Bachtel editorial from Banner-Herald
Bachtel: Oconee County considered a metro, not rural area
Northeast Georgia
Story updated at 11:35 AM on Sunday, November 13, 2005
I recently read with interest that a national agricultural publication named Oconee County one of the best rural places to live in America. I don't want to shovel any cow chips toward the good folks in Oconee County, but the editors of this ag publication have done a great disservice not only to the residents and decision makers in Oconee County, but all of the rural counties in America as well by their basic lack of understanding regarding the term rural. Oconee County is, by no stretch of the imagination, rural.
The Census Bureau defines two types of counties, and they are metropolitan and nonmetropolitan. These definitions are used by all sorts of governmental agencies as well as private entities for qualifying for grants and programs, and as a result, are important.
Oconee County is a metropolitan county, and it is part of the four-county Athens metropolitan area. Clarke County is the central county because of its population. Oconee, Madison and Oglethorpe are metropolitan due to the number of commuters who drive back and forth from Athens each day. More precisely they are suburban, bedroom communities.
Oconee, Oglethorpe and Madison have metropolitan status because they are socially and economically tied to Clarke. Although the residents of these three other counties do not live in Clarke County, they work, shop, recreate, get medical attention and interact in and around Clarke County. The Census Bureau makes this designation because the social and economic impact of a city does not stop at a municipal boundary and continues well on into the surrounding area.
Winder and Barrow County are part of the 28-county Atlanta metropolitan area because 60 percent of the Barrow County work force commutes to Atlanta each day and not to Athens. Metro area designations also can cross state boundaries. Jackson County was part of the Athens Metro Area, but now is nonmetropolitan.
It lost metro status in 1990 because of the job opportunities which sprang up around Banks Crossing.
Thus, the majority of the Jackson County work force no longer had to commute to Athens because they found work in Jackson County.
Before you good Oconee folks think I have placed the cart before the horse, the term rural, from a demographic point of view, is how people relate to each other, their schools, where they work, governmental services, public safety and just about every aspect of daily life you can think about. These critical relationship factors are the ones that influence our daily lives, and as a result, rural is not about real estate; it is about relationships.
Oconee County is one of the most affluent, educated counties in Georgia and the nation. Residents who live in Oconee are highly educated, affluent commuters who constitute a portion of the Athens area professional work force. They have the economic ability to live wherever they want to and have chosen Oconee County because of its quality of life. As a result, county comparisons and rankings are problematic and fraught with difficulties even when done correctly, but become totally meaningless when basic criteria are ignored such as was done with calling Oconee a rural county.
If the editors at the ag publication, who mistakenly placed Oconee County at the top of the nation's rural counties, do not know the basic difference between something as basic and important as metropolitan and nonmetropolitan county designations, then they probably don't know the difference between manure and apple butter either.
• Bachtel is a professor and demographer with the University of Georgia's College of Family and Consumer Sciences.
Northeast Georgia
Story updated at 11:35 AM on Sunday, November 13, 2005
I recently read with interest that a national agricultural publication named Oconee County one of the best rural places to live in America. I don't want to shovel any cow chips toward the good folks in Oconee County, but the editors of this ag publication have done a great disservice not only to the residents and decision makers in Oconee County, but all of the rural counties in America as well by their basic lack of understanding regarding the term rural. Oconee County is, by no stretch of the imagination, rural.
The Census Bureau defines two types of counties, and they are metropolitan and nonmetropolitan. These definitions are used by all sorts of governmental agencies as well as private entities for qualifying for grants and programs, and as a result, are important.
Oconee County is a metropolitan county, and it is part of the four-county Athens metropolitan area. Clarke County is the central county because of its population. Oconee, Madison and Oglethorpe are metropolitan due to the number of commuters who drive back and forth from Athens each day. More precisely they are suburban, bedroom communities.
Oconee, Oglethorpe and Madison have metropolitan status because they are socially and economically tied to Clarke. Although the residents of these three other counties do not live in Clarke County, they work, shop, recreate, get medical attention and interact in and around Clarke County. The Census Bureau makes this designation because the social and economic impact of a city does not stop at a municipal boundary and continues well on into the surrounding area.
Winder and Barrow County are part of the 28-county Atlanta metropolitan area because 60 percent of the Barrow County work force commutes to Atlanta each day and not to Athens. Metro area designations also can cross state boundaries. Jackson County was part of the Athens Metro Area, but now is nonmetropolitan.
It lost metro status in 1990 because of the job opportunities which sprang up around Banks Crossing.
Thus, the majority of the Jackson County work force no longer had to commute to Athens because they found work in Jackson County.
Before you good Oconee folks think I have placed the cart before the horse, the term rural, from a demographic point of view, is how people relate to each other, their schools, where they work, governmental services, public safety and just about every aspect of daily life you can think about. These critical relationship factors are the ones that influence our daily lives, and as a result, rural is not about real estate; it is about relationships.
Oconee County is one of the most affluent, educated counties in Georgia and the nation. Residents who live in Oconee are highly educated, affluent commuters who constitute a portion of the Athens area professional work force. They have the economic ability to live wherever they want to and have chosen Oconee County because of its quality of life. As a result, county comparisons and rankings are problematic and fraught with difficulties even when done correctly, but become totally meaningless when basic criteria are ignored such as was done with calling Oconee a rural county.
If the editors at the ag publication, who mistakenly placed Oconee County at the top of the nation's rural counties, do not know the basic difference between something as basic and important as metropolitan and nonmetropolitan county designations, then they probably don't know the difference between manure and apple butter either.
• Bachtel is a professor and demographer with the University of Georgia's College of Family and Consumer Sciences.
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