An Evaluation of Key Factors of the Economic Impact of Military Base Closures on the Surrounding Metropolitan Are

Amidst the decline in defense spending following the end of the Cold War, military base closures have prompted some of the most vocal public concerns. Public expectations of the impact often are very bleak, and economic forecasts of the local effects seem to bolster such fears. When a military base is slated to close, the surrounding community immediately goes into panic mode and thinks it is the start of an economic domino effect that will trickle down to every part of the community. However, economic devastation is not always the case as my research has found that an economic decline is not the probable outcome. The closing of a military base is not as devastating as most predict it would be.;The Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) was created to provide an objective, thorough, accurate, and non-partisan review and analysis, through a process determined by law, to create a list of bases and military installations which the Department of Defense recommends to be closed and/or realigned. This study focuses on factors that indicate the economic health of a community and expands the scope to metropolitan areas. A "pre" and "post" closure approach is taken to compare the differences in the economy of the surrounding metropolitan area. The economic factors included in this study are unemployment rate, median home value, population, median household income, real estate taxes paid and K-12th school enrollment. Of those factors, unemployment rate and population were impacted positively, while median home value was the only factor negatively impacted. The bases closed in the year 2011 as part of the 2005 BRAC round of closure is the focus as this was the last round of closures and provides the latest information on this topic.;Depending on the extent to which a military base supports the surrounding community, it could have far-reaching financial implications for that community; however, this research suggests most communities are not impacted as much as the negative predictions seem to be.