I was working for a regional planning commission in the late 90's, and was involved in a review of the tracts and block groups in southwest Missouri. Using the Census Bureau's guidelines, we wanted to identify block groups and tracts that made sense from the standpoint of locally identified communities and neighborhoods. We paid particular attention to geographic features such as roads, lakes, etc. that would contribute to identifying block groups and tracts that would make sense for tabulation. Unfortunately, we lacked a lot of detailed information on housing units and population counts in our rapidly growing rural areas to be more precise with meeting population targets. However, the process was not at all arbitrary - albeit I think it lacked the uniformity that you would have in a major metro area with GIS base data, building permit tracking, etc. to contribute to the process. - Frank Miller Please respond to rlamacchia(a)geo.census.gov To: "Patty Becker" <pbecker(a)umich.edu> cc: ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net (bcc: Frank O Miller/D8/MODOT) Subject: RE: [CTPP] Some more points For Census 2000, the participant statistical areas program asked/allowed/encouraged all participants, nationwide, to review and suggest changes to the the census tracts (including the former BNAs) and BGs. Some participants did review and suggest changes to the BGs, many did not. Where participants did not change the BGs, the geographers in the Regional Offices made any necessary changes in accordance with the guidelines. The guidelines used by participants are on the web at: