Ms. Kaminowitz: I can tell you from 22 years of professional experience with an MPO... The Census Bureau doesn't need (or want) to know about your MPO planning area boundary. Urbanized areas and MSAs, CMSAs, etc are geographic definitions only. The Census Bureau puts them out for general reference purposes, and then other agencies like FHWA and FTA use them for funding allocations etc., or for data gathering (like the BEA and BLS). The Census Bureau stays out of this "political football" territory. My organization (Metroplan in Little Rock, Arkansas) has generally kept our transportation planning boundary on census tract lines to make data analysis, i.e. estimates and projections, a little simpler. But that is of course your organization's option. Jonathan Lupton AICP Research Planner Metroplan 501-372-3300 From: Mara Kaminowitz [mailto:mkaminowitz@baltometro.org] Sent: Monday, November 16, 2015 2:40 PM To: ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net Subject: [CTPP] drawing MPO boundaries Hello, We are in the process of drawing a new MPO boundary to reflect changes to the 2010 urbanized area. There are several options being looked at for exactly how to set the new boundary but we are not currently considering Census geography. Does an MPO boundary get submitted to the Census bureau, and if so are there requirements to snap it to blocks? Mara Kaminowitz, GISP GIS Coordinator ......................................................................... Baltimore Metropolitan Council Offices @ McHenry Row 1500 Whetstone Way Suite 300 Baltimore, MD 21230 410-732-0500 ext. 1030 mkaminowitz@baltometro.org<mailto:mkaminowitz@baltometro.org> www.baltometro.org <http://www.baltometro.org/>

Mara- In Columbus, we are pretty adamant about at least not splitting political jurisdictions. This might sound obvious, but, as you know, the MPO boundary has some relationship with the Urbanized Boundary- which does not necessarily reflect political boundaries. Some of our communities weren’t excited about adding other areas in , because it would have resulted in spreading a set amount of funds, as set by the UA size, among a larger number of players. As staff, we asked to at least expand the minimum boundary to include whole townships. Also, in some instances, because we share a boundary with an adjacent MPO but have communities annexing into their territory, our by-laws now reflect that the MPO boundary changes with annexations—which is a bit cumbersome – hope you can avoid that one! Nancy Nancy Reger, AICP Director, Data & Mapping | Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission T: 614.233.4154 | M: 614.228.2663 | nreger@morpc.org<mailto:cmansperger@morpc.org> 111 Liberty Street, Suite 100 | Columbus, OH 43215 [cid:image001.png@01D12099.305AB0B0]<http://www.morpc.org/> [cid:image002.gif@01D12099.305AB0B0] <http://www.facebook.com/morpc> [cid:image003.gif@01D12099.305AB0B0] <http://www.twitter.com/morpc> From: ctpp-news-bounces(a)chrispy.net [mailto:ctpp-news-bounces@chrispy.net] On Behalf Of Josie Kressner Sent: Monday, November 16, 2015 4:42 PM To: ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net Subject: Re: [CTPP] drawing MPO boundaries Hi Mara, I agree with Jonathan that keeping transportation planning boundaries on census tract or block group lines makes many things a little simpler. Note that just following block lines can result in transportation planning boundaries that are cross-county or cross tracts, which can really complicate things when you're trying to calibrate or validate against Census data. There are many MPOs who choose not to for various local reasons though. Regards, Josie | Josie Kressner, Ph.D. | President + Founder | Transport Foundry | 3423 Piedmont Road NE | Atlanta, GA 30305 | http://transportfoundry.com<http://transportfoundry.com/> | (630) 426-9076<tel:%28630%29%20426-9076> On Mon, Nov 16, 2015 at 4:20 PM, jonathan lupton <jlupton@metroplan.org<mailto:jlupton@metroplan.org>> wrote: Ms. Kaminowitz: I can tell you from 22 years of professional experience with an MPO... The Census Bureau doesn't need (or want) to know about your MPO planning area boundary. Urbanized areas and MSAs, CMSAs, etc are geographic definitions only. The Census Bureau puts them out for general reference purposes, and then other agencies like FHWA and FTA use them for funding allocations etc., or for data gathering (like the BEA and BLS). The Census Bureau stays out of this "political football" territory. My organization (Metroplan in Little Rock, Arkansas) has generally kept our transportation planning boundary on census tract lines to make data analysis, i.e. estimates and projections, a little simpler. But that is of course your organization's option. Jonathan Lupton AICP Research Planner Metroplan 501-372-3300<tel:501-372-3300> From: Mara Kaminowitz [mailto:mkaminowitz@baltometro.org<mailto:mkaminowitz@baltometro.org>] Sent: Monday, November 16, 2015 2:40 PM To: ctpp-news@chrispy.net<mailto:ctpp-news@chrispy.net> Subject: [CTPP] drawing MPO boundaries Hello, We are in the process of drawing a new MPO boundary to reflect changes to the 2010 urbanized area. There are several options being looked at for exactly how to set the new boundary but we are not currently considering Census geography. Does an MPO boundary get submitted to the Census bureau, and if so are there requirements to snap it to blocks? Mara Kaminowitz, GISP GIS Coordinator ......................................................................... Baltimore Metropolitan Council Offices @ McHenry Row 1500 Whetstone Way Suite 300 Baltimore, MD 21230 410-732-0500 ext. 1030<tel:410-732-0500%20ext.%201030> mkaminowitz@baltometro.org<mailto:mkaminowitz@baltometro.org> www.baltometro.org <http://www.baltometro.org/> _______________________________________________ ctpp-news mailing list ctpp-news@chrispy.net<mailto:ctpp-news@chrispy.net> https://www.chrispy.net/mailman/listinfo/ctpp-news

In North Carolina, we smooth the Urbanized Area Boundaries to add entire jurisdictions or to smooth out the jaggedness of the UAB. In no cases, do we smooth the boundary to less than the US Census UAB. The smoothed UABs are submitted to FHWA for approval and are used as the basis for HPMS reporting. The MPO Policy Boards also approve the MPO Planning Area. While the MPO Planning Area determines the area that is planned for, it does not impact any functional class decisions. The MPO Planning Area are also submitted to FHWA. Mike Mike Bruff, P.E. Coordinator of Strategic Initiatives Strategic Planning Office NC Department of Transportation 919 707 2818 office mbruff(a)ncdot.gov 1 South Wilmington Street, Room 108 1501 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-1501 [cid:image001.png@01D10DA4.5CC88DA0] Email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties. From: ctpp-news-bounces(a)chrispy.net [mailto:ctpp-news-bounces@chrispy.net] On Behalf Of Ali Bonakdar Sent: Monday, November 16, 2015 6:16 PM To: ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net Subject: Re: [CTPP] drawing MPO boundaries Mara The US Census determines the Urbanized Area boundary. It is pretty much cut and dried. The MPO Policy Board determines the MPO Planning Area which is usually larger than the Urbanized Area. The Planning area boundary is submitted to State DOT as part of Functional Classification Map. State DOT sends all planning area boundaries and FC maps to FHWA for approval. Ali Bonakdar, AICP Director Corvallis Area Metropolitan Planning Organization 301 SW. 4th Street, #240 Corvallis, OR 97333 Ph: (541) 758-1911 Fax: (541) 758-1903 Email: abonakda@ocwcog.org<mailto:abonakda@ocwcog.org> Web: www.corvallisareampo.org<http://www.corvallisareampo.org/> Note: Per the applicable federal and state laws, all correspondence is public information. From: ctpp-news-bounces@chrispy.net<mailto:ctpp-news-bounces@chrispy.net> [mailto:ctpp-news-bounces@chrispy.net] On Behalf Of Mara Kaminowitz Sent: Monday, November 16, 2015 12:40 PM To: ctpp-news@chrispy.net<mailto:ctpp-news@chrispy.net> Subject: [CTPP] drawing MPO boundaries Hello, We are in the process of drawing a new MPO boundary to reflect changes to the 2010 urbanized area. There are several options being looked at for exactly how to set the new boundary but we are not currently considering Census geography. Does an MPO boundary get submitted to the Census bureau, and if so are there requirements to snap it to blocks? Mara Kaminowitz, GISP GIS Coordinator ......................................................................... Baltimore Metropolitan Council Offices @ McHenry Row 1500 Whetstone Way Suite 300 Baltimore, MD 21230 410-732-0500 ext. 1030 mkaminowitz@baltometro.org<mailto:mkaminowitz@baltometro.org> www.baltometro.org <http://www.baltometro.org/> ________________________________ Email correspondence to and from this sender is subject to the N.C. Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.