16 ms·

Well if you would define 'area' by something else, we would have 3 different places.

meritt 8y ago
That's true but they aren't arbitrary decisions designed to make one area look bad for the purposes of an article. They are well-defined areas [1] [2]. > Q10. What does the term "HMFA" mean? > HUD Metro FMR Area. This term indicates that only a portion of the OMB-defined metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is in the area to which the income limits (or FMRs) apply. HUD is required by OMB to alter the name of metropolitan geographic entities it derives from the MSAs when the geography is not the same as that established by OMB. Specifically the top 3 are: San Francisco, CA HMFA San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA HMFA Oakland-Fremont, CA HMFA [1] https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il/il18/FAQs-18r.pdf https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il/il18/FAQs-18r.pdf [2] https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il/il18/area-definitions-FY18.pdf https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il/il18/area-definit...
- dionidium 8y ago
  The overriding, pervasive problem with regional comparisons is that people give undue attention to non-standard, arbitrary distinctions -- e.g. political borders -- where comparisons across standardized areas (e.g. those defined by the OMB) would be more useful and generate more informative results. This is an example of a good comparison in a never-ending sea of bad ones.
dionidium 8y ago
That's correct. That's why we don't use arbitrary distinctions for proper regional comparisons and why groups like the OMB spend so much time developing standardized areas for comparison. Your comment is more revealing than even you may realize. There are an infinite number of political borders to be drawn around any "city," but changing those borders doesn't actually change anything about the reality on the ground. That's why it's important to make like-like comparisons.

That's true but they aren't arbitrary decisions designed to make one area look bad for the purposes of an article. They are well-defined areas [1] [2]. > Q10. What does the term "HMFA" mean? > HUD Metro FMR Area. This term indicates that only a portion of the OMB-defined metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is in the area to which the income limits (or FMRs) apply. HUD is required by OMB to alter the name of metropolitan geographic entities it derives from the MSAs when the geography is not the same as that established by OMB. Specifically the top 3 are: San Francisco, CA HMFA San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA HMFA Oakland-Fremont, CA HMFA [1] https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il/il18/FAQs-18r.pdf https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il/il18/FAQs-18r.pdf [2] https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il/il18/area-definitions-FY18.pdf https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il/il18/area-definit...

dionidium 8y ago
The overriding, pervasive problem with regional comparisons is that people give undue attention to non-standard, arbitrary distinctions -- e.g. political borders -- where comparisons across standardized areas (e.g. those defined by the OMB) would be more useful and generate more informative results. This is an example of a good comparison in a never-ending sea of bad ones.

dionidium 8y ago

That's correct. That's why we don't use arbitrary distinctions for proper regional comparisons and why groups like the OMB spend so much time developing standardized areas for comparison. Your comment is more revealing than even you may realize. There are an infinite number of political borders to be drawn around any "city," but changing those borders doesn't actually change anything about the reality on the ground. That's why it's important to make like-like comparisons.