Where the Jobs Are Going: Job Sprawl in U.S. Metropolitan Regions, 2001–2006

Abstract

Problem: Employment is an underemphasized component of sprawl. A measure of job sprawl that accounts for the proximity of employment to populated places is needed to grasp problems of sprawl (especially those related to mobility) and mitigate their impacts. Prior sprawl studies have not investigated the proximity of jobs and populated places in ways that are replicable and meaningful to practitioners.

Purpose: We seek to elevate the importance of employment generally and the proximity of jobs to populated places more specifically, in the sprawl debate. For 358 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the United States, we investigate how spatial patterns of job locations have changed from 2001 to 2006 in relation to preexisting (year 2000) populated places. We present results nationally and investigate whether urban containment regions (mostly in the west) and residentially sprawled metro areas in southern states performed better or worse than the mean for all MSAs with regard to the job sprawl metric.

Methods: Using a GIS, we developed and applied a job sprawl metric that measured employment change over time (2001–2006) in relation to populated places in 2000, within and adjacent to 358 U.S. metropolitan areas. Job sprawl was defined as the percentage of change in job proximity (or straight-line distance, as a proxy for accessibility) to populated places over time.

Results and conclusions: Of 358 metropolitan regions, 227 (63%) experienced job gain and a decrease in job accessibility, confirming the stereotypical pattern of job sprawl in growing regions. None of the nine selected urban containment regions increased proximity of jobs to populated places from 2001 to 2006 (i.e., they still exhibited job sprawl). Mixed results were observed for 11 regions characterized as having low-density residential sprawl as of 2000.

Takeaway for practice: Measuring job sprawl as decreasing accessibility among jobs and populated places over time gives practitioners a better understanding of the resulting spatial and functional relationships among land uses in the region. Urban containment alone appears to be insufficient to avoid mobility-related problems. Sprawl studies must be made more relevant to practice.

Keywords:

• sprawl
• accessibility
• employment dispersion
• metropolitan regions
• urban containment
• jobs-housing balance

Acknowledgments

Research support: This research was supported by resources of East Carolina University's Center for Geographic Information Science.