[Georgia Population Figures]

If Savannah's CSA included its neighboring South Carolina counties (Jasper and Beaufort), Savannah would take over the #2 spot surpassing Augusta/Aiken and it would continue to be #2 as both the Savannah and Hilton Head metros are growing at a much faster pace than Augusta and the other 2nd tier GA metros/CSA's. With the addition of Hilton Head, the CSA is over 500,000.

I don't think people dont realize the connection between Savannah and Hilton Head. The media, the tourism, Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport and the distance from downtown Savannah to Beaufort County is approx. 30 mins and the Hilton Head metro includes Jasper county which is right across the bridge from Savannah.

It appears that people forgot that the Savannah area is bustling and it honestly has a more diverse economy than any other 2nd tier city- tourism, military, the #4 largest port in the country, manufacturing.

Augusta, Macon, Columbus enthusiasts continue to ignore Savannah from these discussions. I would argue Savannah is clearly #2 in the state as has less reliance on Atlanta than anyone else and its area has the most potential for continued growth (economically and population).

[Georgia Population Figures]

Very true. Here is a concrete example. Phenix City AL is directly across the river from Columbus. Literally, only yards (well, maybe feet now considering the drought) of water separates them. PC has ~ 25,000 people and it is the county seat for Russell County. Russell County is in the Columbus MSA.

Very similar to N. Augusta/Augusta -- except that N.A is not, I gather, the county seat of Ailken County.

Until the 1920's, PC was in Lee County, not Russell. Back then, a deal was brokered whereby Lee County swapped PC (urban) to Russell County in exchange for a larger portion of land (rural) at the far end of Russell County.

Thus, had this boundary not been changed slightly and redrawn in the 1920's, then PC --directly across from Columbus, like N. Augusta/Augusta -- would still be in Lee County and presumably the entirety of Lee County (including A-O) -- like the entirety of Aiken County -- would then be included in the Columbus MSA. However, because, the boundary was changed and there is a "gap" between Columbus/PC and A-O, Lee County is considered a part of the CSA.

The lesson is that minor changes in political boundaries can and do have significant consequences on the MSA/CSA designation.

Which confirms the point that reliance on MSA data is helpful and important but not necessarily Holy Scripture.

EDIT: I doublechecked my memory of local history and discovered that the transfer of PC from Lee to Russell County was in 1932. Sorry -- off by a decade at worst and 3 years at best!