IMHO, the reasoning of basing a "central" location based on population is
flawed.
It is true, statistically, that if you have 100 people from the east driving
2000 miles and 50 people from the west driving 2000 miles, then the
Easterners are driving a total of 200,000 miles and the Westerners are
driving a total of 100,000 miles.
But the fact that 99 other east coast drivers are doing that mileage means
exactly nothing to the 100th driver. He has to do the miles by himself, and
the distance traveled by anyone else is irrelevant. It is not the impact on
the group that matters, because they are not traveling as a group. They are
traveling as individuals, and so the impact that must be considered is the
impact on the individual.
So if you move the event so the westerners are driving more and the
easterners are driving less, all you have done is make westerners drive more
so easterners can drive less.
Rather, if everyone is doing roughly the same mileage, no matter where they
live, then you have the situation of being "equally inconvenient for all."
Topeka manages to accomplish that -- the New Yorker has about the same
distance as the Los Angelino; the guy from Seattle has about the same trek
as the guy from Miami; the guy from Chicago and the guy from Houston face
roughly the same journey (in *very* general numbers; don't go plotting
specific miles for me).
In this manner, if someone from New England is of a mind to go and someone
from San Francisco is of a mind to go, the matter of driving distance is
about the same impediment to each. Move the event significantly east, and
you have made it easier for the New Englander and he may be more likely to
go, but the San Franciscan facing an extra day of travel elects not to. In
the same manner, westerners may turn out in greater numbers if you put it in
Salt Lake City, while easterners would give it a pass.
Whether to attend, or not, is an individual decision, not a group decision.
The costs borne are individual costs, not group costs. Therefore choosing a
location should be based in individual impact, not group impact. If 100
people have to drive 2000 miles, it matters not if 75 of them are coming
from the east and 25 from the west. What matters is that all 100 have to
drive 2000 miles whether starting from San Diego, Walla-Walla, Syracuse or
Jacksonville.
Especially since there is no travel fund for Solo II (for the Runoffs, the
guy driving three times the distance from California to get to Mid-Ohio gets
a bigger cut of the Runoffs Travel fund than the guy driving from New York).
--Rocky Entriken
-----Original Message-----
From: Rick Cone <rickcone@bellsouth.net>
To: Rex Tener <rex_tener@yahoo.com>; bthatch@juno.com <bthatch@juno.com>;
autox@autox.team.net <autox@autox.team.net>
Cc: Rex Tener <rex_tener@yahoo.com>
Date: Thursday, August 16, 2001 1:25 PM
Subject: Re: SCCA national office move
>I am afraid Rex, it may be you joking, statistically anyway.
>
>According to the most recent US Census...
>http://www.census.gov/geo/www/cenpop/cntpop2k.html
>
>The median center of population in the US is........... Evansville, IN! Ok
>not quite but it is the next big city to the center.
>
>Due south of Evansville.... BIRMINGHAM AL....
>
>So using your numbers... If the offices were moved to the middle of the
>country, in terms of population) then you would have to drive 1852 (your
>number) + 342 (yahoo maps, Evansville to Topeka) for a total of 2194 miles.
>So it would be another 100 miles to get to Birmingham.
>
>IF we move the location of the Solo2 Nationals, we should do it based upon
>the geographic center of our membership. And I would contend if you
>compared the geographics of the SCCA and the US Population as a whole the
>center would move south, and east. Why? It would move south because we
are
>able to race close to year round, and our member to population rates will
be
>higher. (How many SCCA members are there that live/work in Manhattan? I
>would bet that Atlanta being a city 1/5 the size has more members then New
>York City... see what I mean? To further illustrate, 6 of the SCCA's area
>is East of the Mississippi.
>
>You could make a point that those of us east of Topeka, subsidizes those
>coming from the west.
>
>I'm all for Solo 2 Nationals being centrally located, or in the central
part
>of the country. But it should be based on where the membership lives.
>
>
>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Rex Tener" <rex_tener@yahoo.com>
>To: <bthatch@juno.com>; <autox@autox.team.net>
>Cc: "Rex Tener" <rex_tener@yahoo.com>
>Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2001 12:58 PM
>Subject: Re: SCCA national office move
>
>
>> At 12:35 PM 8/16/2001 -0400, bthatch@juno.com wrote:
>> >Rocky makes the point about geographic center of the nation as being
>> >important. Take a look at the map again, folks. Birmingham is closer to
>> >the center than most people think (almost due south of Chicago). It's
>> >south so the weather is good, and is a LOT closer to the population
>> >centers of this country than Denver or Topeka.
>>
>> Ben, you have to be joking! Birmingham in the center??? Yahoo maps
shows
>> it being 2300 miles to Birmhingham, 1852 miles to Topeka, and 1785 miles
>to
>> Dallas from the heart of the San Francisco region.
>>
>> I don't care where the SCCA HQ is located, but moving the location of the
>> Solo II Nationals any further from the West Coast is a huge mistake.
>>
>> Rex Tener
>> rex_tener@yahoo.com
>>
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