We're No. 6! We're No. 6!

The Brookings Institute’s “Job Sprawl Revisited: The Changing Geography of Metropolitan Employment” talks about something called “job sprawl.” It analyzed data from 1998 to 2006 to examine how employment has gradually moved away from the urban cores and into the suburbs in the top 98 metro areas.

Nationally, 21 percent of employees work within three miles of downtown, while 45 percent work more than 10 miles away from the city center.

The report shows that Atlanta is the 6th most decentralized city in terms of employment. In 2006, only 9.3% of Atlanta's jobs were within 3 miles of downtown and a whopping 63.2 percent were more than 10 miles from the city. The Brookings’ report noted, “Atlanta has never historically been a dense urban center, and it lacks any geographic barriers to check its outward growth.”

Although New York was the second most centralized city, in general, the larger the metro area, the more likely people are to work more than 10 miles away from downtown. In cities like Atlanta, Miami, Detroit, and L.A., less than 10% of the jobs were centralized within 3 miles of the urban core. The city with the lowest percentage of jobs greater than 10 miles from downtown was desert-bound Las Vegas (although Salt Lake and Phoenix had 28 and 24%, respectively).

Surprisingly, for all of its mass transit and urban growth controls, only 24% of the jobs in Portland were within 3 miles of downtown, while 46% were within 3-10 miles. However, only 29% of Portland's jobs were beyond 10 miles of downtown.

As cities grow, there are two ways for them to expand: vertically, using elevators as the means to move people around, or laterally, using automobiles to move people.

Automobiles cause pollution, contribute to global warming, consume petroleum that supports hostile regimes around the world, isolate us from our neighbors, and kill us in shocking numbers. Yet people love their cars.

Elevators bring people together, are energy efficient, and hardly ever malfunction, even more rarely fatally. Yet people despise elevators.

Job sprawl is known for its effect on the environment, infrastructure, tax base, quality of life, and more. Now, we must recognize what people sprawl means for the social health of the nation.

Update:Georgia placed 38th in a new “Happiness Index,” based on economic well-being in the U.S. The survey, from a personal finance site, found that the Midwest was one of the most financially content parts of the country. Nebraska ranked No. 1, followed by Iowa, Kansas, Hawaii, and Louisiana. Oregon was 51st in the survey, which also included Washington, D.C. Florida was 50, followed by California, 49, and Nevada, 48.

The ratings were based on a cross-section of key financial factors: average non-mortgage debt relative to average annual income, foreclosure numbers and unemployment rate. Georgia ranked 12th for average non-mortgage debt relative to average annual income, 44th in foreclosure numbers and 40th for unemployment rate.