Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveD
Yes, I suspect you're right there. I know the census definition for inclusion in an MSA is an "employment interchange number" of 25 (meaning percent), but, they will include areas where the "employment interchange number" is as low as 15, if local opinion (in both areas) favors the combination.
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Truckee is a small mountain town in Placer County between Sacramento and Reno (think Donner Party). Placer County has a few hundred-thousand residents of which I would say 85%-95% live within 15-20 miles or less of downtown Sacramento (in the suburbs along the Sacramento-Placer County lines). Because of where the huge majority of this county's population is weighted and because these people commute into Sacramento county, Placer County (rightfully so) is included in the Sacramento MSA and CSA. Because of this, the handful of people who live in the mountain communities of Placer County are included as well. I would agree though that Truckee as a community seems to have greater ties to Reno than to Sacramento. But because of the much larger Placer County suburbs like Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln, Auburn, Granite Bay, etc, close to Sacramento, the entire county is counted.
The same applies to El Dorado County as well. The vast majority of county residents live within 20 miles of downtown Sac, and because of this, the few people living in the mountains are included as well.
I would guess that these far flung communities account for maybe 2%-3% of the metro population (CSA) with the remaining 97%-98% living within a definite and defined urban area centered around downtown Sacramento. The vast majority of Placer and El Dorado Counties are a National Forest as well.