America's emerging mega regions

[Manila-X]

This has been posted before but I find myself interested in this topic.

As cities grow, mega regions around The US start to emerge. One of the most notable would be the Northeast Megalopolis which starts from Boston up to Washington DC. Other regions start will soon follow.

http://www.america2050.org

[Manila-X]

Megaregion #1: The Northeast Megalopolis

Counties: 142
Area (sq.mi): 61,942
Population (2000): 49,563,296
Dencity (2000) (sq.mi) 800
Population (2025/percent growth) 58,124,740 / 17%
2005 GDP (billions of US$): 2,591



Notable cities:

New York City


Philadephia
image hosted on flickr


Washington D.C.


Boston


Baltimore


Other cities and towns: Springfield MA., Providence RI., New Haven CT., Hartford CT., Newark NJ., Atlantic City NJ., Dover DE., Richmond VA., Hampton Roads area VA.

Extended areas: The cities and towns of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Virginia.

[Manila-X]

Megaregion #2: The Great Lakes Megalopolis

Counties: 388
Area (sq.mi): 205,452
Population (2000): 53,768,125
Dencity (2000) (sq.mi) 262
Population (2025/percent growth) 62,894,147 / 17%
2005 GDP (billions of US$): 2,073

Notable cities:

Chiacgo


Toronto


Detroit, MI


Minneapolis–St. Paul, MN


Milwaukee, WI


St. Louis, MO


Pittsburgh, PA


Cincinnati, OH


Cleveland, OH


Columbus, OH


Kansas City, MO


Indianapolis, IN


Louisville, KY


Buffalo, NY


Rochester, NY


Extended areas: Cities within Ontario such as Windsor and London. Quebec including Quebec City and Montréal. These areas also has a link with The Northeast Megalopolis.

[Manila-X]

Some old concepts

[Manila-X]

Megaregion #3: Piedmont-Atlantic Mega Region

Counties: 121
Area (sq.mi): 59,525
Population (2000): 21,162,581
Dencity (2000) (sq.mi) 356
Population (2025/percent growth) 30,351,698 / 38%
2005 GDP (billions of US$): 486



Notable cities:

Atlanta


Charlotte


Raleigh, NC (Research Triangle)


Nashville, TN


Birmingham, AL


Memphis, TN


Other cities and towns: Montgomery AL, Piedmont Triad (Greensbor, Winston-Salem NC), Greenville SC, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Huntsville, Upstate South Carolina, Columbia.

[lafreak84]

The only true megaregion is NE region. I don't think Chicago-Detroit-Toronto qualifies, it's like saying Barcelona-Paris-Berlin. More like Chicago-Milwaukee-North Indianapolis and SoCal(LA-SD)-Tijuana, BayArea is another region but I wouldn't call it "mega".

[Manila-X]

Originally Posted by lafreak84

The only true megaregion is NE region. I don't think Chicago-Detroit-Toronto qualifies, it's like saying Barcelona-Paris-Berlin. More like Chicago-Milwaukee-North Indianapolis and SoCal(LA-SD)-Tijuana, BayArea is another region but I wouldn't call it "mega".

These are predictions. But there is a possibility that the mentioned regions can emerge sometime in the future.

[hudkina]

Originally Posted by lafreak84

The only true megaregion is NE region. I don't think Chicago-Detroit-Toronto qualifies, it's like saying Barcelona-Paris-Berlin. More like Chicago-Milwaukee-North Indianapolis and SoCal(LA-SD)-Tijuana, BayArea is another region but I wouldn't call it "mega".

The stretch from Green Bay, WI to Oshawa, ON is realtively built up and urban. Green Bay --> Appleton --> Oshkosh --> Fond du Lac --> West Bend --> Milwaukee --> Racine --> Kenosha --> Chicago --> Michigan City --> South Bend --> St. Joseph/Benton Harbor --> Kalamazoo --> Battle Creek --> Jackson --> Ann Arbor --> Detroit --> Monroe --> Toledo --> Sandusky --> Lorain --> Cleveland --> Erie --> Buffalo --> Niagara Falls --> St. Catherines --> Hamilton --> Toronto --> Oshawa

If you drive through and between these cities, there is still plenty of open space, but you never feel as if you are in the middle of nowhere, and you are certainly not far from a relatively large city.

[Manila-X]

Megaregion #4: Florida State Mega Region

Counties: 42
Area (sq.mi): 38,356
Population (2000): 14,686,285
Dencity (2000) (sq.mi) 383
Population (2025/percent growth) 21,358,829 / 45%
2005 GDP (billions of US$): 608

Notable cities:

Miami


Tampa


Orlando


Jacksonville


Other cities and towns: Seminole, Key West.

[Manila-X]

Megaregion #4: Gulf Coast Corridor

Counties: 75
Area (sq.mi): 59,519
Population (2000): 11,747,587
Dencity (2000) (sq.mi) 197
Population (2025/percent growth) 15,832,117 / 35%
2005 GDP (billions of US$): 524

Notable cities:

Houston


New Orleans


Baton Rouge


Mobile, AL


Corpus Christi, TX


Pensacola, FL

[Dariusb]

Wow, interesting thread!

[i_am_hydrogen]

Great info, Wanch. Thanks for sharing.

[xzmattzx]

The Bos-Wash Corridor has a ton of mid-sized cities that fill in the gaps and contribute to the large population. When you include Providence, maybe Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Stamford, Trenton, Wilmington, Annapolis, and maybe start to include Fredericksburg, you're adding a lot.

Based on that, some mega-regions won't be mega-regions to me. I don't see the land along the Interstates filling up between New Orleans and Houston, for instance.

Some of those mega-regions seem to be pushing their own definitions. How did Boise get put in the Pacific Northwest megalopolis when it's hundreds of miles away from anything? Same for Albuquerque, Kansas City, and Salt Lake City.

[Nexis]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

The Bos-Wash Corridor has a ton of mid-sized cities that fill in the gaps and contribute to the large population. When you include Providence, maybe Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Stamford, Trenton, Wilmington, Annapolis, and maybe start to include Fredericksburg, you're adding a lot.

Based on that, some mega-regions won't be mega-regions to me. I don't see the land along the Interstates filling up between New Orleans and Houston, for instance.

Some of those mega-regions seem to be pushing their own definitions. How did Boise get put in the Pacific Northwest megalopolis when it's hundreds of miles away from anything? Same for Albuquerque, Kansas City, and Salt Lake City.

The Bos-Wash has mini corridors that break off from the Main region like Knowledge corridor , or the Downstate corridor in DE....these will one day become completely adsorbed by the Bos-Wash by 2050.... Rail transit plays a huge role in the expansion of the Bos-Wash. The Bos-Wash also has climate on its side , and Strong Water resources...

[Liam0711]

Originally Posted by Nexis

The Bos-Wash has mini corridors that break off from the Main region like Knowledge corridor , or the Downstate corridor in DE....these will one day become completely adsorbed by the Bos-Wash by 2050.... Rail transit plays a huge role in the expansion of the Bos-Wash. The Bos-Wash also has climate on its side , and Strong Water resources...

Not to mention the large number of college graduates moving to the northeast...

[Nexis]

Originally Posted by Liam0711

Not to mention the large number of college graduates moving to the northeast...

The Northern part of the Bos-Wash is just about done growing in large numbers , but the Bottom is just starting to explode.

[Manila-X]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

The Bos-Wash Corridor has a ton of mid-sized cities that fill in the gaps and contribute to the large population. When you include Providence, maybe Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Stamford, Trenton, Wilmington, Annapolis, and maybe start to include Fredericksburg, you're adding a lot.

Based on that, some mega-regions won't be mega-regions to me. I don't see the land along the Interstates filling up between New Orleans and Houston, for instance.

Some of those mega-regions seem to be pushing their own definitions. How did Boise get put in the Pacific Northwest megalopolis when it's hundreds of miles away from anything? Same for Albuquerque, Kansas City, and Salt Lake City.

Interesting how Boise is grouped with Cascadia.

The mid-sized cities and town you have mentioned such as New Haven, Hartford, Annapolis, etc. DO contribute to the urban sprawl of The Northeast Megalopolis but decided not to post them.

Yes there may be gaps between towns and cities but unlike in other places such as Perth or Urumqi, these gaps are not as wide and the travel distance between these towns and cities are not as long.

Cities do grow and when they do, the gaps narrow. As in the case of Los Angeles where some places used to be farmland but now are suburban sprawl. And the urban gap between LA and San Diego is getting closer.

[desertpunk]

*That last picture of "Pensacola" is actually Des Moines*

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

Some of those mega-regions seem to be pushing their own definitions. How did Boise get put in the Pacific Northwest megalopolis when it's hundreds of miles away from anything? Same for Albuquerque, Kansas City, and Salt Lake City.

The "Front Range" pictured above is certainly broken up by many miles of empty space and indian reservations that will never be developed but a Rio Grande Corridor from El Paso/ Juarez/ Las Cruces to Albuquerque/Santa Fe is shaping up. By 2050, some estimates have the overall population for this region at 7 million. The Cheyenne/Denver-Pueblo Colorado Front Range region will likely have around the same number of people. But the 270 miles between Pueblo and Santa Fe are very sparsely populated areas.

[Zach759]

I think KCMO is too far away from the great lakes region, but we could make a region with Omaha. There are some pretty good size cities in between the two & Omaha is closer than St.Louis.

[hudkina]

Kansas City is like Minneapolis in that it is relatively isolated.