How much is Waynesboro benefiting from Crozet’s growth? How much does Crozet benefit from Waynesboro?
“We’ve seen the dynamic and the shift of people when we look at the demographics and why Wal-Mart and why Home Depot and why Lowe’s have come to Waynesboro sitting right on the 64-81 interchange. Their draw to come here was being able to draw from the Nelson County area, the Crozet area, Charlottesville. So I have to look out beyond that boundary of Waynesboro a little bit in terms of our vision and what I see down the road and be planful about that,” Smith said.
We may have to expand our definition of what is our Metropolitan Statistical Area beyond Charlottesville, Albemarle, Greene, Fluvanna, Nelson, which was added in 2003. I tend to include Louisa and Madison from time to time when I ponder what is “our region;” is the time near for us to include Augusta as well?
Economics know no boundaries. Localities may not see the need for expansion, but businesses most certainly do.
Technorati Tags: charlalbemarle, growth, politics, waynesboro
Why else would I join their MLS?
I’ve always thought it’s no doubt that Waynesboro benefits from the Cville area’s growth, the high cost of real estate in Charlottesville was direct factor in that growth. I’ve known a few people who opted for the more affordable cost of housing in Wayneboro, and a longer commute to their jobs in Cville.
I also think the expansion of NBC 29’s newsroom to Augusta County is further evidence of Waynesboro’s regional inclusion with the Cville/Albemarle area.
It’s all part of that Los Angeles style sprawl, that is starting to take over (a bit) in this area, where each community blends into the next whith almost no definition between where one area ends and the next begins.
The best thing about 29’s move over the mountain is that they are expanding the reach of their red jackets.
In a meeting recently, another Realtor from Waynesboro mentioned that they were CharlAlbemarle’s solution to affordable housing. Can’t say that I necessarily disagree.
I think the only thing literally standing in the way of (even more) massive growth in Waynesboro and it becoming more of a suburb of Charlottesville is Afton Mountain. It can be quite treacherous to cross during fog or bad weather. Other than that it’s a solid affordable alternative to Charlottesville-Albemarle and with the increasing prices in once affordable Greene, Fluvanna, and Louisa it will become more appealing.
Jim how exactly do they determine what a metro area is? I know commuting patterns play a big part but it can’t possibly be all of it due to the fact that Madison, Louisa, Orange, and Buckingham haven’t been added to the metro area yet. It will be interesting to see what counties are added in the coming years. I though the Nelson add was a bit delayed myself.
I cannot disagree with you there – having driven over Afton for years in good weather and bad – sometimes being able to see only one dotted line to the next – and having clients tell me that the fog is why they moved over to CharlAlbemarle – the mountain is daunting (and this sentence is run-on).
With the advent of rapid adoption of broadband, boundaries presented by seemingly arbitrary county and city lines are beginning to fade.
I’ll get back to you regarding the MSAs.
I emailed TJPDC and received this answer:
Metropolitan statistical area (MSA)
A geographic entity defined by the federal Office of Management and Budget for use by federal statistical agencies, based on the concept of a core area with a large population nucleus, plus adjacent communities having a high degree of economic and social integration with that core. Qualification of an MSA requires the presence of a city with 50,000 or more inhabitants, or the presence of an Urbanized Area (UA) and a total population of at least 100,000 (75,000 in New England). The county or counties containing the largest city and surrounding densely settled territory are central counties of the MSA. Additional outlying counties qualify to be included in the MSA by meeting certain other criteria of metropolitan character, such as a specified minimum population density or percentage of the population that is urban. MSAs in New England are defined in terms of minor civil divisions, following rules concerning commuting and population density.