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I actually was a commuter, for a short period of time, in this arena. From Williamson County to Killeen/Temple, roughly and hour, and a decent amount of people where I was had this commute too.
I can easily see South Killeen/Belton/Temple, development going to Georgetown for a job, or Salado/Jarrell commutes. Waco is also well within commuting distance of Temple, but don't think Temple-Waco will happen before Temple/Killeen-North Austin. Just because, one area is extremely cheap (Killeen is some of the cheapest real estate in the foothills of the Hill Country), and North Austin is getting more and more expensive, and both are growing somewhat rapidly.
Yep, there are certainly a number of people who work in North Austin / Round Rock / Cedar Park, and live in Killeen for cheaper housing, but there are also people who work at the hospital systems in Temple or perhaps at Fort Hood and choose to live in the Austin area because they prefer the amenities.
With San Antonio the metros may be growing together, but I don't think that there is much commuting between them. Mainly because 1.) living in Austin and working in San Antonio makes no sense and 2.) Austin doesn't have a ton of employers in South Austin, most are either downtown or north. San Antonio may be cheaper but not enough to be worth that commute.
Perhaps with Tesla opening up in southeast Austin you will see some commuting from San Antonio for that, though. (San Antonio does have an existing automotive and manufacturing labor force).
What are some combined statistical areas that you are surprised haven’t merged yet? Obviously commuter patterns play a large role, however so does urban overlap. In a practical sense, if DC / Baltimore and Boston / Providence are in the same CSA, shouldn’t Chicago / Milwaukee or even LA / San Diego be considered one?
Distance-wise, Chicago/Milwaukee is more like Boston/Portland than Boston/Providence.
Distance-wise, Chicago/Milwaukee is more like Boston/Portland than Boston/Providence.
Boston and Providence are in the same CSA.
In Texas, I think its possible Bryan/College Station becomes part of the Houston CSA when the tollway to it is complete. I honestly hope not thought. Its already too big.
Sure are. The OP tries to leverage BOS/PVD to say Chicago and Milwaukee should be linked. I’m just pointing out that the latter pair are quite a bit further from each other than the former.
Birmingham-Tuscaloosa could conceivably become a CSA. They're about 50-55 miles apart, depending on where you're traveling within the metros.
I can see where you are coming from, but with the current standards for CSA, it likely won't happen. Unless western Jefferson County suddenly booms with new industries, Commuting will likely never reach the 15% threshold especially with the growth that Tuscaloosa is experiencing.
Now I will say, Birmingham definitely has a fairly strong sphere of influence over Tuscaloosa. A lot of people from Tuscaloosa spend a lot of time and money in Birmingham, most of my university friends do everything in Birmingham because, well, there's nothing to do outside of football. Everyone also goes to the Birmingham hospitals over the Tuscaloosa ones lol.
So Culturally, yes I can see a CSA, but commuting is gonna hold title back
I actually was a commuter, for a short period of time, in this arena. From Williamson County to Killeen/Temple, roughly and hour, and a decent amount of people where I was had this commute too.
I can easily see South Killeen/Belton/Temple, development going to Georgetown for a job, or Salado/Jarrell commutes. Waco is also well within commuting distance of Temple, but don't think Temple-Waco will happen before Temple/Killeen-North Austin. Just because, one area is extremely cheap (Killeen is some of the cheapest real estate in the foothills of the Hill Country), and North Austin is getting more and more expensive, and both are growing somewhat rapidly.
Once you get north of Temple, development stops and it’s 40 miles of prairie. There are no signs of this changing so I don’t ever see Killeen/Temple joining Waco. Killeen/Temple has been growing South for decades. Killeen especially. I can see a Austin CSA with Killeen/Temple myself.
I see your point. Alot of those city centers are very far from each other, but the outer parts of the metro areas are very close. For example, LA and San Deigo are 120 miles from eachother, but San Clemente and Oceanside are only 22 miles apart. If it wasn’t for the military base in that area, there would already be urban overlap between Greater LA and San Diego.
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