Bismarck No Longer A City? These Feds Think So…

There is a federal movement afoot where Bismarck would be stripped of it's city-hood by the government.

How could this be?

It's called "metropolitan statistical area designation" and it means the removal of "city" status for 144 former United States cities, including North Dakota's own Capital City.  Well, if this Fed plan pans out, we would be a North Dakota Micropolitan population.  Yes my spell check flagged that word because it may be a made up word. But it's not because Wikipedia tells us differently. BUT WAIT...according to that article Micro-Ps have populations under 50,000 peoples. We have way more than that. So what's up?

Here's where AP News reports the Office of Management and Budget is proposing to move the designation of a "city" to metro areas over 100,000 peoples.  According to the census,  Bismarck is hovering around 73,529 so we have a way to go.  If we added Mandan's 22,752 peoples we still wouldn't make the cut.

Heck, Fargo has 124,600 and West Fargo comes up with another 37,000.  So basically, Fargo is sporting about 161,00 peoples since West Fargo is truly just more Fargo.

What does it mean to be a micropolitan city?  Back to the AP story.

A committee of representatives from federal statistical agencies recently made the recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget, saying it’s purely for statistical purposes and not to be used for funding formulas. As a practical matter, however, that is how it’s often used.

Several housing, transportation and Medicare reimbursement programs are tied to communities being metropolitan statistical areas, or MSAs, so the designation change concerns some city officials.

It's a little known fact that all villages, and townships, and hamlets, and boroughs, in North Dakota are recognized as being a city according to the state.  Go ahead and click here. This would be a topic that ND Representative Luke Simons would have vigorously argued where state law is above federal mandates. Of course he's not here to kick around anymore.

Bismarck, we may be designated micropolitan if we don't chirp up.