Some towns empty out during day
A census study stresses the flow of commuters
It's 3:15 p.m. on a Tuesday, and it's hard to find anyone from Cochituate in Cochituate.
At Physical Ed's, a fitness center in the Wayland neighborhood, silence reigns. No one lifts a shiny barbell or burns calories on a stationary bike. A lone repairman tinkers with an elliptical machine.
John Betts, who is at the front desk, said most people come to exercise between 6 and 9:30 a.m. before they head to work -- mostly in Boston, he said -- or between 5:30 and 7 p.m.
During the day, ''there's not much going on," the Wilmington resident said.
Around the state, some communities empty out and others fill up with workers during the day. A recently released census analysis of cities, towns, and census-designated places, or CDPs, casts new light on the flow of people between communities.
The Cochituate CDP saw its population of 6,800 drop by 33 percent during the day, the steepest decline in the communities studied in Boston's western suburbs, according to the analysis, which was based on the 2000 Census.
Other areas that saw declines in population during the day included the Clicquot CDP in Millis and the Northborough CDP, which saw drops of 22 and 10 percent, respectively.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Westborough CDP saw its population increase by 59 percent during the day, the largest increase in the communities studied. Other communities whose populations spiked during the day included Marlborough and Waltham, and the Wellesley and Framingham CDPs, which saw increases of 37, 35, 30, and 14 percent, respectively.
David Luberoff, executive director of Harvard University's Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, said the data, which show workers pouring into a number of communities west of Boston, reflect the rising economic importance of the suburbs.
''It's not clear that folks fully appreciate what's going on in terms of where people live and work in the [metropolitan] region," Luberoff said.
''We're a region that has a dynamic urban core and a very significant suburban economy," Luberoff added.
''It's not completely clear that political institutions fully reflect that, nor is it completely clear that methods of allocating resources" do either, he said.
The numbers on work and commuting patterns have traditionally been used by officials for transportation planning.
But the numbers are drawing more interest these days from emergency planning officials, who see them as useful in planning for a disaster such as a severe storm, a problem at a nuclear power plant, or a terrorist attack.
Mike Bergman, a spokesman for the Census Bureau, said the analysis, which focused on communities across the country with at least 2,500 workers either living or working there, was accelerated after the devastating hurricanes in the Gulf Coast this fall.
Emergency planners say that areas that draw lots of commuters need to ensure they have plans for evacuation or medical care for residents -- and for daytime workers.
Arnold Howitt, a crisis management specialist at the Kennedy School of Government, said towns that empty out during the day, on the other hand, have their own planning issues.
If disaster hits such a town, it would be important to make sure families, who may have children in school, can reunite, he said.
Peter Judge, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, said that as part of existing emergency planning, the agency had obtained daytime population estimates for areas that could be at higher risk for disasters.
It might be common sense that the populations in the state's cities would jump during the day, but Judge said it is helpful to know ''what numbers we'd have to deal with in a disaster. . . . You have to move people, and you can figure how many people per hour you can move," he said.
Meanwhile, back in Cochituate, 20-year resident Janet Rodd was making a trip to the post office on a rainy afternoon.
Both Rodd and her husband clear out of the neighborhood during the day. He makes the trek to Boston, while she commutes to her job at nearby Wayland High School.
Rodd said she notices changes in the local population most during the summer, when the town seems particularly empty.
There is a benefit to a deserted weekday Cochituate, she said. It's easier to run errands. 