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THE WISCONSIN GEOGRAP HER

Vo lume 1 Sprin g 1985

TABLE OF CON TE NTS

EDITOR'S NOTES . . . •.... . ... . Virgil Hol der

ARTICLES

Tertiary Activities in Wi sconsin Cities. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Donald D. Stetzer

Populat i on Change in Wisconsin, 1970-80 . .. . ........ , 10 Sh yam S. Bhatia

20Population Change in West Central Wiscons in Gene Edwards and Vi rgil Holder

The Generic Use of the Term Coulee in Wester n Wisconsin. . . . . 35 John Hoefer

41Change in the Southern Wis consin Dairy Area Dennis M. Richter

The Development of Lumbering in the Nicolet National Forest . . . 56 Carl Krog

The Locational Significance of Manmade Protec tive Structures on the Lake Mich igan Shoreline of

72Milwaukee Coun ty , Wis consin . ...... . . Doug Jierschek

EDITOR'S NOTES

The first issue of The Wisco nsin Geographer has taken a long time in getting to you. There are ma ny reasons and excuses for the delay, but I hope you will find this issue wor t h the wait. Hopefully, we will be back on schedule th is year. Th i s issue is mailed to members as of spring 1985. If you know of someone who would like a copy of this issue, there wi l l be a f ew copi es ava il abl e fo r $5.00 a copy.

This year we plan to form an editori al review board to evaluate articles f or subsequent publi cati on. If you have not been contacted about serving on the review staff and you are in t erested, please contact me . Also we would like to have con structive comments con­cerni ng The Wisconsin Geographer . We do plan t o upgrade the quality of pr in ting and binding of the journal in the years ahead. If you can be of as s is tance i n th i s, pl ease do so.

The Wiscon sin Counc i l has been active du ring the past two ye ars. The meetings in La Crosse ('84) and Mil waukee ('85) were well attended and the programs we re excellent. The execut i ve comm i ttee met in Oconomowoc duri ng the Wisconsin Council f or Soc i al Studies (WCSS) meeting and we al so conducted a program on s ummer Workshops in Geography for Publ i c School Teachers. We had excellent attendance at the geography program, and we were told to be more active at future meetings of the WCSS and to be more active in precollegiate school programs.

The success of geography at your school, in t he st ate and in the nat i on depends on eac h of us. If you are not a member of the WCGE, joi n now. Ask other geographer s t o jo i n. Wi th each new member we become s tronger and better . The strength of geogr aphy in Wisconsin has a l ong hi storical trad i t ion . Let's not let i t fade .

AC KN OWL EDGMENT

Many people have been i nv ol ved in pu t t i ng th i s issue together. gr atefully ac knowledge al l the ass i stance I have received. First, t he contri butors have been very patient in waiting for responses from me concerni ng t heir ar t i cl es. The UW - La Crosse graphics lab did t he cover for me. Fi nally, Car ol Franz en, secretary to the Geography Depar tment at UW - La Crosse, is resp onsible for getting t hi s issue completed.

1

ARTICLES

TERTIARY ACTIVITIES IN WISCONSIN CITIES

by

Donald F. Stetzer University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point

Cities continually change their functions as t hey progress t hrough

time in response to chan ges in technology and in socioeconomic f ac tors .

In recent years the economy of Wisconsi n cities has become inc reasi ng ly

dominated by tertiary activities (dispensing of services), accompan i ed by

a decline in secondary activities (manufacturing). This paper reviews

this shift in activities in Wisconsin cities i n the thirty-year per i od

from 1950 thr ough 1980 (see Table 1) .

Many problems in terminology exist in deal ing wi th tertiary

activities, which are often loosely referred to as the service economy.

There is no consistent use of the term "services ", and many wr iters evi­

dently refer to cities as service centers when only par t ic ul ar categories

of employment are int ended. Such a lack of consi stency in termi nology

makes comparisons and prec is ion in description difficu l t. Sever al

studies (Harris, 1943 and Ne lson, 1955) have been mad e on the classifica­

tion of cit i es for particular time periods, but little pr ecedent exists

for compar i ng cit i es over a period of time (Stetzer, 1983).

In this paper an attempt will be made to more cl early outline the

types of te r t i ary acti vit ies, propose new gr oup i ngs, an d relate t hem to

U.S. Bureau of t he Census defin iti ons. The Census Bu r eau uses t he t erm

"services" to refer to a much narrower range of activities t han is common l y

in use. In order t o red uce ambiguity, tertiary activities will be divided

into broad categories : Census serv ices and non-Census services. Th is

latter group, hereafter, will be called "quasiservices". These quasiser­

vices will in turn be divi ded into two subcategories on the basis of

ownership: Commerc ial and Semipubl i c. The Commercial quasiservices are

provided by privately owned bus i nesses, but the Semipublic quasiservices

are provided by government or government-regu l ated enterprises. Th is

system of grouping will be used in the subsequent analysis of Wi sconsin

cities.

2

- - -

3

TABLE 1

BREAKDOWN OF ACTIVITIES IN WI SCONSIN 1950-1980

1950 1960 1970 1980

Act ivities Workers % Workers % Workers % Workers %

Pri mary1 275,357 20.3 214 ,444 14.6 114,038 6.7 121,071 5.7

Secondary2 481,191 35.5 555 , 500 37.8 614, 175 36.1 697,003 33.0

Terti ary3 598,735 44. 2 698 ,687 47.6 975,416 57.3 1,296,399 61.3

TOTAL 1,355,283 1, 468,631 1,703,629 2,114,473

1Includes agric ult ure, fishing, mining, and forestry.

2Includes manufacturing and construc t ion.

3Includes transportation and communi cat i ons ; utilities ; wholesale trade; retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; public admin i stration; and services.

4

The cities chosen for study are t he largest urban areas in the st ate;

and in order to be inc l uded, t hey must have over 10 ,000 peop le for any

cen sus peri od . Th ere are twenty-ni ne cities in all , but on ly twenty-three

appeared in all census years. Ur ban i zed area informati on is used when

available. In some cas es, cities cl ose t ogether t ha t were judged to form

a single soci oeconomi c unit we re comb ined into f r ee-st and i ng ci ties.

Census Services

The mos t widely accepted category of services consists of servi ces

for bus i ness and repa ir , entert ainment and per sonal car e, and profes sion al

care (Table 2). This gr oup of tert i ary acti vities has shown the greatest

growth, account ing for a city average of 30.6 percent of empl oyment in

1980, when the fi rst ti me it exceeded manufact uring emp l oyment (Table 3).

Wi thi n t he Cen su s Bureau def inition of serv ices, Profe ss ional Services is

clearly the dom in ant subcategory, comprising abo ut th r ee-fourths of Cens us

Services. This subcat egory i nclude s servic es deal ing with he alth,

educ ati on, law, rel igion, engineering, and welfare . Bu t by f ar the

largest component of Profess ional Servi ces deals wi th hea lth an d education.

Wisconsi n ci t i es have shown gr eat inc reases i n Profess iona l Services since

1950 as ci t izens have deman ded an upgradi ng i n educ at ion an d healt h care.

Le ading citi es i n t his category incl ude the un ive r s i t y town s of Mad ison,

Stevens Point, Eau Clai re, La Cross e , Whi tewater, and Me nominee .

Mars hf iel d has become a center fo r health care.

Qu as i services

The Commercial quas iservices i nclude the well -known funct i ons of

re t ailing; wholesaling; and f inance, insurance, and rea l est at e (Table 4).

All of these f unctions have posted gains i n recent years, al though

retailing conti nues t o be the leading f unct ion i n t his cat egory. This

group of fu ncti ons is f ound i n all ci t ies and does no t show a great var ia­tion from city t o ci t y.

The Semipub lic quasi serv ices inc lude t ransportation and communica­

tions, ut ili ties , and public adm i nis tration (Tab le 4). Alt ho ugh these

activi t ie s have shown a modest growth in absolute numbers, t hey have shown

a steady dec line as a percent age of the urban l abor force. Su perior long

has been a leader in this gr ou p, owing to a large component of t ransporta­

tion employees engaged i n port operat ions.

5

TABLE 2

EMPLOYMENT IN WISCONSIN 1950-1980

Employment Cate90ry 1950 1960

TOTAL CENSUS SERVICES 205,741 261,332

Professional Services 106,090 163,204 Business an d Repair Services 32,115 29,261 Personal and Entertainment

Services 67,536 68,867

TOTAL COMMERCIAL Q~ASISERVICES 266,670 303,252

Retail Trade 194,259 217,932 Wholesale Trade 39,530 40,121 Finance, Insurance, and

Real Estate 32,881 45,199

TOTAL SEMIPUBLIC QUASISERVICES 126,324 133,803

Transportation & Communications 68,077 63,495 Utilities 17,309 18,474 Public Administration 40,938 51,834

MANUFACTURING 414,643 483,783

OTHER1 341,905 286,461

1,355,283 1,468,631

1970

417,637

311,190 37,485

68,962

404,119

279,956 59,526

64,637

153,660

64,755 24, 130 64,775

528,407

199,806

1,703,629

1980

566,874

435,609 62,262

69,003

532,463

348,156 79,267

105,040

197,062

95,394 25,641 76,027

602,507

215,567

2,114,473

1Inc l udes Agriculture, Mining, Fishing, Forestry, and Not Reported. "

6

TABLE 3

CENSUS SERVICE AND MANUFACTURING EMPLOYMENT AS A PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL EM PLOYM ENT IN

WISCONSIN CIT IES, 1950- 1980

CENSUS SE RV ICES1 MANU FACTURING

1950 1960 1970 1980 1950 1960 1970 1980

Appleton2 17.0 16. 0 23. 4 25. 0 37.8 44 .6 39.2 36.8 Ashland 27.1 27.3 15.8 15.9 Beaver Dam 19.2 20.2 25.7 28. 3 42. 0 36.7 36.8 34.1 Be 1 oit 16. 7 19.0 23.0 22 .3 52 . 7 48.3 45 .7 46.0 Chippewa Falls 23.9 28. 5 32 . 2 32.1 30.0 27.4 29.8 27.2 Eau Claire 20. 7 25.4 34 . 1 35.7 34.3 27.7 22.6 17.3 Fond du Lac 17.6 23. 6 26.5 29.2 30.2 31 .2 30.8 27.1 Green Bay 18.3 20. 0 26.3 27 .6 27.1 28.9 26.6 25.8 Janesville 16 . 7 16.9 21.8 27.4 42.1 44.6 41.2 30.4 Kenosha 13.1 16 .1 22.1 26 .5 58.5 52.3 44.0 41 .1 La Crosse 20. 1 25.8 31 .6 35.7 35.8 30.3 25.7 21.0 Madison 33. 7 36. 2 44 .3 44.1 16.6 15.6 11 .2 9.3 Mani towoc 3 15.2 14. 6 22. 1 22.2 48.8 SO.8 45.0 44. 7 Marinette 15 . 3 16. 8 24.2 27.2 39.3 3S. 0 35.6 34 .0 Marshfield 22. 4 26.1 35.9 41 .0 3 .5 31.6 23.1 20.1 Menomonie 45.0 46.0 13.3 8.6 Mi lwaukee 15.6 17 .2 24. 4 28.2 42. 4 40.8 34.7 31.1 Mo nroe 24.9 23.3 Oshkosh 16. 5 21.3 30. 1 31.8 41.2 38.4 30 .5 28. 1 Racine 13.5 17. 0 21. 7 23.9 5S.2 51.3 47.8 4S.6 Sheboygan 16.7 17.2 21.8 24.1 47.2 44.7 42.0 41.5 Stevens Point 21.2 22.8 30.0 37.3 26.9 26.0 17.2 14. 1 Sun Prai ri e 25.3 17.6 Super ior 19.3 19.1 30.4 31.6 12.0 13.1 13.1 13.4 Watertown 19. 3 19.3 25.0 28.4 35 .4 37.9 34.9 34.9 Wau sau 19.2 21. 7 25.8 24 .9 36.2 31 .8 28 .5 25.6 Wes t Bend 23.0 24.8 43.4 38.2 Whitewater 43.3 44 .0 17.4 15.8 Wi sconsin Rap ids 16. 7 16.8 20.6 25.7 45 .7 48 .5 39.1 34. 6

Average 19.0 21.3 28.2 30. 6 36.9 35.6 31.5 22 .7

-- Not Reported

1Incl udes Professional Services, Business and Re pai r Services, and Per sonal and Entertainmen t Services.

2Inc ludes Menas ha and Neenah i n 1950 and 1960.

3I ncludes Two Ri vers in al l census years .

7

TABLE 4

QUASISERVICE EMPLOYMENT AS A PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL EMPLOYMENT IN WISCONSIN CITIES

1950-1980

COMMERCIALl SEMIPUBLIC2

1950 1960 1970 1980 1950 1960 1970 1980

Appleton3 22.0 25. 3 25.0 26.6 23.2 14.1 12.4 11 .6 Ashland 27 . 1 28.0 28.1 19. 1 Beaver Dam 23. 1 25.6 24.5 23.3 15.7 12.0 13.0 14 .3 Beloit 19.2 18.3 20.7 21.2 11 .4 14.4 10.6 10.5 Chi ppewa Fall s 22.8 23.7 23.3 26.3 23.3 16.7 14.7 14.4 Eau Claire 26.7 27 .6 28.0 31.9 18.3 19.3 15.3 15. 1 Fond du Lac 28.5 23.7 26.0 32.6 23.7 21.5 12.4 11 . 1 Green Bay 29.9 27.3 29.9 30.5 24.7 23.8 17.2 16. 1 Janesville 22.2 20.1 22. 1 28.4 19.0 18.4 14.9 13.8 Kenosha 17.5 17.5 21 .7 21.2 10.9 14.1 12.9 11. 2 La Crosse 25.3 25.9 26.4 28.6 18.8 18.0 16.3 14.7 Madison 26.9 24.6 26.3 28.5 22.8 23.6 18.2 18.0 Manitowoc4 20.3 19.9 22.8 22.0 15.7 14.7 10.1 11. 1 Mari nette 27.5 26.7 26.6 30.0 17.9 21.5 14.1 8.8 Marshfield 29.5 27.0 29.3 26.3 16.6 15.3 11 .7 12.6 Menomonie 27.9 32.5 7.4 8.3 Milwaukee 23.3 22.6 26.4 27.1 18.7 19.4 14.5 13.6 Monroe 36.6 6.4 Oshkosh 26.4 24.6 26.8 29.2 15.9 15.7 12.6 10.9 Rac i ne 18.6 18.4 20.7 20.3 12.7 13.3 9.8 10.2 Sheboygan 24.2 24 . 1 25.0 24.5 11.9 14.0 11. 2 9.9 Stevens Point 30.9 30.9 34.4 35.9 21.0 20.3 18.4 12.7 Sun Prairie 32.6 18.4 Superior 27.3 28.0 26.7 29.5 41.4 39.8 29.8 25.5 Watertown 24.7 23.6 27.0 24.1 20.6 19.2 13. 1 12.6 Wausau 28.0 30.7 31.5 34.6 16.6 15.8 14.2 14.9 West Bend 20.8 24.8 7.9 8.1 Wh itewater 30.6 34.9 3.2 4.0 Wi sconsin Rapids 20.0 19.3 23.1 25.4 17.6 15.4 17 . 2 14.3

Average 24.7 24.3 25.9 28.2 19.4 18.3 13.6 12.6

-- Not Reported

l Includes Retail Trade; Wholesale Trade; and Finance , Insurance, and Real Estate .

2Includes Transportation and Communications; Utilities ; and Public Administration.

3Includes Menasha and Neenah in 1950 and 1960.

4Includes Two Rivers in all census years.

8

Manufact uring Dec li ne

As the t ertiary sector has grown, there has been a decline in the

man ufact uring sector of the stat e economy (Table 3) . Almost all cities

have shown a decline in manufact ur i ng percent ages, and a f ew have shown a decl ine i n the number of work er s as we ll . Of the t wen t y-three ci ti es that appear ed in al l cens us years, ei ghteen cities had man ufact ur i ng as

t he l ead ing empl oyment in 1950; bu t by 1980 the number had f al l en to eleven.

Sout heastern Wisconsin is part of t he American Manufact ur i ng Bel t ,

a region undergoi ng a pai nf ul readj us t ment i n i ts economic structur e. Many fi rms have cut back their operat i ons in t he state or r elocat ed el se­

where. Moreover, the impact of au t omation undoubtedly has been a strong factor in t he decli ne of manuf act uring employment, al t hough i t is di f f ic ult

t o measure the eff ec t in a precise manner. Pres umably, new manufacturing enterprises do not employ as many workers as the enterprises that lef t or

went out of bus i ness

Conc l usions Cities have r emained r emar kably stab l e in the i r posi t i ons with

respect t o one anot her. Cities t hat were high ly r ank ed in the var ious

categor i es of emp loyment i n 1950 have t ended t o remain high i n 1930. A

Spearman rank coef ficient of t he ci t ies in these two census years yi elds

the foll ow i ng resul ts: Manufac t uring ( .87); Commercial quas;serv;ces

(.82) ; Census services ( . 76 ) ; and Semipublic quasis ervi ces (.58) . Suc h st ab i lity in t he Wiscons i n ur ban system suggests that all ci t i es are

affec t ed by t he same f orces, but not necessar i ly t o the same ex t ent.

The que t ion as t o whether or no t a city is a service cente

depends on t he definitions used. If we define al l t ertiary act iv it ies as

service act iv iti es, then all Wi sconsi n cities by 1980 wo ul d have become service centers . It may be th at "tertiary centers " would be a more appro ­

pri ate t erm. However, if we consider t he narrowest def i ni ti on of services , that i s, cit i es wi t h t he highes t percen t ages of Cens us ser vices i n 1980 ,

t hen only ei ght Wiscons i n ci ties woul d be ser vi ce cen t ers . Such a des ig­

nation wou ld be more accura t e and more i nformati ve. For t hose ci ties t hat

have their hi ghes t percentages i n Commercia l quasiservi ces in 1980, t here

are on ly th r ee such cit i es; and t he term "commercia l cen t ers" woul d be

proposed. No city is domi nant i n Semipubli c quasiservi ces in 1980. The

9

remaining eighteen cities have manufacturing as their largest employment

category, and the term "manufacturing-dominant centers" might be appro­

priate. With the increasing importance of tertiary activities, it is

hoped that there will be a corresponding clarification in terminology.

REFERENCES

Fuchs, Victor R., The Service Economy. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research, 1968.

Harris, Chauncy D., "A Functional Classification of Cities in the United States." The Geographical Review, Vol. 33 (January 1943),86-99.

Johnston, R. A., The American Urban System: A Geographical Perspective. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1982.

Nelson, Howard J. "A Service Classification of American Cities." Economic Geography, Vol. 31 (July 1955), 189-210.

Stetzer, Donald F., "Functional Specialization in Wisconsin Cities." Bulletin of the Wisconsin Council for Geographic Education (Spring 1983), 17-22.

u.S. Bureau of the Census. Census of Population, 1950, 1960, 1970, and 1980. Vol. 1, Part 51, Wisconsin, General Social and Economic Charac­teristics.