Logistics Sprawl

The warehousing industry experienced a period of rapid growth from 1998 to 2009. This paper compares the growth in geographic distribution of warehouses in the Los Angeles, California, and Seattle, Washington, metropolitan areas during that period. These two West Coast cities were chosen because of their geographic spread, proximity to major ports, as well as their size difference. The phenomenon of logistics sprawl, or the movement of logistics facilities away from urban centers, which has been demonstrated in past research for the Atlanta, Georgia, and Paris regions, is examined for the two metropolitan areas. To measure sprawl, the barycenter, or geographic center of warehousing establishments, is determined, as is the average distance of warehouses to that center. The average distance of warehouses to the warehousing barycenter was compared with the average distance from the barycenter for all establishments. Between 1998 and 2009, warehousing in Los Angeles sprawled considerably, with the average distance increasing from 25.91 to 31.96 mi, an increase of more than 6 mi. However in Seattle, the region locations remained relatively stable, showing a slight decrease in average distance from the geographic center. Possible explanations for that difference are discussed.