2005 Metro Areas (CSA & MSA) over 1 million Ranked

[EbonyGardens]

I don't know what source I pulled it from, but I distinctly remember Metro Orlando closing in or going over 2 million, Tampa-St. Pete metro I know has roughly the same as St. Louis metro, or close to it.

[Phizzy]

I don't know what source I pulled it from, but I distinctly remember Metro Orlando closing in or going over 2 million, Tampa-St. Pete metro I know has roughly the same as St. Louis metro, or close to it.

As of July 2004, Metro Orlando had a population of 1,922,412. It has been increasing about 50,000 per year, so, yeah, it probably does have 2,000,000 by now.

[marathon]

About 13% of Grand Rapid's urban population (as well as tens of thousands of rural commuters) live in a county that isn't included in its MSA simply because Ottawa County has an urban area in the southwest corner that has slightly more people. Ottawa County should be split between three different metros, but because you can't split counties, it goes to the city that has the highest urban population.

To show you just how innacurate it is to use counties to determine metro areas, this is a map showing the boundaries defined at the county level as well as at the sub-county level.

As you can see, there are quite a few cities and townships currently in the Grand Rapids metro that shouldn't be included and quite a few that currently aren't that should be included. The total population of the portion of Ottawa County that should be included in Grand Rapid's MSA is 91,370.

There is logic here, but the problem is that US metropolitan and micropolitan areas need to be defined by something that every state has, namely counties and county equivalents. In the midwest particularly, it wouldindeed be sensible to define metros along the lines of MCDs (minor civil divisions), but the problem with that as a standard is that not all states (particularly the South and the West) have such entities.

Also, the way metros have been defined has changed several times over the past half century. Actually, the best entity that the US has that is comparable with international cities is the urbanized area. They, too, has undergone evolution in the way they have been defined over the years, to the extent that one can't even compare the 2000 census figures for urbanized areas (and the newly created urban clusters) with the 1990 entities of the same name.

As for Grand Rapids, at least it takes in those counties at the CSA level

[Richhamleigh, DC]

All are prime examples of major sprawl.

And you based your opinion on....

Perhaps you should do a little leg work before making blanket statements.

[hudkina]

Montcalm and Oceana Counties were less than 1% away from being included in the Grand Rapids and Muskegon MSAs respectively. 24.6% of Montcalm County residents commute to Kent County. 24.0% of Oceana County residents commute to Muskegon County. The commuter cutoff is 25%. If only 112 more workers in Oceana county had commuted to Muskegon it would be included in the Muskegon MSA, while if only 115 more workers in Montcalm county had commuted to Grand Rapids it would be included in the Grand Rapids MSA. Those two counties count for another 92,000 people. In total, Grand Rapids could have a CSA population of about 1.5 million in 2010.

[Phizzy]

Montcalm and Oceana Counties were less than 1% away from being included in the Grand Rapids and Muskegon MSAs respectively. 24.6% of Montcalm County residents commute to Kent County. 24.0% of Oceana County residents commute to Muskegon County. The commuter cutoff is 25%. If only 112 more workers in Oceana county had commuted to Muskegon it would be included in the Muskegon MSA, while if only 115 more workers in Montcalm county had commuted to Grand Rapids it would be included in the Grand Rapids MSA. Those two counties count for another 92,000 people. In total, Grand Rapids could have a CSA population of about 1.5 million in 2010.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you get the commuting stats (like 24.6% of Montcalm residents commute to Kent County)?

EDIT: Nevermind, I found it...

[Minneapolitan]

And you based your opinion on....

Perhaps you should do a little leg work before making blanket statements.

It's hardly a blanket statement. Have you ever visited the Dallas area or Houston, Phoenix, or Vegas? If you haven't, just look at changes in suburban vs. central city growth numbers over the last 4 decades.

The MPLS.-STPL. area is also a prime example of sprawl. From 1990 to 2000, the central cities gained roughly 30,000 while the suburan areas grew by over 400,000.

[Richhamleigh, DC]

Dallas-Ft. Worth, Miami and Houston are huge.

Phoenix, Charlotte, Las Vegas, Orlando and Raleigh-Durham are getting really large too.

Amazing how rapidly the Triangle is growing...184K in a year? Whoa. Taken together with Charlotte's growth (100K/year) and Greensboro's - NC appears to be attracting a lot a people but unlike Georgia, in more than one metro.

[bobdreamz]

As of July 2004, Metro Orlando had a population of 1,922,412. It has been increasing about 50,000 per year, so, yeah, it probably does have 2,000,000 by now.

Orlando's metro is exploding.......Orange County alone already has 1 million residents......sadly it's all horrific sprawl.

[PghUSA]

Pittsburgh has been after the Census for decades to include suburban Indiana and Lawrence Counties, while Greene and Somerset counties also are in the regional conference, those would be wildcards.

The Census did recently add Armstrong County to the metro #s, about time. I feel for Hartford and Grand Rapids.

[MJLO]

Orlando has a Huge metro pop, and phenominal growth, why is the city so small? Does it not have land area? Land-locked perhaps? Aside from Jacksonville. FL cities seems to have one thing in common with northern cities, in that they are Land locked so their populations are some what limited, while they have huge metro's. Just look at Miami.