Exploring the commuting interactions of neighboring metropolitan areas

As metropolitan areas have continued to grow in physical size and in population, urban geographers have attempted to describe the distribution of workers and employment in large metropolitan areas. The task becomes even more complex when two metropolitan areas neighbor each other and thus compete for the workforce that exists between them. This research aims to identify and describe the commuting patterns of workers who have the option of work in two nearby metropolitan areas. Specifically, this research examines the interactions of commuters between the cities of Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin and between the cities of Austin and San Antonio, Texas. In the case of Madison and Milwaukee, roughly 75 miles separate the two downtown job centers and in the case of Austin and San Antonio, roughly 70 miles separate the downtown job centers. In both cases, the smaller metropolitan area contains a large university while the larger metropolitan offers a variety of job opportunities in multiple industries. The research presented in this paper consisted of two parts. The first identified job center candidates in all four metropolitan areas using an employment to resident ratio. The second part aims to identify the commuting patterns between the two downtown job centers of Wisconsin and Texas, to identify the commuting patterns between all other job centers of both metropolitan areas of Wisconsin and Texas, and lastly to identify commuting patterns between the outer job centers between the two metropolitan areas of Wisconsin and Texas.