Moving places: the geography of warehousing in the US

Changes in the way that raw materials, intermediate goods, and finished products move through the American economy have altered the role and increased the importance of warehouses. This article examines the changing geography of warehouses in the US between 1998 and 2005. The distribution of the warehousing industry is examined to discern the degree to which the expansion of warehousing has gravitated towards places with superior accessibility in the nation's air, maritime, rail, and highway transportation networks. The analyses indicate that the number of warehousing establishments in 2005 and the 1998-2005 growth in the number of warehousing establishments across a sample of 143 metropolitan counties were strongly correlated with county-level measures of accessibility in air and highway and to a lesser extent rail networks. These results could be useful to communities interested in harnessing this dynamic part of the economy for economic development. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.