Los Alamos County - Why not part of Santa Fe-Espanola CSA? (Albuquerque: college, median income)

[Pink Jazz]

I was wondering, is there any reason why Los Alamos County isn't part of the Santa Fe-Espanola CSA? I mean, it was part of the Santa Fe, NM MSA (along with Santa Fe County) prior to when the Census Buerau introduced their new system of CSAs, MSAs, and μSAs. Now Los Alamos County forms the Los Alamos, NM μSA, and is not even included with the Santa Fe-Espanola CSA, despite once being part of the Santa Fe, NM MSA.

[Towanda]

What is a CSA, MSA and μSA?

[Pink Jazz]

Originally Posted by Towanda

What is a CSA, MSA and μSA?

MSA - Metropolitan Statistical Area.
μSA - Micropolitan Statistical Area
CSA - Combined Statistical Area (consists of several MSAs, μSAs, or a mixture of both).

Here is a list of MSAs, μSAs, and CSAs in New Mexico:

MSAs:

• Albuquerque, NM MSA - Bernalillo, Sandoval, Valencia, and Torrance Counties
• Las Cruces, NM MSA - Dona Ana County
• Santa Fe, NM MSA - Santa Fe County
• Farmington, NM MSA - San Juan County

μSAs:

• Espanola, NM μSA - Rio Arriba County
• Gallup, NM μSA - McKinley County
• Clovis, NM μSA - Curry County
• Portales, NM μSA - Roosevelt County
• Alamagordo, NM μSA - Otero County
• Roswell, NM μSA - Chaves County
• Hobbs, NM μSA - Lea County
• Carlsbad-Artesia, NM μSA - Eddy County
• Taos, NM μSA - Taos County
• Silver City, NM μSA - Grant County
• Las Vegas, NM μSA - San Miguel County
• Grants, NM μSA - Cibola County
• Deming, NM μSA - Luna County
• Ruidioso, NM μSA - Lincoln County
• Los Alamos, NM μSA - Los Alamos County

CSAs:

• Santa Fe-Espanola, NM CSA - Santa Fe, NM MSA and Espanola, NM μSA
• Clovis-Portales, NM CSA - Clovis, NM and Portales, NM μSAs

I find it strange that Los Alamos County was once part of the Santa Fe, NM MSA but is now not even included with the Santa Fe-Espanola, NM CSA.

[bradly]

Becuase.... The highway from Espanola to Santa Fe.. its like a freeway system really, but thats seriously why. A commuter freeway that cnnects the two cities.

[FloraOcean]

An excellent question. The reason the government disassociated Los Alamos from the Santa Fe MSA is the median income in Los Alamos is so much higher than in Santa Fe ($95,931 vs. $44,266 per household in 2007, according to city-data). So, when they were combined, you could earn $19,000 in LA (20% of median household) and struggle, but you wouldn't quality as poor because you'd be making over 40% of the median in the MSA. (I know because I made $18,000 a year in LA when they were combined.)

[Santa Fe]

Why was it ever included? To be part of a larger metro area, Los Alamos is supposed to be socially and economically integrated with that larger metro area. But Los Alamos was from the start designed to be a self-contained town except for perhaps weekend entertainment and shopping. Approaching 70 years later and it still is.

I have never seen a town that size that is so self-contained. They have all the basic shopping including a great Smiths, churches, the best K-12 education in NM and a not quite so good college, a medical center, doctors and dentists, their own ski/snow board slope, hiking trails, skate parks, I think they have their own natatorium. The library is better than Santa Fe's.

Yes, some people commute in or out for work. Some go to Santa Fe/ABQ for specialized medical care, and some to Santa Fe or Espanola for restaurants, Walmart type shopping, etc. But the actual flow of traffic between Los Alamos and Santa Fe/Espanola is much smaller than is typical for an integrated metro area. If you stand at the gas station at Totavi, every car driving between the two areas goes past you on that one road -- one not especially wide road. That is it. Public transportation? -- a couple of mostly empty buses at rush hour. What else? Drive in the back way? Then you are not coming from the Santa Fe/Espanola metro area. Fly into the airport in your own plane? Yes, but we can assume that is low volume.

So why would it be part of the metro area?