Core-Based Statistical Area changes 2023

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Well, I cannot find a recent demographics thread, so I'm creating this. If mods consider relevant it can be merged with any existing threads.

In July the Office of Management and Budget released revised core-based statistical areas. Below are the changes I've detected. I'm not including Puerto Rico as I consider it a separate entity from the 50 states ("United States" proper) per ISO 3166.

AL:
- Atmore is deleted.
- Auburn/Opelika expands into Macon county.
- Jasper is merged back into Birmingham. The latter loses Hoover as secondary.
- Mobile retires from Washington county.
- Russellville micro is created from Franklin county.
- Coosa county switches back from Alexander City to Talladega/Sylacauga.
AK: no changes, apart from Fairbanks gaining College as secondary.
AZ: no changes.
AR:
- Batesville retires from Sharp county.
- Fort Smith retires from Franklin county.
- Hope is deleted again.
- Pine Bluff is downgraded and retires from Lincoln county.
CA:
- Bishop micro is re-created from Inyo county.
- Gardnerville Ranchos expands into Alpine county.
- Madera is merged into Fresno.
- Bakersfield and Stockton gain Delano and Lodi respectively as secondaries.
CO:
- Alamosa micro is created from Alamosa, Conejos and Costilla counties.
- Breckenridge expands into Lake county.
- Montrose retires from Ouray county.
- Craig is merged into Steamboat Springs.
- Glenwood Springs changes primary to Rifle.
- Fort Collins gains Loveland as secondary.
- Denver/Aurora switches Lakewood for Centennial as tertiary.
CT: Due to the radical change of county-equivalents from traditional counties to planning regions, the entire state map is redrawn.
- Bridgeport/Stamford/Norwalk used to cover Fairfield county. It now covers Greater Bridgeport and Western Connecticut planning regions, and also switches to Danbury as tertiary.
- Hartford/West Hartford/Middletown used to cover Hartford, Middlesex and Tolland counties. It now covers Capitol and Lower Connecticut Valley planning regions, and also switches to East Hartford as tertiary.
- New Haven/Milford used to cover New Haven county. It now covers South Central Connecticut planning region, and also loses Milford as secondary.
- Norwich/New London used to cover New London county. It now covers Southeastern Connecticut planning region, and also gains Willimantic (previously in Windham county) as tertiary.
- Worcester used to extend into Windham county. However, Northeastern Connecticut planning region splits from it to form Putnam micro instead.
- Torrington used to cover Litchfield county. It now covers Northwest Hills planning region.
- Waterbury/Shelton metro is created from Naugatuck Valley planning region, and thus from parts of Hartford, New Haven and Torrington as no previous county was centered in the area.
DE: Sussex county splits from Salisbury and re-forms Seaford micro (see also MD).
FL:
- Clewiston expands into Glades county.
- Panama City expands into Washington county. It also gains Panama City Beach as secondary.
- The Villages changes primary to Wildwood. The Villages remains as secondary.
- Sebring loses Avon Park as secondary.
- Key West gains Key Largo as secondary.
- North Port/Sarasota/Bradenton changes Bradenton to secondary and Sarasota to tertiary.
- Sebastian/Vero Beach gains West Vero Corridor as tertiary.
GA:
- Atlanta/Sandy Springs retires from Lamar county. It also switches Alpharetta for Roswell as tertiary.
- Dublin retires from Treutlen county.
- Milledgeville retires from Hancock county.
- Statesboro expands into Evans county.
- Thomasville expands into Grady county.
- Tifton expands into Turner county.
- St. Marys changes primary to Kingsland.
- Brunswick gains St. Simons as secondary.
HI:
- Kahului/Wailuku expands into Kalawao county. This makes Hawaii the sixth state, and the first one West of the Mississippi (and never more said so ), to be completely covered by CBSAs. It also loses Lahaina as tertiary.
- Hilo gains Kailua as secondary.
ID:
- The newly formed Brigham City micro expands into Oneida county (see also UT).
- Hailey re-expands into Lincoln county.
- Pocatello retires from Power county again.
IL:
- Fulton county splits from Peoria to form Canton micro.
- Champaign/Urbana expands into Ford county.
- Danville is downgraded.
- Cumberland county switches from Charleston/Mattoon to Fuckingham (its actual name ).
- Fort Madison retires from Hancock county (see also IA and MO).
- Williamston county splits from Carbondale to re-form Marion/Herrin micro without Johnson county. Carbondale is also downgraded.
- Paducah is upgraded (see also KY).
IN:
- Cincinnati retires from Union county.
- Bluffton is merged into Fort Wayne.
- Putnam county splits from Indianapolis/Carmel to form Greencastle micro. The former also expands into Tipton county, and switches Anderson for Greenwood as tertiary.
- Jasper retires from Pike county.
- Monticello micro is created from White county.
- Terre Haute retires from Parke county.
IA:
- Le Mars micro is created from Plymouth county.
- Fort Madison and Omaha lose Council Bluffs and Keokuk respectively as secondaries (see also IL and MO for Fort Madison).
KS:
- Coffeyville is deleted.
- Garden City retires from Kearney county.
- Joplin expands into Cherokee county.
- Parsons is deleted.
- Winfield changes primary to Arkansas City. Winfield remains as secondary.
KY:
- Franklin micro is created from Simpson county.
- Henderson county splits from Evansville to form Henderson micro. It also expands into Webster county.
- Huntington/Ashland expands into Lawrence county, the second of that name in the area.
- Bardsville is merged back into Louisville (Jefferson county), and Meade county switches from Elizabethton (strangely it is only connected through Indiana). The latter also loses Fort Knox as secondary.
- Maysville is deleted.
- Owensboro retires from Hancock county.
- Paducah is upgraded, and expands into Carlisle county (see also IL).
- Pikeville micro is created from Floyd and Pike counties.
- Richmond/Berea expands into Rockcastle county.
- London changes primary to Corbin.
LA:
- Fort Polk South is deleted.
- Iberia parish splits from Lafayette to form New Iberia micro. This leaves Lafayette split (as St. Martin Parish is also split).
- Jennings is merged into Lake Charles.
- Monroe expands into Richland parish.
- St. Tammany parish splits from New Orleans/Metairie to from Slidell/Mandeville/Covington metro.
- Houma/Thibodaux gains Bayou Cane as secondary, with Thibodaux displaced to tertiary.
ME: no changes.
MD:
- Cumberland is downgraded (see also WV).
- Calvert county switches from Washington/Arlington/Alexandria to Lexington Park (see also VA for Washington). The latter loses California and switches primary.
- Worcester county splits from Salisbury to re-form Ocean Pines micro (see also DE).
MA:
- Franklin and Hampshire counties split from Springfield to form Greenfield micro and Amherst Town/Northampton metro respectively.
- Nantucket micro is created from Nantucket county. This makes Massachusetts the seventh state to be completely covered by CBSAs.
MI:
- Grand Rapids/Kentwood expands into Barry county. It also gains Wyoming as secondary, with Kentwood displaced to tertiary.
- Shiawassee county splits from Lansing/East Lansing to form Owosso micro.
- Petoskey micro is created from Emmet county.
- Traverse City is upgraded.
- Muskegon gains Norton Shores as secondary.
MN:
- Detroit Lakes micro is created from Becker county.
- Duluth retires from Lake county.
- Sioux Falls expands into Rock county.
MS:
- Columbus expands into Noxubee county.
- Grenada expands into Montgomery county.
- Indianola is deleted.
- Hattiesburg retires from Covington county.
- Jackson expands into Scott county.
- McComb expands into Walthall county.
- Memphis expands into Benton county.
- Meridian retires from Kemper county.
- Natchez expands into Jefferson county.
- Oxford expands into Yalobusha county.
- Tupelo retires from Pontotoc county.
MO:
- Fort Madison retires from Clark county (see also IL and IA).
- Poplar Bluff retires from Ripley county.
- Sikeston expands into Mississippi county (but not into New Madrid county, leaving part of Sikeston proper out).
MT:
- Bozeman is upgraded.
- Helena is upgraded and expands into Broadwater county.
- Missoula expands into Mineral county.
NE:
- Columbus expands into Colfax county.
- Hastings expands into Clay and Webster counties.
- North Platte retires from McPherson county.
- Scottsbluff retires from Sioux county.
- Sioux Cite retires from Dixon county.
NV: Fernley is deleted.
NH:
- Berlin is deleted.
- Lebanon gains Claremont as secondary.
NJ:
- Ocean City is merged into Atlantic City/Hammonton.
- Vineland loses Bridgeton as secondary.
NM:
- Portales is merged into Clovis.
- Grants is deleted.
NY:
- Malone is deleted.
- Monticello micro is created from Sullivan county.
- Rochester retires from Yates county.
- Poughkeepsie/Newburgh changes primary to Kiryas Joel, dropping Poughkeepsie and Newburgh to secondary and tertiary respectively and losing Middletown.
- Ogdensburg/Massena changes primary to Massena, with Ogdensburg becoming secondary.
- Jamestown/Dunkirk loses Fredonia as tertiary.
NC:
- Harnett county splits from Fayetteville to form Anderson Creek micro.
- Cullowhee is deleted.
- Durham/Chapel Hill retires from Granville county.
- Elizabeth City retires from Perquimans county.
- New Bern is downgraded.
- Pinehurst/Southern Pines is upgraded.
- Haywood county splits from Asheville to form Waynesville micro.
- Brunswick county switches from Myrtle Beach/Conway/North Myrtle Beach to Wilmington (the previous arrangement didn't make sense).
- Shelby gains Kings Mountain as secondary.
ND:
- Dickinson expands into Dunn county.
- Minot is upgraded
OH:
- Ashtabula is merged into Cleveland. The latter loses Elyria as secondary.
- Ottawa county switches from Toledo to Sandusky. The latter is upgraded.
- Mount Pleasant changes primary to Gallipolis (see also WV).
- Bucyrus loses Gallion as secondary.
- Dayton/Kettering gains Beavercreek as tertiary.
- Youngstown/Warren loses Boardman as tertiary (see also PA).
OK:
- Ardmore retires from Love county.
- Weatherford expands into Washita county.
- Woodward retires from Ellis county.
OR:
- Baker City micro is created from Baker county.
- Prineville is merged into Bend. The latter expands into Jefferson county.
- Albany loses Lebanon as secondary.
- Coos Bay gains North Bend as secondary.
PA:
- Bloomsburg/Berwick is downgraded.
- Pike county splits from New York/Newark/Jersey City to form Hemlock Farms micro.
- Mercer county splits from Youngstown/Warren to form Hermitage micro (see also OH).
- Pittsburgh expands into Lawrence county.
- Chambersburg loses Waynesboro as secondary.
RI: no changes.
SC:
- Grenwood expands into Abbeville county.
- Union is merged into Spartanburg.
- Sumter retires from Clarendon county.
- Georgetown changes primary to Murrells Inlet.
- Greenville/Anderson and Hilton Head Island/Bluffton gain Greer and Port Royal respectively as tertiaries.
SD:
- Huron retires from Beadle county.
- Mitchell expands into Sanborn county.
- Rapid City expands into Custer county.
- Watertown retires from Hamlin county.
TN:
- Athens expands into McMinn county.
- Cookeville expands into White county.
- Dayton is deleted.
- Fayetteville micro is created from Lincoln county.
- Grainger county switches from Morristown to Knoxville.
- Nashville (Davidson)/Murfreesboro/Franklin expands into Hickman county.
- Franklin county splits from Tullahoma/Manchester to form Winchester micro.
TX:
- Alice retires from Duval county and expands into Brooks county instead.
- Rockport is merged into Corpus Christi.
- Eagle Pass is upgraded.
- Houston/The Woodlands expands into San Jacinto county. It also gains Pasadena as secondary, with The Woodlands displaced to tertiary and losing Sugar Land.
- Kingsville retires from Kenedy county.
- Levelland is merged into Lubbock. The latter also expands to Cochran and Garza counties.
- Mount Pleasant expands into Morris county.
- Paris expands into Red River county.
- Pecos retires from Loving county. It also changes spelling to Town of Pecos.
- Plainview expands into Floyd county.
- San Angelo retires from Sterling county.
- Waco expands into Bosque county.
- Austin/Round Rock switches Georgetown for San Marcos as tertiary.
UT:
- Box Elder county splits from Ogden to form Brigham City micro (see also ID). The former also loses Clearfield as secondary.
- Evanston expands into Rich county.
- Sant Lake City gains Murray as secondary.
- Provo/Orem gains Lehi as tertiary.
VA:
- Big Stone Gap is deleted.
- Blacksburg/Christiansburg expands into Floyd county. It also gains Radford as tertiary.
- Bluefield retires from Bland county.
- Lake of the Woods micro is created from Orange county.
- Virginia Beach/Norfolk retires from Franklin city and Southampton county and expands into Surry county instead. It also gains Chesapeake as secondary, displacing Norfolk to tertiary and losing Newport News.
- Washington/Arlington/Alexandria retires from Madison county (see also MD).
- Staunton gains Stuart Draft as secondary.
VT: Brattleboro micro is created from Windham county.
WA:
- Port Townsend micro is created from Jefferson county.
- Longview and Wenatchee gain Kelso and East Wenatchee respectively as secondaries.
WV:
- Charleston retires from Jackson and Lincoln counties.
- Cumberland is downgraded (see also MD).
- Mount Gay Shamrock is deleted.
- Mount Pleasant retires from Mason county (see also OH).
WI:
- Kenosha county splits from Chicago/Naperville/Elgin to form Kenosha metro (thus making it no longer part of Chicagoland ).
- La Crosse/Onalaska expands into Vernon county.
- Rice Lake micro is created from Barron county.
- Sparta micro is created from Monroe county.
- Racine, Stevens Point and Whitewater gain Mount Pleasant, Plover and Elkhorn respectively as secondaries.
- Wausau loses Weston as secondary
WY:
- Cody micro is created from Park county.
- Gillette retires from Crook and Weston counties.

[Scott5114]

In July the Office of Management and Budget released revised core-based statistical areas. Below are the changes I've detected. I'm not including Puerto Rico as I consider it a separate entity from the 50 states ("United States" proper) per ISO 3166.

Wait, so...you created a thread to report on a list of decisions a government agency, OMB, made, but you're not reporting on some of the decisions they made, because they have a definition of that area that doesn't match what you think OMB's jurisdiction should be? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

[Rothman]

The idea that the ISO defines countries is also ridiculous.

[MikeTheActuary]

So....why is the Canadian Border Services Agency defining metro areas in the US? 

[MikeTheActuary]

The idea that the ISO defines countries is also ridiculous.

You should see the rigmarole involved in defining "country" for my primary hobby, amateur radio.

[Rothman]

So....why is the Canadian Border Services Agency defining metro areas in the US? 

Heh.  My first thought when I saw the topic.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

So....why is the Canadian Border Services Agency defining metro areas in the US? 

Obviously no . I've edited the thread title and spelt the acronym out.

[jeffandnicole]

In July the Office of Management and Budget released revised core-based statistical areas. Below are the changes I've detected. I'm not including Puerto Rico as I consider it a separate entity from the 50 states ("United States" proper) per ISO 3166.

Wait, so...you created a thread to report on a list of decisions a government agency, OMB, made, but you're not reporting on some of the decisions they made, because they have a definition of that area that doesn't match what you think OMB's jurisdiction should be? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

It's not the first thing he defined differently because Opinion.

[JayhawkCO]

CO:
- Alamosa micro is created from Alamosa, Conejos and Costilla counties.
Seems reasonable. Alamosa is definitely the largest city in the area.

- Breckenridge expands into Lake county.
Again, seems reasonable. Leadville folks go up there for services.

- Montrose retires from Ouray county.
Kinda weird. Ridgeway and Ouray definitely utilize services in Montrose, the largest city for a long ways.

- Craig is merged into Steamboat Springs.
Having Craig ever even mentioned seems weird. Dying little town.

- Glenwood Springs changes primary to Rifle.
Very bizarre. Glenwood is the main city of not only the I-70 stretch of Garfield County, but also a good chunk of the Roaring Fork Valley as well.

- Fort Collins gains Loveland as secondary.
Makes lots of sense.

- Denver/Aurora switches Lakewood for Centennial as tertiary.
Slightly strange. Lakewood is still considerably larger than Centennial.

[US 89]

My thoughts on the Utah changes:

- Box Elder county splits from Ogden to form Brigham City micro (see also ID). The former also loses Clearfield as secondary.

Brigham City used to be its own micropolitan area before it got merged into the Ogden metro, but it only included Box Elder County. Including Oneida County is interesting - I almost think you'd have to include Tremonton as a secondary anchor city in that case (with a population of over 10k, it would be sufficient for its own micropolitan area). People in Malad definitely go to Tremonton for some services, but if you need a Brigham City sized place I'd imagine you might just go to Pocatello instead.

What definitely doesn't make sense to me is splitting Brigham City out of Ogden's metro and still including Tooele in Salt Lake City's. Tooele is significantly bigger than Brigham City and also quite a bit more isolated. Sure there might be more commuting from Tooele County to SLC, but most of that is coming from Stansbury Park or Lake Point.

Ogden losing Clearfield is also weird to me because the air force base and Freeport Center combined are a huge work center. Replacing it with Layton, which is bigger and also includes some of the AFB, would make more sense than not including any Davis County cities. Removing Davis cities from the name entirely almost makes a decent argument to move Davis County into Salt Lake City's metro given that the southern half of the county is far more associated with SLC than it is with Ogden.

Also, CNGL didn't list this explicitly, but this also changes the definition of the Salt Lake City-Provo-Orem combined statistical area. The new Brigham City micro is included in the Salt Lake CSA, which now adds Oneida County to the 10 Utah counties that made it up previously.

- Evanston expands into Rich county.

Makes sense to me. That entire SR 16 corridor might as well be Wyoming and Evanston is easily the most accessible city from there.

- Salt Lake City gains Murray as secondary.

What about Murray makes it more significant than any of the other suburbs? Historically this might have been the case, but now other than the Intermountain medical center being there it doesn't have much unique going for it. It's not a population thing either as there are 8
other non-SLC municipalities in the county that are bigger than Murray. If you want another center, West Valley and Sandy would be better choices.

- Provo/Orem gains Lehi as tertiary.

I like that. Lehi has rapidly become a major center of Silicon Slopes related tech jobs.

Also, the name of the Salt Lake City-Provo-Orem CSA really needs to be Salt Lake City-Provo-Ogden. But more and more what I think should happen is that as the Wasatch Front continues to grow, the Salt Lake City, Provo, and Ogden metros should be joined into a single metro area with three "metropolitan divisions" the way Seattle-Tacoma is.

[DTComposer]

It would appear the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland CSA has lost Sonoma County (Santa Rosa). This is significant not just in that it's about 500,000 people, but it's one of the 'core' nine counties of the Bay Area. Meanwhile, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Merced Counties remain in the CSA (as do Santa Cruz and San Benito).

[iowahighways]

IA:
- Le Mars micro is created from Plymouth county.
- Fort Madison and Omaha lose Council Bluffs and Keokuk respectively as secondaries (see also IL and MO for Fort Madison).

Not surprised about Le Mars, as it was dropped from the Sioux City MSA due to being an employment center in its own right (four words: Blue Bunny ice cream). Plymouth County is part of the Sioux City CSA now, though.

Keokuk was probably dropped because it fell below 10,000 people for the first time since the Civil War.

[thspfc]

Of WI's changes, the only one I like is Kenosha County being removed from Chicagoland. The obvious dividing line between Chicago and Milwaukee is the state border, not some backroad between Kenosha and Racine.

I'm indifferent to all the secondary city changes, except Whitewater should not have a statistical area, and Fort Atkinson makes more sense than Elkhorn as a secondary.

The others are puzzling. Vernon County is about as rural as it gets in WI. Sparta and Rice Lake should not have statistical areas.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

It's weird that Lake County, MN was kicked out of Duluth, as I find it hard to imagine the employment thresholds dropped below 25%.

[Dirt Roads]

NC:
- Durham/Chapel Hill retires from Granville county.

Granville County will surely make a big comeback, but there might be a fight as to whether it belongs in Raleigh -or- Durham/Chapel Hill.  After the completion of I-885, the amount of rush hour traffic on I-85 north of Durham has nearly doubled (and I cannot help but think that development in southern Granville has also doubled).  Since much of that traffic is headed to Research Triangle Park, Granville still belongs to Durham/Chapel Hill for now.  But business growth in Western Wake and Raleigh proper still might result in a traffic burst along I-885//I-85 into Granville, rather than taking the slow boat up Creedmoor Road (NC-50).

[bandit957]

Anyone know if or when they're gonna put out gazetteer files for the 2020 census for places and counties that include population?

[Hunty2022]

VA:
- Big Stone Gap is deleted.
Makes sense, it's a small town of 5000.

- Blacksburg/Christiansburg expands into Floyd county. It also gains Radford as tertiary.
No problem with this either.

- Bluefield retires from Bland county.
A little surprising, but reasonable.

- Lake of the Woods micro is created from Orange county.
Really? LOTW is a gated community at the northernmost part of Orange County.

- Virginia Beach/Norfolk retires from Franklin city and Southampton county and expands into Surry county instead. It also gains Chesapeake as secondary, displacing Norfolk to tertiary and losing Newport News.
Interesting replacements.

- Washington/Arlington/Alexandria retires from Madison county (see also MD).
Makes a ton of sense, a very rural county. Now smashed between Charlottesville and DC metros.

- Staunton gains Stuart Draft as secondary.
I like this change, they will probably add Verona soon.

[bandit957]

- Lake of the Woods micro is created from Orange county.
Really? LOTW is a gated community at the northernmost part of Orange County.

Gated subdivisions should be disqualified from becoming a CDP.

[golden eagle]

- Lake of the Woods micro is created from Orange county.
Really? LOTW is a gated community at the northernmost part of Orange County.

Gated subdivisions should be disqualified from becoming a CDP.

I believe Hot Springs Village, AR is a gated CDP.

[epzik8]

I went crazy trying to confirm the purported Maryland changes, then I realized this (mostly) amounts to a fictional thread.

[The Nature Boy]

NC:
- Durham/Chapel Hill retires from Granville county.

Granville County will surely make a big comeback, but there might be a fight as to whether it belongs in Raleigh -or- Durham/Chapel Hill.  After the completion of I-885, the amount of rush hour traffic on I-85 north of Durham has nearly doubled (and I cannot help but think that development in southern Granville has also doubled).  Since much of that traffic is headed to Research Triangle Park, Granville still belongs to Durham/Chapel Hill for now.  But business growth in Western Wake and Raleigh proper still might result in a traffic burst along I-885//I-85 into Granville, rather than taking the slow boat up Creedmoor Road (NC-50).

Is there a good reason for Raleigh and Durham-Chapel Hill to be separate MSAs? I know they're combined as a CSA but I don't feel like they're actually separate metropolitan areas. Not having the Triangle as one MSA is a bit misleading.

[SD Mapman]

SD:
- Huron retires from Beadle county.
- Mitchell expands into Sanborn county.
- Rapid City expands into Custer county.
- Watertown retires from Hamlin county.

WY:
- Cody micro is created from Park county.
- Gillette retires from Crook and Weston counties.

So does that mean that there is no Huron SA anymore? Pulling Hamlin out of Watertown also makes sense, Hayti is no different than Clear Lake just a bit closer.

I had no idea Crook and Weston were in an MSA lol, really there are no "metro" areas in Wyoming, just towns surrounded by nothing.

[Road Hog]

- Lake of the Woods micro is created from Orange county.
Really? LOTW is a gated community at the northernmost part of Orange County.

Gated subdivisions should be disqualified from becoming a CDP.

I believe Hot Springs Village, AR is a gated CDP.

As of the mid-1990s it was not gated, but who knows nowadays.

[bandit957]

We should think of a way to correct commuter data for counties that are very large in area. The uncorrected data has given some weird results over the years.

[Dirt Roads]

NC:
- Durham/Chapel Hill retires from Granville county.

Granville County will surely make a big comeback, but there might be a fight as to whether it belongs in Raleigh -or- Durham/Chapel Hill.  After the completion of I-885, the amount of rush hour traffic on I-85 north of Durham has nearly doubled (and I cannot help but think that development in southern Granville has also doubled).  Since much of that traffic is headed to Research Triangle Park, Granville still belongs to Durham/Chapel Hill for now.  But business growth in Western Wake and Raleigh proper still might result in a traffic burst along I-885//I-85 into Granville, rather than taking the slow boat up Creedmoor Road (NC-50).

Is there a good reason for Raleigh and Durham-Chapel Hill to be separate MSAs? I know they're combined as a CSA but I don't feel like they're actually separate metropolitan areas. Not having the Triangle as one MSA is a bit misleading.

It caught me off guard some 10 years ago or so, as Raleigh-Durham was historically one MSA.  That was more than a decade after they were officially split in 2003.  We've got a fellow from the Census Bureau on this board who can add more clarity, but it is my understanding that when Durham got over a particular population then we deserved to be split off into a separate MSA.  It gets confusing, because some of the Raleigh-Durham CSA components are far-flung (but not as bad as the Charlotte CSA).