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THIS MONTH MARKS THE first important usage of the recently redefined metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) for the state of Indiana. When we receive our first glimpse of state employment information for the new year, the Department of Workforce Development will include three new MSAs in its tables: Anderson, Columbus and Michigan City And most of the existing metro areas, including Indianapolis, will see significant changes in their geographic composition.
In general terms, why these changes are made is easy to explain. We are a mobile population, and as we move, economic activity moves with us. Large urban areas grow at the fringe, pushing that activity over county borders. And some smaller urban areas have grown large enough to be considered metro areas in their own right.
It is a myth that the Midwest in general, and Indiana in particular, rank as the slowest-growing part of the...