Midsize metropolitan cities ranked in the percentage of their jobs located within three miles of the central business district:Henry J. Cordes / World-Herald staff writer wrote:According to a recent Brookings Institution study, Omaha's central core — defined as downtown and the area three miles beyond — shed nearly 12,000 jobs between 2000 and 2010.
What's more, the study found that compared with other midsize metro areas, Omaha's central core ranks as a weak job center. Among the 58 midsize metros in the study, Omaha ranked 46th in percentage of its jobs that were located in the inner core.
Many demographers and urban planners say the movement of jobs from a city's center to its suburbs — called job sprawl — can create challenges, often leading to strained infrastructure, increased energy consumption, and less access to jobs for low-income and minority residents. Even as central Omaha evolves into a stronger center of recreation and culture, the city still needs to maintain a thriving and varied base of jobs in its core to be healthy, the urban planners say.
...
The 68102 ZIP code, the heart of downtown Omaha, came closer to holding its own but still lost nearly 600 jobs, about 2 percent. Nearly all Omaha ZIP codes east of 108th Street were losing jobs, with the highest losses in inner-core areas.
Conversely, nearly all of the metro job growth between 2000 and 2010 occurred in Sarpy County and in Douglas County west of I-680. The fast-growing 68154 ZIP code — the one that includes TD Ameritrade's new campus — now has more jobs than any other metro ZIP code, though the downtown ZIP code still has the most jobs per square mile by a significant amount.
1. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn. – 58.3 percent
2. Honolulu – 53.9
3. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pa.-N.J. – 50.3
4. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, Calif. – 47.4
5. Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pa. – 46.5
6. Modesto, Calif. – 45.5
7. New Haven-Milford, Conn. – 45.3
8. Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Fla. – 42.2
9. North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, Fla. – 40.4
10. Bakersfield-Delano, Calif. – 40.2
11. Boise City-Nampa, Idaho – 39.4
12. Syracuse, N.Y. – 37.8
13. Des Moines-West Des Moines – 37.5
14. Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, N.Y. – 37.2
15. Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y. – 36.3
16. Wichita, Kan. – 36.3
17. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. – 35.6
18. Jackson, Miss. – 35.5
19. Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla. – 35.3
20. Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, Ark. – 34.5
21. Provo-Orem, Utah – 33.8
22. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas – 33.6
23. Greenville-Mauldin-Easley, S.C. – 33.3
24. Colorado Springs, Colo. – 33.0
25. Springfield, Mass. – 32.8
26. Chattanooga, Tenn./Ga. – 32.6
27. Greensboro-High Point, N.C. – 32.2
28. Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa. – 31.8
29. New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La. – 31.6
30. Birmingham-Hoover, Ala. – 31.3
31. Lancaster, Pa. – 31.2
32. Worcester, Mass. – 31.0
33. Rochester, N.Y. – 30.7
34. Ogden-Clearfield, Utah – 30.6
35. Stockton, Calif. – 30.5
36. Madison, Wis. – 30.1
37. Columbia, S.C. – 30.1
38. Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio/Pa. – 27.3
39. Albuquerque, N.M. – 26.7
40. Oklahoma City, Okla. – 26.4
41. Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich. – 26.0
42. Akron, Ohio – 24.9
43. Augusta-Richmond County, Ga./S.C. – 24.8
44. Dayton, Ohio – 24.5
45. Toledo, Ohio – 23.8
46. Omaha-Council Bluffs – 23.3
47. Fresno, Calif. – 23.1
48. Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, S.C. – 21.7
49. Jacksonville, Fla. – 21.0
50. Richmond, Va. – 19.6
51. Tulsa, Okla. – 19.3
52. Tucson, Ariz. – 19.2
53. Knoxville, Tenn. – 18.6
54. El Paso, Texas – 18.5
55. Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y. – 18.1
56. Raleigh-Cary, N.C. – 15.4
57. Baton Rouge, La. – 15.1
58. Memphis, Tenn./Miss./Ark. – 12.4