuId=&_lang=en&_ts=
By using the 2005-2007 (3-year) ACS you will have more
geographic areas included. Again, this ACS estimate does NOT have the results
of the 2010 Census incorporated into it.
HEPGIS does NOT have the 2010 Census population counts that
will be used by the Census Bureau to define the new urbanized areas, however,
you will be able to review areas that the CB is expecting to fall into an
“agglomeration” (see pages 52180 and 52181 in the FR notice).
I (Elaine) checked a couple a “potential
agglomerations” and they looked like they were either already touching,
or very close to touching, so it would make sense to combine the areas,
especially if the entire region experienced population growth in the last
decade. Combining some of these areas could result in a total urbanized
population exceeding 200,000 (current threshold for TMA), but at least in one
case that I checked, one of the two urbanized areas in the potential
agglomeration was already over the TMA threshold.
At previous sessions on this topic, the question of whether
FHWA would force MPOs to combine, the answer was “no, there are existing
cases of multiple MPOs in one urbanized area.”
http://ctpp.transportation.org/Documents/UA%20Q-A.pdf
For the Jump criteria to shift from 2.5 miles to 1.5
miles. This could potentially reduce some urban areas to below 50,000 or
200,000 population. But, without the benefit of the 2010 Census block
data, guessing at specific cases is impossible.
Hope this information is helpful to you.
Elaine
------COPY of Elaine’s post to the CTPP listserv on
August 24, 2010---
The Federal Register notice from the Census Bureau is now
posted.
The due date for comments is November 22.
You may want to listen to Mike Ratcliffe's web
presentation from June
11, 2010 that is available at:
http://ctpp.transportation.org/Pages/webinardirectory.aspx
The Census Bureau announces publication of the
"Proposed Urban Area
Criteria for the 2010 Census" in the Federal
Register of August 24,
2010, available on the Federal Register's website at
The Census Bureau is seeking public
comment on these proposed criteria. Comments,
suggestions, or
recommendations regarding the criteria should be
submitted in writing,
no later than November 22, 2010, to Timothy Trainor,
Chief, Geography
Division, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC 20233-7400.
The Census Bureau's urban-rural classification is
fundamentally a
delineation of geographical areas, identifying individual
urbanized
areas of 50,000 or more people and urban clusters of at
least 2,500 and
less than 50,000 people; "rural" encompasses
all population and
territory not included in urban areas. The Census
Bureau's urban areas
represent densely developed territory, and encompass
residential,
commercial, and other non-residential urban land
uses. Additional
information about the Census Bureau's urban-rural
classification is
available on the Census Bureau's website at
http://www.census.gov/geo/www/ua/urbanruralclass.html
The proposed urban area criteria for the 2010 Census as
well as
summaries of the proposed changes, are available on the
Census Bureau's
website at http://www.census.gov/geo/www/ua/2010urbanruralclass.html
Changes proposed for the 2010 Census include:
* Use of census tracts as analysis
units in the initial phase of
delineation
* Potential return to a maximum jump
distance of 1.5 miles (the
distance was increased to
2.5 miles in the Census 2000 criteria).
* Use of land use/land cover data to
identify territory containing
non-residential urban land
uses or land cover that restricts urban
development, such as
marshland and wetlands.
* Lowering the minimum number of
enplanements (departing passengers)
from 10,000 to 2,500 to
qualify airports for inclusion in urban
areas.
* Elimination of the central place
concept.
* Requirement that, in addition to at
least 2,500 total population,
an area must contain at least 1,500 persons residing
outside
institutional group
quarters to qualify as urban.
* Splitting urban agglomerations of
1,000,000 or more population
Based on metropolitan statistical area boundaries, or, in
New England,
along metropolitan New
England city and town area boundaries. (Note: the FR notice on pages
52180 and 52181 includes potential urban agglomerations)
For further information about the Census Bureau urban-rural
classification, or the proposed criteria for the 2010
Census, please
contact Vincent Osier, Chief, Geographic Standards and
Criteria Branch,
Geography Division, U.S. Census Bureau, via e-mail at
vincent.osier@census.gov or telephone at 301-763-9039.