ROADBLOCKS TO MSA DESIGNATION -- Tese areas are a few of the items that stand in the way of Cape Girardeau being designated a Metropolitan Statistical Area: A county park, a cemetery and an industrial park. The U.S. Census Bureau requires that the "urban fringe" area must consist of continuous territory with a population density of a tleast 1,000 persons per square mile to receive an MSA designation. These areas do not qualify.

The Cape Girardeau area, one of the largest population and economic centers between St. Louis and Memphis, has a solid industrial base but doesn't quite qualify as a metropolitan area.

Although the area has more than 150 manufacturing facilities that employ more than 8,000 people, it is still too small to be metropolitan and too big to be rural, said John Mehner, president of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce.

The metropolitan designation comes from information taken in U.S. Census Bureau counts.

With such a title, Cape Girardeau would be listed among the 259 other metropolitan statistical areas around the country. The listing would benefit the area because it's one of the first things businesses and industries look for when it comes to expansion and new operations.

"When most major companies start scouting cities to move into, the MSA book is the first place they look," says Mitch Robinson, executive director for the Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association. "And, we're not in it."

But Cape Girardeau has attracted some large retail stores -- Sam's Club, Wal-Mart Supercenters and Red Lobster restaurant -- without an metropolitan designation.

There are six areas in Missouri designated as metropolitan. They are Columbia, St. Louis, Kansas City, Joplin, Springfield and St. Joseph.

Cape Girardeau came close to the designation in 1990 and in 1996, but never qualified.

The census bureau has complicated rules on what qualifies as a metropolitan area and Cape Girardeau meets the population requirement of 50,000 people only if surrounding territory is counted.

And the area qualifies because it includes two counties -- Cape Girardeau and Scott -- with combined populations of at least 100,000.

But the problem exists in the outlying areas of the region because the "urban fringe" must be contiguous territory with at least 1,000 people per square mile.

With two county parks, a cemetery and Interstate 55 separating Cape Girardeau and Jackson and the Nash Road Industrial Park between Cape Girardeau and Scott City, the land area is contiguous but uninhabited.

The census bureau is aware of the problem, Mehner said. "We have appealed to the bureau. But the bureau won't look at the situation until the next census and the bottom line is unless they change something, we don't qualify."

The next census will be taken in 2000. A special meeting will be held in January for suggestions concerning metropolitan statistical area.

If Cape Girardeau qualified for the MSA designation, it could mean the area qualified for federal block grants and economic development programs. And it could mean the area gets more looks from chain retailers and restaurants, Mehner said.

"We haven't given up the idea," he said. "But we just don't qualify at this time. We shouldn't be punished for having green space or industrial parks."

The Cape Girardeau area isn't the only region seeking an MSA designation. Paducah, Ky., is also seeking MSA status and faces some of the same problems.

The region's metropolitan area had included both Marshall and McCracken counties in Kentucky and Massac County in Southern Illinois, but it put the Illinois cities too far away to be included.

When Paducah last applied for metropolitan designation it was about 4,000 people short of the population requirement. Since then, the city population has dropped by about 600 as people move into the county.

But the region is still hopeful. "We're preparing to apply for MSA following the 2000 census," said Kristin Reese, president and CEO of the Greater Paducah Area Economic Development Council. The group is preparing a "complete count" of the region's population.

Like Paducah, the Cape Girardeau area is larger than it seems when counting population from outlying communities.

"If you don't visit the area and just look at the census data you don't get the full story," Robinson said. "It's not that we're losing projects, it's that we're not getting to bat as often as we should."