At the end of each month, the AGS team takes a look back at articles and blog posts that we saw this month that stood out to us. Some are from news agencies, and many come from our partners, but not all use our data. Here is the round-up from March 2021.

OpenStreetMap and Corporate Influences

This article discusses the corporatization of the OSM project through the influence of large companies like Apple and Google.

OpenStreetMap Charts a Controversial New Direction – Bloomberg

Shopping Malls in  2021

As we move into 2021, what happens to traditional retail like the shopping mall? Can it bounce back from the pandemic?

How Will Shopping Malls Fare and Change in 2021? (siteseer.com)

Register for a webcast with AGS President Gary Menger

Join AGS President Gary Menger on April 7, 2021 as he discusses strategic data use for economic development on a webinar hosted by AGS partner GIS Planning.

Webinar – Data Talks: Strategic Use of Economic Development Data (gisplanning.com)

Keep Small Businesses Going

Half of all small businesses fail in the first 5 years. How can economic developers keep these small business going?

How Economic Developers Can Reduce the New Business Failure Rate – SizeUp

Changes to Metropolitan Areas

This article discusses the potential changes to the CBSA (county based statistical area) – the “metropolitan areas” of the country.   The census bureau is considering a change which would drop many of the smaller “micropolitan” areas from the list.  This changes funding arrangements, and local officials in these towns are less than amused at the thought.

Bye, Bismarck: 144 cities could lose status as metro areas | Fox Business

Is this the end of the office?

JPMorgan, Salesforce Join Growing List of Firms Dumping Office Space – WSJ

Migration changes across the U.S.

This article talks about changing migration patterns – people leaving high cost, high regulation states.  Is an interesting discussion.   COVID-19 is speeding up trends which have been going on for several years – interstate migration used to be towards the west coast, and is now increasingly to the southern states which tend to be less burdensome from a tax and regulation standpoint.   Also, the increasing mobility of the workforce as they are less and less tied to working in offices.

Chuck DeVore: Americans move to freedom – people fleeing these 5 states. Here’s why | Fox News