As a service to the economic-development community, I have revised, updated, and relaunched this website’s accompanying database of metropolitan geography components. The tables in this database may be useful to economic geographers and economic developers, particularly those looking for a quick and ready reference to metropolitan areas they are not already familiar with. Some may find the tool useful for scoping out benchmarks or competitors, or for just getting a better handle on already-familiar geographies and their components.
The database is simply a skeleton without actual demographic data, intended to exhibit the relationship among various federal geographies and taxonomies in a way that is not easily available on any single government website. The tables have now been updated with 2013 OMB metro area definitions and 2010 and later Census data files, and every “place” record now includes a Google Maps URL. ((I built these tables for my own use and reference, and make no warranties of any kind as to accuracy, completeness or suitability for any particular analytic purpose.)) Instructions including video screencasts are here. I hope some of my readers may find this database useful, and I welcome feedback using the contact form or in the comments. ((While not implying any endorsement by them, and retaining complete responsibility for any and all errors, I’d like to acknowledge encouragement and/or critical feedback I’ve had from: Martin Grueber of Battelle Memorial Institute’s Technology Partnership Practice; Dr. Joshua Drucker of the University of Illinois at Chicago; Dr. Kent Gardner of CGR; Kevin Jack of the NYS Department of Labor; and Dr. Dror Etzion of McGill University.))
