Long Distance Commuting and Income Change in the Towns of Upstate New York

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. Clark University is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Economic Geography.Long distance commuting to all levels of the urban hierarchy is a mechanism by which income growth is spread to nonmetropolitan peripheries. Attendant income growth multipliers are variable with distance from metropolitan employment centers, but because of off-setting forces of insulation and threshold, the maximum multipliers are found at intermediate distances from a metropolitan center. The increasing potency of multipliers from the 1960s to the 1970s and extension of income growth to greater distances are influenced by in-migration, job substitution, and increased female participation rates.'The authors gratefully acknowledge the Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce for funding for the research reported here. The authors also wish to note that the statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Economic Development Administration. This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Mon, 8 Dec 2014 16:16:34 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions LONG DISTANCE COMMUTING 49 urban hierarchy [6; 18; 19].Commuting to metropolitan employment centers is an important mechanism by which population and income growth are spread to nonmetropolitan peripheries [11]. These income transfers are realized through expenditures on land, housing, retail and service activities, and tax payments [21]. Commuting, therefore, may be viewed as a basic or export industry attracting capital and people to nonmetropolitan areas and in turn generating multiplier effects [15]. Commuting may be the single most important spatial equilibrating mechanism at this scale [12]. Regional equilibrium in wages and income is sought through commuting rather than migration.Berry attempted to verify the hypothesized relationship between metropolitan commuting and nonmetropolitan growth [1; 2]. He observed a strong spatial association between patterns of commuting, employment, income, poverty, and population. The lowest levels of economic welfare were found at the peripheries of metropolitan labor markets and their interstices. Berry's thesis is:. . . the degree of metropolitan labor market participation is the key variable in the 'regional welfare syndrome,' indexing the gradient of urban influence on surrounding areas [1, 3].Morrill later supported this position in stating:

Natural amenities and rural development in new urban‐rural spaces

“…The evolution of cities to polycentric urban forms has actually brought employment opportunities closer to rural areas, as ‘suburban downtowns’ (Erickson 1986; Fujii and Hartshorn 1995) or ‘edge cities’ (Garreau 1992) supply large numbers of jobs at the city's edges. Evidence has accumulated that people living in non‐metropolitan areas are increasingly travelling greater distances for employment in the US (Mitchelson and Fisher 1987; Cromartie 2006) and in Europe (Lyons and Chatterjee 2008; Sandow and Westin 2010). Natural resource‐dependent counties, such as those in the study area, in particular have been found to be increasing as urban commuter origins (Cromartie 2006).…”

“…Natural resource‐dependent counties, such as those in the study area, in particular have been found to be increasing as urban commuter origins (Cromartie 2006). The affordability of commuting from the countryside has enabled population and income growth for rural areas, which can capture spillovers from more lucrative urban jobs (Mitchelson and Fisher 1987). However, commuting can be burdensome.…”

La dynamique spatiale des marchés locaux de l'emploi au sein du champ métropolitain de Québec, 1981–2001

“…Une analyse relativement récente (Schindegger et Krajasits 1997) nous apprend que le Canada fait partie des pays connaissant la plus forte augmentation des migrations pendulaires en milieu non‐métropolitain. Plusieurs études soulignent également l'extension de l'aire de recrutement des pôles d'emploi non‐métropolitains, tandis que les pôles métropolitains connaîtraient plutôt un renforcement des interactions au sein de leur bassin de main d'œuvre initial (Mitchelson et Fisher 1987a, 1987b; Stabler, Olfert et Greuel 1996). Mais au sein même du Canada, Green et Meyer (1997) ont constaté d'importantes différences dans les navettes selon le type, l'industrie et la région.…”

“…Ces résultats traduisent finalement la même réalité que celle déjà observée autour des métropoles américaines (Mitchelson et Fisher 1987a et 1987b) ou encore canadiennes (Stabler, Olfert et Greuel 1996), à savoir le dynamisme des marchés locaux de l'emploi des pôles non‐métropolitains situés à proximité des centres métropolitains. Mais l'intérêt de notre analyse, réalisée à un plus fin niveau de désagrégation spatiale, est de mettre en évidence le rôle de la distance au centre métropolitain dans ce processus.…”

A Partitioning Model of Urban Retail Structure

“…This argues for negative covariance between stores' sales. On the other hand, in the open system defined by a regional shopping center in a densely settled suburban area, or an area in which long distance commuting is prevalent, the addition of new stores may attract business from farther and farther afield, suggesting positive covariances (Mitchelson and Fisher 1987;Parr 1987). All in all, the assumption of statistical independence seems a reasonable middle ground for model building.…”