data

Let's take a look at the Federally defined Urbanized Area (UZA). This is in contrast to the city, and the generally meaningless Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) which is most commonly cited. The appealing aspect of the UZA is that it represents a geographically contiguous area, usually clearly defined by the underlying infrastructure. It is also fun to say.

So, where is the Grand Rapids UZA?

Preamble: I'm going to start a new thing called the "Data Point" where I quickly put up a particular point of data. This is the first. There is a lot of data, there is a constant stream of data. And there is a lot of conversations. Sometimes these two streams do not appear to intersect. So: the Data Point. You provide the context and the narrative, but start with data.