Point-Centered Town Groups

Rather than define the boundaries of a group, we view groups as points on a map, usually centered on a town. A Town group's coverage area can be viewed as a circle with a radius of 10-20 miles, depending on population density and availability of transportation. The circle would overlap with neighbor Town groups on the edges.

The coverage area would be much smaller in highly congested metropolitan areas where people primarily get around by walking and much bigger in rural areas. As a general rule, a group is considered viable from a proximity standpoint if travel time by the quickest means (driving, walking or mass transit) to the nearest group(s) exceeds 20 minutes. Check distance using the directions icon on Google Maps and choose the appropriate transporation option. The local community must also have a population of at least 10,000 to be considered viable.

Using the point-centered group approach it is not necessary to define what towns a group covers. It is understood that a group covers all nearby towns that do not meet the viability criteria for starting a new group. There is no need to change the name of the group to the applicant's town. Click here for group naming conventions

Urban area with smaller coverage areas for groups

Rural area with larger coverage areas