The federal government is abandoning a change to its metropolitan distinction and that benefits Rapid City.
The office of Management and Budget wanted to reclassify metropolitans from a population of 50,000 to 100,000. The move would have affected about 140 American cities.
Kip Harrington is a long-range planner with the City of Rapid City. He says the city gets a lot more demographic and population data as a metropolitan area as opposed to a micro-politan area. He says it helps with economic development as well.
“A lot of businesses—when they’re looking to move or expand their business—one of the first places they look for demographic data is the census data that relates to Metropolitan Statistical Areas,” Harrington says. “Because they want to move to a place with a minimum population and a population base that will support their business.”
The state’s congressional delegation worried that—if enacted—a community like Rapid City could lose eligibility for certain federal programs.
Representative Dusty Johnson and Senator John Thune introduced bills to stop the change from happening. Johnson says he’s glad the federal government is ditching reclassification efforts.