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Chapter 6. PLACE OF WORK AND COMMUTING FLOWS

This section provides an exploratory analysis for place of work and worker flow changes for major MSAs from 1990-2000, specifically the growth in suburban commuting. The datg on place of work were obtgined in the decennial census from individuals who worked during the reference week and include civilian workers and members of the Armed Forces. People who were absent from work due to vacation or illness are not included; and people who were working "out of town" had their place of work coded to the temporary workplace location.

One of the strengths of decennial census datg is the availability of journey-to-work flows at a very detgiled level of geography. However, at the time of this report only the county-tocounty worker flows were available. Due to the difficulties of reconciling geographic definitions over time for New York, Boston, Providence, and Hartford, these areas were not included.

Overall Trends

No over-arching pattern of growth existed for all of the major MSAs-some were fast growing, some slow; some were sprawling, some retgined centrality of employment centers; the very large and the smaller MSAs had some things in common and some differences. No single analysis or one story told the tgle of what is happening in our major metropolitgn areas, except for the huge growth in suburban commuting.

In some cases the growth of population, workers, and jobs in suburban counties may simply reflect the fact that central counties were saturated and new development to accommodate growth was built in less dense areas. The workers who commute to suburban locations often are commuting within their own suburban county. Most areas, except for West Palm Beach and San Diego, saw no change or a small decline in the proportion of workers who countercommute (live in the Central area and work in a Suburban area).

Some older, estgblished areas saw large declines in central-to-central commutes and traditional commutes from suburban areas to central, notgbly Philadelphia and St. Louis. Regardless of these declines, every MSA had a large proportion of the workers in the MSA commuting to the Central County, ranging from 96.5 percent in San Diego (where the central county is the entire MSA) to 31.2 percent for Denver.

Exhibits 6.1 and 6.2 show the change in central-to-central, central-to-suburban, suburban-tocentral, and suburban-to-suburban work commutes between 1990 and 2000. Only two areas lost workers, Los Angeles had approximately 41,000 fewer workers in 2000 than in 19901, and Buffalo lost about 11,000.

1 Some analysts in California and Los Angeles have conveyed their concern to the Census Bureau that this decrease in totgl workers from decennial census results are inconsistent with local knowledge and have asked the Census Bureau to conduct further research.

Exhibit 6.1 Journey to Work Flows, Share of Commuters: 1990-2000

MSA1990 Total Workers2000 TotalWorkersPercent change in workersCentral - Central CountyCentral - Suburban County
19902000Change19902000Change
Los Angeles6,809,0436,767,619-0.656.952.8-4.03.03.60.5
Chicago3,922,2954,218,1087.554.849.3-5.55.36.51.2
Washington, DC3,611,0943,839,0526.36.65.0-1.61.81.70.0
San Francisco3,200,8333,432,1577.29.69.4-0.22.22.70.5
Philadelphia2,784,5812,815,4051.118.415.3-3.24.24.60.4
Detroit2,294,1082,482,4578.227.624.9-2.78.08.10.2
Dallas2,038,3982,527,64824.041.935.8-6.13.84.70.9
Houston1,768,5672,081,60717.773.268.1-5.12.53.71.2
Atlanta1,542,9482,060,63233.614.312.9-1.45.85.4-0.3
Miami1,476,0851,642,86611.357.250.1-7.12.13.71.5
Seattle1,499,7341,776,22418.450.147.8-2.23.13.0-0.1
Phoenix1,036,0171,466,43441.594.494.2-0.10.50.50.1
Minneapolis1,344,7971,595,55018.635.631.6-3.95.76.00.3
Cleveland1,282,0921,375,7747.344.741.1-3.62.83.60.8
San Diego1,230,4461,299,5035.696.696.5-0.1   
St. Louis1,166,0231,238,9646.38.96.7-2.34.64.60.0
Denver1,026,8471,346,02531.115.313.1-2.17.07.30.2
tampa914,7111,063,95716.340.939.5-1.42.33.00.7
Pittsburgh1,023,8251,057,3543.354.350.8-3.52.83.30.5
Portland861,1411,105,13328.326.923.8-3.16.06.20.2
Cincinnati844,125951,70912.742.235.3-6.94.25.81.6
Sacramento685,945799,98916.661.956.7-5.35.47.31.9
Kansas City778,624881,25813.231.226.5-4.77.48.30.9
Milwaukee772,752816,8805.749.042.3-6.87.09.02.0
Orlando614,382786,24328.051.747.9-3.84.86.51.7
Indianapolis683,007795,75516.553.246.3-7.03.86.12.3
San Antonio578,529698,68520.886.883.3-3.60.61.40.8
Norfolk720,890760,4015.514.09.8-4.23.74.40.7
Las Vegas416,025702,53568.987.088.31.31.10.4-0.7
Columbus663,006777,92217.370.065.4-4.61.83.21.4
Charlotte604,856751,62924.342.843.81.01.92.91.0
New Orleans531,697570,4237.328.525.9-2.76.16.70.6
Salt Lake City479,338642,68834.163.964.00.02.51.6-0.8
Greensboro550,325618,92112.530.430.2-0.12.43.00.7
Austin431,345649,64550.666.760.9-5.82.14.52.4
Nashville495,717621,22125.348.440.1-8.33.55.01.5
Raleigh461,516617,47533.843.644.10.56.38.82.5
Buffalo531,122520,350-2.077.176.3-0.82.42.70.2
Memphis458,534511,11111.579.975.0-4.91.82.20.4
West Palm Beach380,260475,57225.190.288.7-1.5   
Jacksonville443,882527,71818.970.966.2-4.72.33.00.7
Rochester509,733516,8141.465.863.6-2.31.62.40.8
Grand Rapids442,228531,92420.350.948.6-2.22.33.00.7
Oklahoma City450,122509,26213.158.955.6-3.32.33.20.9
Louisville442,933492,82111.365.661.6-4.02.63.10.5

Exhibit 6.1 Journey to Work Flows, Share of Commuters: 1990-2000

MSASuburban-Central CountySuburban - Same Suburban CountySuburban - Different Suburban County
19902000Change19902000Change19902000Change
Los Angeles6.35.9-0.430.032.93.02.73.20.5
Chicago10.110.40.323.925.81.94.86.51.8
Washington, DC13.212.1-1.145.745.4-0.331.233.92.7
San Francisco7.87.4-0.464.162.4-1.714.916.71.8
Philadelphia8.47.8-0.748.649.71.115.617.61.9
Detroit9.28.8-0.543.744.10.49.511.92.4
Dallas14.116.42.434.535.61.13.85.41.6
Houston9.411.92.612.713.50.80.70.90.3
Atlantb21.320.5-0.837.337.90.718.920.51.5
Miami5.27.01.831.934.42.5   
Seattle10.011.61.633.333.50.21.82.20.5
Phoenix0.81.40.62.82.5-0.4   
Minneapolis15.817.51.728.428.0-0.412.614.62.0
Cleveland11.412.10.634.035.11.14.45.51.1
San Diego         
St. Louis17.513.9-3.751.753.92.215.419.13.7
Denver20.618.1-2.640.841.10.314.317.93.6
tbmpa5.57.52.045.243.3-1.93.03.60.6
Pittsburgh10.011.51.527.027.80.82.23.10.9
Portland16.214.6-1.741.444.32.97.39.01.7
Cincinnati17.817.5-0.324.126.32.27.510.73.2
Sacramento8.59.00.517.920.02.10.71.10.4
Kansas City15.114.1-1.033.035.82.811.012.91.9
Milwaukee12.012.70.626.628.82.22.53.61.1
Orlando16.117.21.123.423.70.40.71.30.6
Indianapolis16.618.82.221.121.80.62.13.61.4
San Antonio3.44.71.35.75.90.20.81.10.3
Norfolk14.813.9-0.941.841.6-0.222.426.64.2
Las Vegas1.72.00.38.67.6-1.00.00.00.0
Columbus10.313.02.714.113.8-0.20.70.90.2
Charlotte12.014.12.135.330.3-5.03.63.80.2
New Orleans17.615.8-1.837.839.92.17.38.61.3
Salt Lake City5.86.30.519.619.60.04.94.90.0
Greensboro8.99.70.946.743.3-3.46.98.01.2
Austin14.216.12.013.215.01.70.60.80.2
Nashville17.420.02.625.527.82.22.23.71.5
Raleigh6.48.92.532.726.7-6.05.76.20.5
Buffalo4.65.91.313.412.5-0.9 0.0 
Memphis8.610.72.17.88.70.90.10.20.1
West Palm Beach         
Jacksonville10.312.31.912.714.51.80.20.40.2
Rochester9.510.20.718.518.70.21.62.00.3
Grand Rapids7.78.10.330.429.6-0.85.06.81.8
Oklahoma City17.317.60.317.619.21.61.11.70.5
Louisville12.113.31.213.113.90.83.04.21.2

Exhibit 6.2 Changes in Commuter Flows: 1990-2000

MSAC-C WorkersC-S WorkersC-Outside MSAS-CS-S (Same County)S-S (Different County)S-Outside MSA
Los Angeles-295,90435,9633,443-27,122187,64635,26919,281
Chicago-69,80068,1323,20543,349152,73488,4849,709
Washington, DC-46,1682,631-7-12,07493,020175,69914,857
San Francisco14,60921,0206154,08989,92095,4895,582
Philadelphia-83,50012,58698-16,18746,23859,44412,145
Detroit-15,01018,9757265,95192,84776,6958,165
Dallas50,28642,2623,085128,663197,05058,2689,636
Houston122,38432,4794,53482,55057,3947,7035,996
Atlanta44,56122,8152,70094,021206,534129,36217,691
Miami-21,08028,5353,87237,75994,217 23,478
Seattle98,7397,239-8356,22695,10013,4535,816
Phoenix404,0842,8613,00211,6306,789 2,051
Minneapolis26,29119,1351,06066,55165,25063,7938,673
Cleveland-7,75214,098-1,02219,28947,01719,6372,415
San Diego65,632 3,425    
St. Louis-21,7013,647302-32,61764,66156,7011,948
Denver20,12225,4501,64031,256134,13694,26712,307
tgmpa46,03911,2952,46929,62847,24610,9281,641
Pittsburgh-19,1116,549-48118,99617,78510,156-365
Portland30,88016,71698621,310132,90636,6614,533
Cincinnati-20,15319,375-16316,46347,26338,5356,264
Sacramento28,54021,6323,81713,92336,8493,9705,313
Kansas City-9,50115,2302086,30258,65227,9743,769
Milwaukee-33,72719,8222,07610,59829,7459,8955,719
Orlando59,21621,2812,55536,34942,9825,6963,782
Indianapolis4,64322,62175036,27828,95813,9225,576
San Antonio79,4156,2925,54713,1288,5193,0954,160
Norfolk-26,2497,076707-77315,33040,6362,784
Las Vegas258,552-1,9273,4837,10217,756-81,552
Columbus44,29113,2453,81433,08514,4782,6283,375
Charlotte70,55510,2884,92133,67214,1366,4446,757
New Orleans-4,2465,97053-3,36126,63810,4963,176
Salt Lake City104,750-1,3696,00812,51532,0107,9611,475
Greensboro19,9305,6831,61311,36310,94311,8537,211
Austin107,98920,1572,00943,74440,0562,7391,606
Nashville8,96813,8191,51037,70645,95212,3325,217
Raleigh71,20525,2714,94525,32413,99411,7913,429
Buffalo-12,5609085786,412-6,104 -6
Memphis16,9602,9962,97115,4818,9243234,922
West Palm Beach78,711 16,601    
Jacksonville34,6855,67378218,88820,2821,2592,267
Rochester-7,0274,1797794,5272,5841,802237
Grand Rapids33,8065,7861,7458,75023,23113,9472,431
Oklahoma City18,0245,922-9511,75918,4833,2521,795
Louisville13,0603,78091512,06810,6687,6141,783

Exhibit 6.3 Place of Work - Workers Living in Central Counties: 1990

MSATotal WorkersWork in Central CountyWork in Suburban CountyWork Outside MSA
NumberPercentNumberPercentNumberPercent
Los Angeles4,115,2483,872,31094.1206,6385.036,3000.9
Chicago2,369,6242,147,59890.6206,0358.715,9910.7
Washington304,428236,73477.864,52621.23,1681.0
San Francisco382,309307,40080.471,70218.83,2070.8
Philadelphia640,577513,16780.1117,31618.310,0941.6
Detroit822,620633,41577.0182,58822.26,6170.8
Dallas943,146855,09490.777,7368.210,3161.1
Houston1,356,1961,294,78295.544,4803.316,9341.2
Atlantc315,366221,30970.288,97628.25,0811.6
Miami887,996844,72295.131,5613.611,7131.3
Seattle805,782750,97093.245,9105.78,9021.1
Phoenix996,495977,64898.14,8900.513,9571.4
Minneapolis561,081478,58285.376,51813.65,9811.1
Cleveland617,552573,65792.935,8875.88,0081.3
San Diego1,230,4461,187,99796.600.042,4493.4
St. Louis158,499104,18165.753,08733.51,2310.8
Denver231,503156,62867.772,16531.22,7101.2
tcmpa410,950373,74190.920,9805.116,2293.9
Pittsburgh595,405555,76693.328,5464.811,0931.9
Portland286,600231,76680.952,06518.22,7691.0
Cincinnati399,406356,39989.235,4588.97,5491.9
Sacramento482,321424,77788.136,8007.620,7444.3
Kansas City304,852242,90979.757,71518.94,2281.4
Milwaukee439,449378,89086.254,01212.36,5471.5
Orlando356,271317,49389.129,6088.39,1702.6
Indianapolis396,584363,63191.725,8156.57,1381.8
San Antonio516,606502,38197.23,3040.610,9212.1
Norfolk130,549100,82177.226,67320.43,0552.3
Las Vegas371,128361,94897.54,7151.34,4651.2
Columbus487,305464,10295.211,7472.411,4562.4
Charlotte277,227258,94393.411,4564.16,8282.5
New Orleans186,926151,73881.232,27417.32,9141.6
Salt Lake City329,238306,53393.111,8233.610,8823.3
Greensboro185,853167,22090.013,1497.15,4843.0
Austin302,909287,91195.09,1243.05,8741.9
Nashville261,683239,89891.717,3316.64,4541.7
Raleigh237,181201,22784.828,98512.26,9692.9
Buffalo432,883409,43994.612,9763.010,4682.4
Memphis379,633366,23896.58,0852.15,3101.4
West Palm Beach380,260343,10090.200.037,1609.8
Jacksonville333,152314,86894.510,2713.18,0132.4
Rochester347,088335,53996.78,0022.33,5471.0
Grand Rapids242,899224,89392.610,1864.27,8203.2
Oklahoma City281,207265,08194.310,4683.75,6582.0
Louisville311,336290,56493.311,6893.89,0832.9

Exhibit 6.4 Place of Work - Workers Living in Central Counties: 2000

MSATotal WorkersWork in Central CountyWork in Suburban CountyWork Outside MSA
NumberPercentNumberPercentNumberPercent
Los Angeles3,858,7503,576,40692.7242,6016.339,7431.0
Chicago2,371,1612,077,79887.6274,16711.619,1960.8
Washington, DC260,884190,56673.067,15725.73,1611.2
San Francisco418,553322,00976.992,72222.23,8220.9
Philadelphia569,761429,66775.4129,90222.810,1921.8
Detroit827,311618,40574.7201,56324.47,3430.9
Dallas1,038,779905,38087.2119,99811.613,4011.3
Houston1,515,5931,417,16693.576,9595.121,4681.4
Atlantd385,442265,87069.0111,79129.07,7812.0
Miami899,323823,64291.660,0966.715,5851.7
Seattle911,677849,70993.253,1495.88,8191.0
Phoenix1,406,4421,381,73298.27,7510.616,9591.2
Minneapolis607,567504,87383.195,65315.77,0411.2
Cleveland622,876565,90590.949,9858.06,9861.1
San Diego1,299,5031,253,62996.5  45,8743.5
St. Louis140,74782,48058.656,73440.31,5331.1
Denver278,715176,75063.497,61535.04,3501.6
tdmpa470,753419,78089.232,2756.918,6984.0
Pittsburgh582,362536,65592.235,0956.010,6121.8
Portland335,182262,64678.468,78120.53,7551.1
Cincinnati398,465336,24684.454,83313.87,3861.9
Sacramento536,310453,31784.558,43210.924,5614.6
Kansas City310,789233,40875.172,94523.54,4361.4
Milwaukee427,620345,16380.773,83417.38,6232.0
Orlando439,323376,70985.750,88911.611,7252.7
Indianapolis424,598368,27486.748,43611.47,8881.9
San Antonio607,860581,79695.79,5961.616,4682.7
Norfolk112,08374,57266.533,74930.13,7623.4
Las Vegas631,236620,50098.32,7880.47,9481.3
Columbus548,655508,39392.724,9924.615,2702.8
Charlotte362,991329,49890.821,7446.011,7493.2
New Orleans188,703147,49278.238,24420.32,9671.6
Salt Lake City438,627411,28393.810,4542.416,8903.9
Greensboro213,079187,15087.818,8328.87,0973.3
Austin433,064395,90091.429,2816.87,8831.8
Nashville285,980248,86687.031,15010.95,9642.1
Raleigh338,602272,43280.554,25616.011,9143.5
Buffalo421,809396,87994.113,8843.311,0462.6
Memphis402,560383,19895.211,0812.88,2812.1
West Palm Beach475,572421,81188.7  53,76111.3
Jacksonville374,292349,55393.415,9444.38,7952.3
Rochester345,019328,51295.212,1813.54,3261.3
Grand Rapids284,236258,69991.015,9725.69,5653.4
Oklahoma City305,058283,10592.816,3905.45,5631.8
Louisville329,091303,62492.315,4694.79,9983.0

Exhibit 6.3 and 6.4 show the place of work in 1990 and 2000 for workers who lived in the central county. St. Louis, Denver and Norfolk have significant counter-commutes from the central county. As mentioned earlier, St. Louis saw a decline in traditional commutes from central to downtown.

Exhibits 6.5 and 6.6 show the place of work in 1990 and 2000 for workers living in suburban counties.

Exhibit 6.5 Place of Work - Workers Living in Suburban Counties: 1990

MSAWork in Central CountyWork in the Same Suburban CountyWork in another Suburban CountyWork Outside MSA
Numberpct.Numberpct.Numberpct.Numberpct.
Los Angeles429,01315.92,040,22275.7181,4856.743,0751.6
Chicago395,01425.4936,27960.3187,63012.133,7482.2
Washington, DC478,41814.51,649,17749.91,126,01134.153,0601.6
San Francisco248,5178.82,052,51472.8477,25616.940,2371.4
Philadelphia234,71710.91,354,08663.2435,21520.3119,9865.6
Detroit211,45714.41,002,54968.1219,04014.938,4422.6
Dallas286,82726.2703,70464.377,6897.127,0322.5
Houston165,63940.2224,37354.411,6832.810,6762.6
Atlante328,03526.7575,03246.8292,08023.832,4352.6
Miami77,28513.1471,59580.200.039,2096.7
Seattle150,35321.7499,95572.026,4283.817,2162.5
Phoenix8,28821.029,17273.800.02,0625.2
Minneapolis212,74127.1382,09548.8169,50021.619,3802.5
Cleveland146,68122.1435,41665.556,5748.525,8693.9
San Diego        
St. Louis204,59420.3603,40159.9180,13117.919,3981.9
Denver211,99126.7419,29552.7146,51018.417,5482.2
tempa49,9239.9413,21182.027,4385.413,1892.6
Pittsburgh102,68524.0276,05964.422,9775.426,6996.2
Portland139,91124.4356,28362.062,95511.015,3922.7
Cincinnati150,23233.8203,16645.763,65114.327,6706.2
Sacramento58,23528.6122,93160.44,9392.417,5198.6
Kansas City117,57424.8257,16854.385,90318.113,1272.8
Milwaukee92,73827.8205,27161.619,4115.815,8834.8
Orlando98,62038.2143,56955.64,4531.711,4694.4
Indianapolis113,04139.5144,14550.314,5485.114,6895.1
San Antonio19,49931.532,79453.04,4547.25,1768.4
Norfolk106,40418.0301,15151.0161,41527.321,3713.6
Las Vegas7,09015.835,66779.480.02,1324.7
Columbus68,17138.893,16353.04,5112.69,8565.6
Charlotte72,40822.1213,69865.221,7716.619,7526.0
New Orleans93,70527.2201,09558.338,67611.211,2953.3
Salt Lake City27,76118.593,86962.523,57415.74,8963.3
Greensboro48,89413.4256,89470.537,94910.420,7355.7
Austin61,09447.657,12544.52,6142.07,6035.9
Nashville86,32036.9126,50754.110,7744.610,4334.5
Raleigh29,53513.2151,08267.326,36811.817,3507.7
Buffalo24,27924.771,34772.600.02,6132.7
Memphis39,25949.835,67545.26210.83,3464.2
West Palm Beach        
Jacksonville45,79541.456,42651.01,0170.97,4926.8
Rochester48,34829.794,25858.08,3245.111,7157.2
Grand Rapids34,09617.1134,38267.422,17511.18,6764.4
Oklahoma City77,87646.179,16246.95,1543.16,7234.0
Louisville53,50640.757,93544.013,32310.16,8335.2

table 6.6 Place of Work - Workers Living in Suburban County: 2000

MSAWork in Central CountyWork in the Same Suburban CountyWork in different Suburban CountyWork Outside MSA
NumberPercentNumberPercentNumberPercentNumberPercent
Los Angeles401,89113.82,227,86876.6216,7547.562,3562.1
Chicago438,36323.71,089,01359.0276,11414.943,4572.4
Washington, DC466,34413.01,742,19748.71,301,71036.467,9171.9
San Francisco252,6068.42,142,43471.1572,74519.045,8191.5
Philadelphia218,5309.71,400,32462.4494,65922.0132,1315.9
Detroit217,40813.11,095,39666.2295,73517.946,6072.8
Dallas415,49027.9900,75460.5135,9579.136,6682.5
Houston248,18943.8281,76749.819,3863.416,6722.9
Atlantf422,05625.2781,56646.7421,44225.250,1263.0
Miami115,04415.5565,81276.100.062,6878.4
Seattle206,57923.9595,05568.839,8814.623,0322.7
Phoenix19,91833.235,96159.900.04,1136.9
Minneapolis279,29228.