The document proposes a new geospatial coding system for sub-state regional units in the United States based on existing regional council boundaries. It assigns a numeric code to each state and region based on their geographic location to allow for easier aggregation and analysis of regional data compared to the existing alphabetic coding system. The new system is intended to make regional networks and data more visible and enable multi-regional analyses across state boundaries. Tables show the proposed numeric codes for each state and region based on the U.S. Census Bureau's existing regional divisions. Maps linked for each state show their regional council boundaries.

1. The Sub-State District/Regional Council as a Geospatial Unit of
Analytical Geography for the United States ©
Thomas J. Christoffel, AICP, FeRSA
Editor, Regional Community Development News
Regional Intelligence - Regional Communities, LLC
Box 1444 * Front Royal, Virginia (VA 22630)
Draft as of: 3/23/2011 4:23 PM
Selected Paper prepared for presentation at the Southern Regional Science Association (SRSA) Annual Meeting,
Regional Development Planning and Policy, New Orleans, Louisiana, March 25-28, 2011

2. Abstract - Introduction
States and their counties or equivalents are the two major political geographies in the
United States. National and State data is collected for these boundaries. When it comes to
regional analysis, the states are too large and the counties too small. Metropolitan statistical areas
reflect major regional economic relationships, but that focus leaves out the non-metro counties.
A longitudinal analysis for MSAs over decades is not fruitful, since the underlying composition
changes.
A geospatial unit of analysis that is used in many states and could be used nation-wide is
the sub-state district, generically known as the regional council. Over half of the states have a
complete system where the regional council is organized and may be a political subdivision.
Long term analysis can be done for these State standard regions. The analyses can be used by
these regions for programmatic purposes, such as economic development.
Data solutions exist for States with an incomplete system or no system. The products of
these base analyses would contribute to the analysis and planning by making the existing
regional networks more visible, enabling greater use of existing data and, for data like County
Business Patterns, overcome confidentiality concerns through multi-county datasets. It also
enables aggregation to multi-region datasets that fit the issue at hand, be it a watershed,
transportation corridor or other significant geography, in state or multi-state. Today, most
regional science practitioners have no awareness of the regional council networks that represent
a market for their work.
Geo-Coding Problem and Solution
Regional analysis in the United States is limited by the alphabetic FIPS codes which were
assigned in the 1960’s. The base codes were assigned alphabetically for states, then
alphabetically for counties and comparable geographies within states. This made it simple to
lookup individual state or county data in a list, but there is no inherent relationship between the
name of a political geographic unit and its location. See Figure 1.
2

3. Figure1. FIPS and Geographic Location
County locations within states have similar relationship and county FIPS do not aggregate
regionally.
Regional aggregation was accomplished with the establishment of Metropolitan
Statistical Areas (MSA) with specific codes. When introduced, most MSAs matched the
geography of early Metropolitan Councils of Government, as metropolitan planning was
encouraged in the 1950’s.
In 2011 and perhaps for the last 20 to 30 years, MSAs expanded their geography based
on workforce commuting. Labor market regions broadened as housing costs and transportation
networks encouraged and supported longer commuting trips. Job centers were located in once
suburban areas, but often the workforce could not live nearby and had an extended commute.
Widening patterns led to MSA overlap and designation of Combined and then
Consolidated MSAs (CMSA) where MSAs appeared to have grown together. While markets
may overlap in a short period of time, political jurisdictions stick to their geography and perhaps,
over time have become more comfortable with the neighboring jurisdictions that they were
obligated to join for a variety of Federal and State programs in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
Although MSA information is widely used, because the geographic makeup has changed
over time, there is little opportunity for long term analysis of change. Another issue with MSA
data is that the numbers used can obscure differences within the underlying territory. Lack of a
framework for Non-metro county economic analysis is also an issue. Census County Business
patterns are of little value because of suppression of data for confidentiality concerns. Multi-
county regions, as in the case of Public Use Samples, could allow for more data and better
analysis.
There was no comparable national system to aggregate non-metropolitan counties into
standard regions, although most states established some form of multi-county regional councils.
Some, like Virginia, used sub-state districts for data aggregation and use by other State agencies,
allowing the region number to act like a FIPS code.
3

4. In the 1990’s, commerce, industry and even workforce commuting expanded along
Interstate and Primary routes, showing connections between MSAs and a broad range of non-
metropolitan counties, often in adjoining states. To understand these relationships, there was
clear need for multi-regional analysis, but no data sets supported this. The author began work in
1998 to promote the development of such a system, submitting a comment to the U.S. Census
Bureau February 12, 1999 relative to: Alternative Approaches to Defining Metropolitan and
Nonmetropolitan Areas.
Continued work on the issue and a review of other national and international systems led
to the conclusion that a global geo-code system was needed, since existing formats had tended to
be based on an alphabetic approach. Given the multiplicity of regional alignments, multi-
national, multi-state, a global geo-code system appeared appropriate. The purpose of this paper is
to present the prototype design for the purpose of further consideration by the user communities.
The system is based on a geocode scheme set up for earth that focuses on established
political boundaries as a basis for regional grouping of nations, states and localities. It is decimal
system based to take advantage of the sort criteria for numbers in computers. It utilized the
Sector Group and Region codes of the United Nations and ISO. The unpublished paper: “Global
Region-builder Geo-Code Prototype” was presented at the Regional Studies Association, Pecs,
May 2010 and NARSC Denver Conference 2010.
The basic geocodes are:
0000 Earth
0900 Arctic Ocean
1000 Europe
2000 Africa
3000 Atlantic Ocean
4000 Antarctica
5000 Americas
6000 Pacific Ocean
7000 Oceana
8000 Asia
9000 Indian Ocean
The United States is in the Northern Grouping for the Americas, which contains five country
geographies. Two digit numbers were assigned using the NSEW method as follows:
1 northern grouping 5 1 10 Greenland
1 northern grouping 5 1 20 Canada
1 northern grouping 5 1 30 Saint Pierre and Miquelon
1 northern grouping 5 1 40 United States of America
1 northern grouping 5 1 50 Bermuda
1 northern grouping 5 1 60 United States Minor Outlying Islands
In the case of the U.S.A., the country has a region code of 5140 assigned as follows, Americas –
5; northern grouping – 1; NSEW country code – 40. A two digit country code is provided for
because some areas will have more than ten countries within a grouping.
4

5. Sub-Nation Geo-codes
Once a country code is established, the next task is to develop geo-codes based on the
sub-national political geography. In the U.S. that began with the States. The alphabetic FIPS
code do not enable geographic grouping. The U.S. Census Bureau has defined regions and
divisions and this framework was used to develop NSEW geo-codes. The goal is to use as much
of existing systems as possible.
Beginning in the Northeast Region with the New England Division, a NSEW path was
taken to assign State code numbers, seeking to maximize the analytical benefit of having relative
geographic relationships be visible in data tables, as well as be available for geographic
relationships. The first document was produced November 28, 2002. States and County datasets
have adequate geographic information system geocoding so that that would analytical
relationships can be mapped. The ultimate goal was to establish state and substate regional data
sets that can be compiled for analysis in a similar way.
Subsequent pages in this paper present proposed State geo-codes with reference maps and
links for each of the 51 states, collectively offering a complete Sub-State District/Regional
Council system of geospatial units for analysis. Because there is a matching governmental
organization for these regions, the analysis could be used and acted upon. This is rarely true for
MSA geographies or any other current system in the U.S. An example of the use of regional
council regions for multi-state analysis in the Mid-Atlantic is provided.
5

6. Table 1 – State Geo-Codes with Links to State Map of Regions
Region/State linked to
Division Geo-code region map page Abr. State FIPS
1. New England Division Northeast Region
1 Maine ME 23
2 New Hampshire NH 33
3 Vermont VT 50
4 Massachusetts MA 25
5 Rhode Island RI 44
6 Connecticut CT 9
2. Middle Atlantic Division Northeast Region
7 New York NY 36
8 New Jersey NJ 34
9 Pennsylvania PA 42
3. South Atlantic Division South Region
10 Delaware DE 10
11 Maryland MD 24
12 District of Columbia DC 11
13 Virginia VA 51
14 West Virginia WV 54
15 North Carolina NC 37
16 South Carolina SC 45
17 Georgia GA 13
18 Florida FL 12
4. East South Central Division South Region
19 Kentucky KY 21
20 Tennessee TN 47
21 Alabama AL 1
22 Mississippi MS 28
5. West South Central Division South Region
23 Louisiana LA 22
24 Arkansas AR 5
25 Oklahoma OK 40
26 Texas TX 48
6. East North Central Division Midwest Region
27 Michigan MI 26
28 Ohio OH 39
29 Indiana IN 18
30 Illinois IL 17
31 Wisconsin WI 55
7. West North Central Division Midwest Region
32 Minnesota MN 27
33 North Dakota ND 38
34 South Dakota SD 46
35 Iowa IA 19
36 Nebraska NE 31
37 Missouri MO 29
38 Kansas KS 20
8. Mountain Division West Region
39 Montana MT 30
40 Wyoming WY 56
41 Idaho ID 16
42 Nevada NV 32
43 Utah UT 49
44 Colorado CO 8
45 New Mexico NM 35
46 Arizona AZ 4
9. Pacific Division West Region
47 Alaska AK 2
48 Washington WA 53
49 Oregon OR 41
50 California CA 6
51 Hawaii HI 15
6

7. State Maps with Regional Councils and Alternatives
01. Maine
http://www.maine.gov/spo/landuse/techassist/regionalcouncillist.htm#map
Return to Table 1
7

8. 02. New Hampshire
Regional Planning Commissions
http://www.strafford.org/rpclinks.htm
1 - North County Council
2 - Lakes Region Planning Commission
3 - Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission
4 - Southwest Region Planning Commission
5a - Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission
5b - Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission
5c - Nashua Regional Planning Commission
6 - Rockingham Planning Commission
7 - Strafford Regional Planning Commission
Return to Table 1
8

9. 03. Vermont
http://www.vapda.org/index.html
Return to Table 1
9

10. 04. Massachusetts
http://www.pvpc.org/resource_center/affiliate-agencies.shtml
10

11. 05. Rhode Island
Counties as regions
http://www.dlt.ri.gov/lmi/maps/county.htm
11

12. 06. Connecticut
http://www.ct.gov/opm/cwp/view.asp?a=2986&q=390892
12

13. 07. New York
http://www.nysarc.com/
13

14. 08. New Jersey
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/maps/index.html
http://www.newjerseyvisitorsnetwork.com/regions/
14

15. 09. Pennsylvania
http://www.ncentral.com/index.php?page=luted
Northwest Pennsylvania Regional Planning & Development Commission
Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission
North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission
Southern Alleghenies Planning & Development Commission
Central: SEDA Council of Governments
Northern Tier Regional Planning & Development Commission
Central Region – no commission
Lehigh Valley Planning Commission
Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance
Southeast: Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
15

16. 10. Delaware
Counties as regions
http://dedo.delaware.gov/information/demographic_data/community_profile.shtml
16

17. 11. Maryland
Regional Planning Councils listing at MDOT
1 - Tri-County Council for Western Maryland
2 – Suburban Maryland - Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments
3 - Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland
4 - Baltimore Metropolitan Council
5 - Upper Shore Regional Council
6 - Mid-Shore Regional Council
7 - Tri-County Council for the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland
http://www.mdot.maryland.gov/Planning/Resources.html
17

18. 12. District of Columbia
Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments
http://www.mwcog.org/about/jurisdiction/
18

19. 13. Virginia
01 - LENOWISCO PDC
02 - Cumberland Plateau PDC
03 - Mount Rogers PDC
04 - New River Valley PDC
05 - Roanoke Valley-Alleghany RC
06 - Central Shenandoah PDC
07 - Northern Shenandoah Valley RC (formerly Lord Fairfax)
08 - Northern Virginia RC
09 - Rappahannock-Rapidan RC
10 - Thomas Jefferson PDC
11 - Region 2000 LGC (Formerly Central Virginia)
12 - West Piedmont PDC
13 - Southside PDC
14 - Commonwealth PDC (Formerly Piedmont)
15 - Richmond Regional PDC
16 - George Washington RC (Formerly RADCO)
17 - Northern Neck PDC
18 - Middle Peninsula PDC
19 - Crater PDC
22 - Accomack-Northampton PDC
23 - Hampton Roads PDC (combination of 20 Peninsula and 21 Southeastern
Virginia)
http://www.vapdc.org/aboutpdcs.htm
19

20. 14. West Virginia
Online map
http://www.region9wv.com/
1 - Region I Planning & Development Council
2 - Region II Planning & Development Council
3 - Regional Intergovernmental Council
4 - Region IV Planning & Development Council
5 - Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Council
6 - Region VI Planning & Development Council
7 - Region VII Planning & Development Council
8 - Region 8 Planning & Development Council
9 - Eastern Panhandle Regional Planning and Development Council-Region 9
10 - Belomar Regional Council - Region X
11 - Brooke Hancock Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission/Region
Planning & Development Council
http://www.regionvi.com/regionalcouncils.cfm
20

21. 15. North Carolina
http://www.ncregions.org/
A: Southwestern Commission
B: Land-of-Sky Regional Council
C: Isothermal Planning and Development Commission
D: High Country Council of
E: Western Piedmont Council of Governments
F: Centralina Council of Governments
G: Piedmont Triad Council of Governments
H: has been merged into other regions
I: Northwest Piedmont Council of Governments
J: Triangle J Council of Governments
K: Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments
L: Upper Coastal Plain Council of Governments
M: Mid-Carolina Council of Governments
N: Lumber River Council of Governments
O: Cape Fear Council of Governments
P: Eastern Carolina Council of Governments
Q: Mid-East Commission
R: Albemarle Commission
North Carolina's Regional Councils Association
http://www.ncregions.org/regcouncils.htm
21

22. 16. South Carolina
http://www.centralmidlands.org/sccogs.asp
22

23. 17. Georgia
Georgia Association of Regional Commissions
http://garc.ga.gov/main.php?Regional-Commissions-2
23

24. 18. Florida
Florida Regional Councils Association
http://www.ncfrpc.org/state.html
24

25. 19. Kentucky
01 Purchase Area Development District
02 Pennyrile Area Development District
03 Green River Area Development District
04 Barren River Area Development District
05 Lincoln Trail Area Development District
06 Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency
07 Northern Kentucky Area Devlopment District
08 Buffalo Trace Area Development District
09 Gateway Area Development District
10 FIVCO Area Development District
11 Big Sandy Area Development District
12 Kentucky River Area Development District
13 Cumberland Valley Area Development District
14 Lake Cumberland Area Development District
15 Bluegrass Area Development District
http://www.kcadd.org/District_Contacts.html
25

26. 20. Tennessee
MAAG Memphis Area Association of Governments
NWTDD Northwest Tennessee Development District
SWTDD Southwest Tennessee Development District
SCTDD South Central Tennessee Development District
GNRC Greater Nashville Regional Council
UCDD Upper Cumberland Development District
SETDD Southeast Tennessee Development District
ETDD East Tennessee Development District
FTDD First Tennessee Development District
http://www.discoveret.org/etdd/tdda.htm
26

27. 21. Alabama
Alabama Association of Regional Councils
1 Northwest Alabama Council of Local Governments
2 West Alabama Regional Commission
3 Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham
4 East Alabama - Regional Planning & Development Commission
5 South Central Alabama Development Commission
6 Alabama-Tombigbee Regional Commission
7 Southeast Alabama RP & DC
8 South Alabama Regional Planning Commission
9 Central Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission
10 Lee-Russell Council of Governments
11 North Central Alabama Regional Council of Governments
12 Top of Alabama Regional Council of Governments
http://www.alarc.org/
27

28. 22. Mississippi
NDPDD North Delta Planning and Development District - 1
SDPDD South Delta Planning and Development District - 2
NEMPDD Northeast Mississippi Planning and Development District - 3
TRPDD Three Rivers Planning and Development District - 4
GTPDD Golden Triangle Planning and Development District - 5
NCPDD North Central Planning and Development District - 6
CMPDD Central Mississippi Planning and Development District - 7
ECPDD East Central Planning and Development District - 8
SMPDD Southern Mississippi Planning and Development District - 9
SWMPDD Southwest Mississippi Planning and Development District – 10
Mississippi Association of Planning and Development Districts (MAPDD)
Map of Districts and information in Directory and PowerPoint PDFs at site.
http://www.cmpdd.org/mapdd.php
28

29. 23. Louisiana
Map and links at Louisiana.gov
http://wwwprd.doa.louisiana.gov/census/plandist.htm
1 PDC Regional Planning Commission
2 CRPC Capital Region Planning & Development Commission
3 SCPDC South Central Planning & Development Commission
4 ARDD Acadiana Regional Development District
5 IMCAL Imperial Calcasieu Regional Planning & Development Commission
6 KDRP Kisatchie Delta Regional Planning & Development District, Inc.
7 CDC The Coordinating & Development Corporation
8 NDRP North Delta Regional Planning & Development District
Louisiana Association of Planning and Development Districts
http://www.lapdd.org/index.php
29

30. 24. Arkansas
http://www.aiea.ualr.edu/research/pdd/default.html
Arkansas Planning and Development Districts
Central PDD
East PDD
Northwest EDD
Southeast EDD
Southwest PDD
West Central PDD
Western PDD
White River PDD
30

31. 25. Oklahoma
Map from Department of Human Services
1 Grand Gateway Economic Development Association - GGEDA
2 Eastern Oklahoma Economic Development District - EODD
3 Kiamichi Economic Development District - KEDDO
4 Southern Oklahoma Development Association - SODA
5 Central Oklahoma Economic Development District - COEDD
6 Indian Nations Council of Governments – INCOG – Tulsa
7 Northern Oklahoma Development Association - NODA
8 Association of Central Oklahoma Governments - ACOG
9 Association of South Central Oklahoma Governments – ASCOG
10 South Western Oklahoma Development Authority - SWODA
11 Oklahoma Economic Development Association - OEDA
Oklahoma Association of Regional Councils
http://www.oarcok.org/
31

32. 26. Texas
Region Name Number Abbreviation
Alamo Area Council of Governments 18 AACOG
Ark-Tex Council of Governments 5 ARK-TEX
Brazos Valley Council of Governments 13 BVCOG
Capital Area Council of Governments 12 CAPCOG
Central Texas Council of Governments 23 CTCOG
Coastal Bend Council of Governments 20 CBCOG
Concho Valley Council of Governments 10 CVCOG
Deep East Texas Council of Governments 14 DETCOG
East Texas Council of Governments 6 ETCOG
Golden Crescent Regional Planning Commission 17 GCRPC
Heart of Texas Council of Governments 11 HOTCOG
Houston-Galveston Area Council 16 H-GAC
Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council 21 LRGVDC
Middle Rio Grande Development Council 24 MRGDC
Nortex Regional Planning Commission 3 NORTEX
North Central Texas Council of Governments 4 NCTCOG
Panhandle Regional Planning Commission 1 PRPC
Permian Basin Regional Planning Commission 9 PBRPC
Rio Grande Council of Governments 8 RGCOG
South East Texas Regional Planning Commission 15 SETRPC
South Plains Association of Governments 2 SPAG
South Texas Development Council 19 STDC
Texoma Council of Governments 22 TEXOMA
West Central Texas Council of Governments 7 WCTCOG
Texas Association of Regional Councils
http://www.txregionalcouncil.org/display.php?page=regions_map.php
32

33. 27. Michigan
Michigan Association of Regions
http://www.miregions.org/about.html
33

34. 28. Ohio
Ohio Association of Regional Councils
http://regionalcouncils.org/members
Greater regional pattern can be seen with Ohio Area Agencies on Aging
http://www.aaa11.org/findaaa.asp
34

35. 29. Indiana
Indiana Association of Regional Councils
http://www.iarc.cc/members/council-directory/
Indiana MPO Council – MPOs fill center – data regions can be used for balance
http://www.indianampo.com/
35

36. 30. Illinois
Illinois Association of Regional Councils
http://www.ilarconline.org/
Greater regional pattern can be seen with Illinois DOT Regions and Distiricts
http://www.dot.state.il.us/idotmap.html
36

37. 31. Wisconsin
Association of Wisconsin Regional Planning Commissions (AWRPC)
http://www.awrpc.org/
Wisconsin Department of Commerce - Regional Planning Commissions
http://www.commerce.state.wi.us/bd/BD-RPC-map.html
37

38. 32. Minnesota
1 Northwest Regional Development Commission
2 Headwater Regional Development Commission
3 Arrowhead Regional Development Commission
4 West Central Initiative
5 Development Commission
6E Mid-Minnesota Regional Development Commission
6W Upper Minnesota Valley Regional Development Commission
7E East Central Regional Development Commission
7W Economic Development Region 7W
8 Southwest Regional Development Commission
9 Development Commission
10 Southeast Economic Development & Planning Region 10 - no organization
11 Metropolitan Council
Map at Minnesota Department of Transportation - Transportation Planning Partners
Minnesota Metropolitan and Regional Planning Organizations
http://www.dot.state.mn.us/planning/program/MPORDC.html
Minnesota Regional Development Commissions
http://www.mrdo.org/
38

39. 33. North Dakota
North Dakota Department of Commerce Regional Councils
1 Tri County Regional Development Association
2 Souris Basin Planning Council
3 North Central Planning Council
4 Red River Regional Council
5 Lake Agassiz Regional Council
6 South Central Dakota Regional Council
7 Lewis and Clark Regional Development Council
8 Roosevelt-Custer Regional Council
http://www.communityservices.nd.gov/community/block-grant/regional-council/
39

40. 34. South Dakota
South Dakota Department of Environment & Natural Resources - listing and map link
http://denr.sd.gov/dfta/wwf/techassistance.aspx#Planning
South Dakota's nine tribal governments
http://www.sdtribalrelations.com/tribes.asp
40

41. 35. Iowa
Area 15 Regional Planning Commission
Bi-State Regional Commission - BSRC
Chariton Valley Planning and Development Commission
East Central Intergovernmental Association - ECIA
East Central Iowa Council of Governments - ECICOG
Iowa Northland Regional Council of Governments - INRCOG
Metropolitan Area Planning Agency - MAPA
MIDAS Council of Governments
North Iowa Area Council of Governments - NIACOG
Northwest Iowa Planning and Development Commission - NWIPDC
Region 6 Planning Commission
Region XII Council of Governments
Siouxland Interstate Metropolitan Planning Council - SIMPCO
Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission - SEIRPC
Southern Iowa Council of Governments - SICOG
Southwest Iowa Planning Council - SWIPCO
Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission – UERPC
Iowa Association of Regional Councils
http://www.iarcog.com/FindCOG.htm
41

42. 36. Nebraska
Development Districts tab at Nebraska Community & School Websites
http://www.neded.org/files/assist/neweb.html
42

43. 37. Missouri
1 Boonslick Regional Planning Commission
2 Bootheel Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission
3 East-West Gateway Coordinating Council
4 Green Hills Regional Planning Commission
5 Harry S Truman Coordinating Council
6 Kaysinger Basin Regional Planning Commission
7 Lake of the Ozarks Council of Local Governments
8 Mark Twain Regional Council of Governments
9 Meramec Regional Planning Commission
10 Mid-America Regional Council
11 Mid-Missouri Regional Planning Commission
12 Mo-Kan Regional Council
13 Northeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission
14 Northwest Missouri Regional Council of Governments
15 Ozark Foothills Regional Planning Commission
16 Pioneer Trails Regional Planning Commission
17 South Central Ozark Council of Governments
18 Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission
19 Southwest Missouri Council of Governments
Missouri Association of Councils of Governments
http://www.macogonline.org/rpcs.htm
43

44. 38. Kansas
Map and History
“In 1971, an executive order laid the groundwork for the creation of additional multi- county
regional planning commissions in the state by officially establishing eight planning and
development regions. Since then, some of these regional organizations have disbanded.”
Source: pgs. 10 - 11 “Directory of Planning Agencies U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Region 7 - IOWA, KANSAS, MISSOURI, & NEBRASKA - Last Updated: June 2008”
http://www.epa.gov/region7/grants_funding/pdf/updated_planning_ag_directory_6_2008.pdf
1 Northwest Kansas Planning and Development Commission
2a North Central Regional Planning Commission
2b Flint Hills Regional Council
3 Data region
4 Mo-Kan Regional Council
5 Mid-America Regional Council
6 Great Plains Development Inc. - Southwest Region
7 South Central Kansas Economic Development District
8 Southeast Kansas Prosperity Foundation
Note: Map modified to include Flint Hills Regional Council
44

45. 39. Montana
Workforce Regions are based on Montana Association of Counties Districts
https://jobs.mt.gov/jobs/seeker/search/search.seek?actionButton=searchRegion
http://maco.cog.mt.us/Counties/MAPofCounties.htm
45

46. 40. Wyoming
Wyoming Department of Employment, Research & Planning
http://doe.state.wy.us/lmi/0406/map.htm
Wyoming Economic Development Association – no map
http://www.wyomingeda.org/
46

47. 41. Idaho
Economic Development Districts of Idaho, Inc.
http://www.growingidaho.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=members.main
1 Panhandle Area Council (PAC)
2 Clearwater Economic Development Association (CEDA)
3 Sage Community Resources, Inc.
4 Region IV Development Association, Inc. (RIVDA)
5 Southeast Idaho Council of Governments (SICOG)
6 East Central Idaho Planning and Development Agency
47

48. 42. Nevada
Only multi-county map from NV Energy - a private company
http://www.nvenergy.com/economicdevelopment/regional/
Nevada districts/regions include parts of counties. Nevada Tourism - Territory map follows::
http://travelnevada.com/nevada-maps.aspx
48

49. 43. Utah
Map and links.
http://www.governor.state.ut.us/planning/aog/aog.htm
49

50. 44. Colorado
Map
http://dola.colorado.gov/demog/region_profiles.html
1 - Northeastern Colorado Association of Local Governments
2 - North Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization
3 - Denver Regional Council of Governments
4 - Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments
5 - East Central Council of Local Governments
6 - Southeast Colorado Enterprise
7 - Pueblo Area Council of Governments
8 - San Luis Valley Development Resources Group, Inc.
9 - Economic Development District of SW Colorado, Inc.
10 - League for Economic Assistance & Planning, Inc.
11 - Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado
12 - Northwest Colorado Council of Governments
13 - Upper Arkansas Area Council of Governments
14 - South Central Council of Governments
Links to regions
http://dola.colorado.gov/dlg/resources/regions.html
50

51. 45. New Mexico
PDF brochure with state map at New Mexico Association of Regional Councils
http://swnmcog.org/links/newmarc.html
Regional Planning Districts/Councils of Governments
1 Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments
2 North Central NM Economic Development District
3 Mid Region Council of Governments
4 Eastern Plains Council of Governments
5 Southwest Council of Governments
6 Southeastern NM Economic Development District
7 South Central Council of Governments
Links to regions
http://cpi.nmdfa.state.nm.us/content.asp?CustComKey=202522&CategoryKey=202553&pn=Pag
e&DomName=cpi.nmdfa.state.nm.us
51

52. 46. Arizona
Central Arizona Association of Governments (CAAG)
Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG)
Northern Arizona Council of Governments (NACOG)
Pima Association of Governments (PAG)
South Eastern Arizona Governments Organization (SEAGO)
Western Arizona Council of Governments (WACOG)
Map and Links
http://www.azmag.gov/archive/AZ-COGs/index.asp
52

53. 47. Alaska
Map and links to regions: http://www.dec.state.ak.us/SPAR/perp/permits_new/other_ancla.htm
1. Anchorage Economic Development Corporation
2. Bering Strait Development Council
3. Copper Valley Development Association
4. Fairbanks North Star Borough Economic Development Commission
5. Interior Rivers Resource Conservation & Development Council
6. Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District
7. Lower Kuskokwim Economic Development Council
8. Mat-Su Resource Conservation & Development, Inc.
9. Northwest Arctic Borough Economic Development Commission
10. Prince William Sound Economic Development District
11. Southeast Conference
12. Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference
Map and links to regions: http://www.commerce.state.ak.us/ded/dev/ardor/ardor.htm
53

54. 48. Washington
Map & links to regions
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/planning/Regional/
54

55. 49. Oregon
Map and links to regions
http://www.oedd.org/members.htm
Cascades West Economic Development District
CCD Business Development Corporation
Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council
Columbia-Pacific Economic Development District
Greater Eastern Oregon Development Corporation
Mid-Columbia Economic Development District
Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments
South Central Oregon Economic Development District
Northeast Oregon Economic Development District
South Oregon Regional Economic Development, Inc.
Portland Regional Partners/Portland-Vancouver Economic Development District
55

56. 50. California
Map of California MPOs and RTPAs PDF
http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/tpp/offices/orip/list/agencies.html
Directory of California's Councils of Government (COGs) online
http://www.calpin.ca.gov/directory/cog.php
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57. Map next page
Map p. 48 – “California Planners' 2011 Book of Lists” – PDF
http://www.opr.ca.gov/index.php?a=planning/publications.html#pubs-C
California Association of Councils of Governments - CALCOG
http://www.calcog.org/members/members.html
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58. 51. Hawaii
Counties Map - Census
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/maps/hawaii_map.html
County Links
http://hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/economic/library/county-info
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59. Multi-Regional Analysis
How do geo-codes enable region-building for analysis? Examples follow for the Mid-
Atlantic Region where Regional Council geography is the Unit of Analysis.
State Codes are: 5140-08 New Jersey, 5140-09 Pennsylvania, 5140-10 Delaware, 5140-
11 Maryland, 5140-12 District of Columbia, 5140-13 Virginia and 5140-14 West Virginia.
Counties and, in the case of Virginia, Cities were geo-coded to existing regional council regions.
Where a multi-jurisdictional region did not exist, a Data Region was created.
The alignment of data from alphabetic FIPS to aggregation by regions follows for
Charles City County located near Richmond, Virginia. The table below shows the County in its
alphabetic position.
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60. Here the County appears in relationship to the other localities of the Richmond Regional
Planning District Commission sorted using its region number 15.
This enabled creation of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Areas map which was used
for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Roundtables which were first organized in 2005 and are
now maintained by the Regional and Intergovernmental Planning Division of the American
Planning Association.
Mid-Atlantic population growth for the period 2000-2005 is shown by region in the maps
below for Net Population Change and Percent Population Change. Boundaries are shown for the
Multi-State combinations of Sub-State regions in the Mid-Atlantic.
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61. The perspective given by the regions, which, for the most part have regional planning and
development organizations, is one that could not be seen via County or MSA geography.
Compared to the MSA geography, the regional council geography is a basis for local government
coordination of land use planning and regional services.
This land use analysis compares Dwelling Unit densities by region.
Loss of countryside – viewshed? Region land area less Federal and
State Lands – including Urban Areas
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62. Overall density in 2005 drops when Urban areas pulled out –
with time series one could see better the sprawls as build out occurs.
The purpose of this paper is to: (1) present this effort to researchers and practitioners, (2) to find
people who may be interested in this project for analysis of other multi-jurisdictional regions in
state or multi-state geographies and to increase visibility of regional council geography and
organizations in the U.S. As geo-political regions, they can also be used as regional communities
to be taken into account for redistricting for State Houses and Congressional Districts.
The geo-codes can be used for compilation of topics using tags for geography and subject as
shown at http://delicious.com/I.see.regions.work and Regional Community Development News
http://regional-communities.blogspot.com/
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63. 01. Maine
02. New Hampshire
03. Vermont
04. Massachusetts
05. Rhode Island
6. Connecticut
07. New York
08. New Jersey
09. Pennsylvania
10. Delaware
11. Maryland
12. District of Columbia
13. Virginia
14. West Virginia
15. North Carolina
16. South Carolina
17. Georgia
18. Florida
19. Kentucky
20. Tennessee
21. Alabama
22. Mississippi
23. Louisiana
24. Arkansas
25. Oklahoma
26. Texas
27. Michigan
28. Ohio
29. Indiana
30. Illinois
31. Wisconsin
32. Minnesota
33. North Dakota
34. South Dakota
35. Iowa
36. Nebraska
37. Missouri
38. Kansas
39. Montana
40. Wyoming
41. Idaho
42. Nevada
43. Utah
44. Colorado
45. New Mexico
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64. 46. Arizona
47. Alaska
48. Washington
49. Oregon
50. California
51. Hawaii
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