Draw a line from Richmond in east-central Indiana toward the Chicago area, and youâ??ll find some of the most depressed space
in the state.
The stretch includes the once-mighty manufacturing centers of Anderson, Gas City, Muncie, Kokomo and Logansport. Factories and auto-parts plants are closing in these places and little is replacing them.
We donâ??t hear about this unrecognized region because thereâ??s no natural constituency to toot its horn.
It doesnâ??t have its own state economic development district. Several lap into the area, but those districts are tied to cities and towns, each with their own agendas. Culturally, the southern flavor thatâ??s detectable in Richmond and Anderson is foreign to the people in the northern end of the corridor.
Thereâ??s little to attract business to the area. Aside from Ball State University in Muncie, educational strength is minimal. Recreation also is scarce. Quick: Can you think of a good state park?
Should the state invest more of its resources in the area, if for no other reason than fairness to taxpayers who live there?
Or should the state direct its attention to growing places like Bloomington, Indianapolis and Warsaw, where businesses already are voting with their feet?
What do you think?
The stretch includes the once-mighty manufacturing centers of Anderson, Gas City, Muncie, Kokomo and Logansport. Factories and auto-parts plants are closing in these places and little is replacing them.
We donâ??t hear about this unrecognized region because thereâ??s no natural constituency to toot its horn.
It doesnâ??t have its own state economic development district. Several lap into the area, but those districts are tied to cities and towns, each with their own agendas. Culturally, the southern flavor thatâ??s detectable in Richmond and Anderson is foreign to the people in the northern end of the corridor.
Thereâ??s little to attract business to the area. Aside from Ball State University in Muncie, educational strength is minimal. Recreation also is scarce. Quick: Can you think of a good state park?
Should the state invest more of its resources in the area, if for no other reason than fairness to taxpayers who live there?
Or should the state direct its attention to growing places like Bloomington, Indianapolis and Warsaw, where businesses already are voting with their feet?
What do you think?
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The Indianapolis-Anderson-Columbus CSA includes the Anderson, Columbus, and Indianapolis-Carmel MSAs, in addition to the Crawfordsville, New Castle and North Vernon ?SAs.
I'm not sure that you really understand what being a MSA, or a ?SA means. It actually has nothing to do with media markets, which is what you seem to be confusing them with. These areas tend to have commonality of labor markets and products, and they're based on commuting patterns and flow of capital. More important, MSAs and ?SAs receive more up to date labor and economic data. While some folks from Anderson undoubtedly work in Indianapolis (around 4-5% countywide, IIRC), the vast majority of Anderson's population does not. Further, Anderson's labor and commerce bases have little in common with those of the nine-county region.
Finally, including the population of Madison County in the Indianapolis MSA would make a nearly imperceptible difference of two or three places on the list of MSAs ranked by size.
26900 Indianapolis-Carmel, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area
26900 18011 Boone County, IN
26900 18013 Brown County, IN
26900 18057 Hamilton County, IN
26900 18059 Hancock County, IN
26900 18063 Hendricks County, IN
26900 18081 Johnson County, IN
26900 18097 Marion County, IN
26900 18109 Morgan County, IN
26900 18133 Putnam County, IN
26900 18145 Shelby County, IN
28,000 quality paying jobs gone in 25 years. Imagine what it is like living here now.