Decades ago I read an article about US megalopolis-es. The only one already defined was "BosWash," which has now expanded through eastern Virginia. The article proposed three more megalopoles (megalopoli?): "JaMi" in Florida, "ChiPitts" in the midwest, and "SanSan" along the California coast. The article pointed out that a megalopolis wasn't an "infinite extension of Times Square," but a pattern of urban, suburban and exurban zones. Interesting.
What about an honorable mention to the Front Range of the Rockies? Not nearly as many people as other megalopolii, but the cities which are there have all pretty much grown together in the past 1/2 century. I lived in Ft. Collins in the late 70s, and at that time the area between Ft. Collins and Loveland was farm or ranch land. not so much anymore. The two have grown into a single city. It won't be too long until the entire area between Colorado Springs and Cheyenne WY is a single, large city
@@ajduker Yeah, it's be impossible to drive from DC to Philly, stopping by Bmore and think you are seeing the same phenomenon going from Colorado to Cheyenne. The West being so spread out makes it hard for them to truly form out there.
The eastern seaboard megalopolis has been the subject of speculative science-fiction since the 70s. From the British comic 2000 AD (specifically the 'Judge Dredd' strip) and the not-quite fictional "Mega-City One" to the Boston-Atlanta Metropolitan Axis (BAMA, AKA "The Sprawl') of William Gibson. If you see night-time satellite photos you can clearly see megapolitan areas taking shape. Thank you for the video!
I'm glad that you included the AL/GA/NC/SC area. I have to occasionally take a 400 mile trip from Birmingham to Atlanta via I20 and then pick up I-85 to Charlotte and then I-77 North. It feels like I am driving through a city almost the entire trip. I've been making the trip for 40 years and it has become almost unbearable.
I'm currently in Raleigh, which is in turn part of the Research Triangle which is in turn part of the Piedmont Crescent, which is part of the SE megalopolis. Birmingham Metro was hugely sprawling when I lived there in the nineties - I can only imagine what it's like now!
Yea the piedmont corridor in the south is vastly growing between Raleigh and Birmingham. I’m in Charlotte and the perpetual road construction between Charlotte and Atlanta with the height being in Greenville/Spartanburg gets on my nerves.
I remember reading about megalopoli in the '70s with three predicted: Boswash (Boston to Washington), Chipitts (Chicago to Pittsburgh though Milpitts is probably more accurate), and Sansan (San Francisco to San Diego). Times certainly change. Great video Kyle!
From now on I will say that the Texaplex includes the southern part of Santa Rosa County, FL, and if they ask me why, I will say that the Geography King considers it that way haha 😅 I’m kidding of course. Thanks for your videos. Geography nerds really appreciate your channel!
Best Geography UA-cam channel out there, you truly are the Geography King and you have facts, personal experience, and data to back your info up, which I appreciate!
3:58 Others show this as more of an interstate corridor between Raleigh-Greensboro-Charlotte-Greenville-Atlanta-Birmingham. But your point is well taken.
Love your videos and how up to date you are. The NE Megalopolis now includes Richmond and Norfolk but because the Richmond area is at around 1.2 mil and Norfolk (Hampton Roads) is at 1.8 mil, they don't stand out as much as the bigger cities but are actually part of the megalopolis.
Dude! You’re so “my speed”. Love the knowledge and I’m a geography nerd so your content is very good! Thanks man!! Keep on keeping on with it!! 🎉 Oh and I’m with dude about the Front Range in Colorado. Lived in Boulder many years. That’s the quietest metro area EVER but it is that… and growing! Thanks for your great research and videos man!
I would personally argue Florida should be considered a real megalopolis aswell. The Naples metro does connect to Miami through Tampa & Orlando, would love to know your thoughts
Peninsular Florida is mostly contiguous development, but I think the major difference between Florida and the NE megalopolis is that Florida has such low-density development. The area of the Florida peninsula is about 2/3 the size of the NE megalopolis but with less than half of the population (~20 million vs ~50 million). Although it meets the contiguous urban area criteria, it doesn't quite have the same "density intensity" as the NE. But I can see it being considered equal to the NE based on the lack of rural area within the larger region.
I am currently in a flight school based out of Raleigh in eastern North Carolina. If we fly northeast for any considerable amount of time it is jarring to see the abrupt Metro, rural, then metro (again) scene. The area between the northeast and southeast Megapolis is so underdeveloped it’s hard to believe it’s bordered by such populated areas. Thank you for such a great video as always!
I live in Oklahoma City which could be considered part of the Texas megalopolis at some point later in my lifetime. Back in the early days of statehood there was thoughts that OKC and Tulsa would grow together but the turnpike connecting the two really limits the buildup of commercial businesses along the way.
With the northeast megalopolis, the busiest Amtrak line in the US is the Northeast Regional which runs from Boston to DC. Couple that with I95 which has a similar route.
There's a 70 mile rual stretch between Olympia and Portland. But, I agree. Almost 4 million people squished in between the mountains and the Puget Sound .
Even being generous and going as far as Bellingham down to Eugene is about 8 million people total. The ones I discussed here are all 20 million plus, but Cascadia is definitely heading in that direction.
@@GeographyKing that’s totally fair. I just remember reading an old article that referred to that area as a megalopolis. I believe it mainly focused on how the metros blur together more than measuring the population though so I get where you’re coming from. Thanks for the reply!
In Michigan the Grand Rapids exurban development has really started running into Holland's exurban development especially along the I-196 corridor. Ottawa County is by far the fastest growing County in Michigan and most of that development happens there
I do wonder why he extended it into Newaygo and Oceana counties however. Both of those, especially Newago, are very rural, and extensively covered by Manistee National forest(Newaygo co). I can see of course Ottawa and Muskegon counties, but those other two really don 't make any sense.
@@NightwingGR1 yeah adding Newaygo County is pretty odd to me too, even the border of Newaygo County and Kent County is still rather rural yet. And Oceana County is definitely an odd addition as it's quite rural and far from Grand Rapids
Great video as always. LOVE this topic. As a Clevelander I’d have to say Erie and Buffalo/Rochester could be included. Only one I was surprised you didn’t mention was Portland to Vancouver. Never been but always hear about the population growth up there.
I remember back in elementary school learning what a megalopolis was. The social studies book had a map of the northeast megalopolis, although back then (the late 1970's) it was defined as just a narrow strip from southern Maine to Northern Virginia, roughly around I-95.
The only thing I would disagree with on the northeast megalopolis is the portions in Upstate NY, yes there are lots of cities there but the population isn’t really that big, and the cities aren’t huge. Lots of space between towns at least in the northern parts shaded on the map in the video.
The only thing I would disagree with on the northeast megalopolis is the portions in Upstate NY, yes there are lots of cities there but the population isn’t really that big, and the cities aren’t huge. Lots of space between towns at least in the northern parts shaded on the map in the video.
Another great video. But I do think Chautauqua County, Erie County (Buffalo) and Niagara County in New York should also be part of the Great Lakes or part of the Canadian metro. All 3 counties are pretty important to both regions as far as population (about 1.3 million people) and definitely the biggest region in New York that wasn’t mentioned earlier
Agreed; when you take away the country borders it easily connects Buffalo CSA via the Golden Horseshoe. Country borders seem arbitrary when talking about the geography of people.
I thought the same as well, I would have figured that the WNY/Buffalo metro area would have constituted the eastern border of the Great Lakes region given its direct proximity to the lake as well as its closer connections to both Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
always appreciate how you get the details right. Newton County, Indiana is still verrry rural whereas Jasper County just to the east is latching onto Porter County's insane growth.
I recently did an in depth look at the Florida Penninsula on my own time, and nearly everything south of Jacksonville and Gainesville is either Urban, Suburban or Exurban. And there really isn't much space between the cities and towns.
Yeah there’s only about 10 miles of country in between Orlando and Tampa that separates places that you could say you’re from either of those cities. That stretches all the way down to fort myers
@@contigodole810 And down here in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro every city is directly connected to at least one other. I'm from Coral Springs which directly borders 5 other cities.
The county level map makes the southwest corner of the FL peninsula appear more urban than it is, with much of that region made up of the Everglades and Big Cyprus National Parks, and the only urban area in Monroe County is Key West
I was going to comment about the Windsor-Quebec City Corridor, so I'm glad you mentioned it! Wikipedia says it might be included as part of an the Great Lakes Megalopolis if such things can cross international borders, but it's controversial (especially since eastern Ontario/QC are pretty far removed from any of the Great Lakes, though there is the St. Lawrence Seaway feeding into Lake Ontario). Moreover, there are some large rural gaps between cities in that stretch - like, driving between the GTA and Ottawa, regardless of route, you're going to have 2-3 hour stretches of nothing but farms or small towns. (Then you hit Kingston or Peterborough, then it's another 2-3 hours of nothing until Ottawa.) The other one for Canada is Lower Mainland BC, which you pointed out. Again, Wikipedia suggests it could be connected to Cascadia Metroplex (which I was surprised you didn't mention) as Vancouver and Seattle basically touch each other. I'm a little surprised you didn't include Cascadia, as many lists on this topic seem to.
Ottawa/Montreal/Quebec City (I'm in Montreal, btw) is more akin to St. Louis, Missouri, in the sense that there's enough rural space between E Ontario/S Quebec and Toronto/S Ontario just as there is between St. Louis and Chicago.
You know what would be really fascinating is to see these megalopolis areas lit up at night. You could get a better sense of how dense they are more than by showing counties!
Portland to Bellingham might make an appearance on this list in not too long. Right now it's pretty continuous from about Chehalis to Bellingham (or really the Canadian border) but I wouldn't be surprised if that started connecting down to Vancouver--there are a lot of little towns down there that could get bigger.
That whole I-5 corridor from Portland OR up to Vancouver BC will become 1 continuous stretch of metro soon. Not surprising, I-5 is the most commercially traveled road in the US
I live in York SC, 25 miles SW of Charlotte, & when you drive the 80 miles down I85 from Gastonia to Greenville it just all runs together now with gridlock & road construction most of the way.
I could see the great lakes growing more in the next 20 years. we have all the water and vary few major weather events other then the winters. Michigan alone has nearly everything you need to have fun in the summer and the Detroit metro has a ton of empty space. If the city came back to what it once was you could add a few mill to that one city alone.
@@benjaminhoff5004 The urban decay is only a small fraction of the metro area as a whole. As far as winters go, they have been very mild in more recent years. I would argue winter gray skies would be a larger deterrent.
Question about Detroit: could the skeleton of the city be retrofitted with decent public transportation? Might be a good place to settle a bunch of our illegal migrants and allow them to set up an economy there within city limits. Yes I am talking 100% out of my ass.
For the Texas Triangle, an interesting piece is that 9 of the 20 largest cities in the entire state are in the DFW Metroplex. Also, the GDP of the Triangle is larger than that of Mexico, and just below Spain (equal to 16th in the world if it were an independent nation). The Triangle is estimated to reach “carrying capacity” of 30M residents by 2040, largely due to heavy immigration from the southern border and relocation of west coast corporate centers to the Triangle, mostly in DFW and Austin metros.
There is the Gulf Coast Megalopolis. Starting from Tallahassee in the East going to Lafayette, LA in the West. Includes Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Gulfport, Biloxi, Mobile, Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, Destin and Panama City and maybe Dothan.
I live in the Netherlands where a farm 2 km away from a city is considered a rural area. I am pretty sure that it is impossible to be more than 5 km away from a city or town in this country. It is that dense.
As a Mainer, I appreciate seeing you push the northeast corridor up to Portland. York and Cumberland counties are 100% connected. Development of economic connection and urban suburban sprawl is creeping up to where I live in Lewiston Maine
I was thinking that too, I also live in Lewiston and while there’s definitely very rural parts in between I think the megalopolis can be extended up to Lewiston, or maybe even Augusta and Bangor
Growing up I lived in Southern Utah, started out rural; now it’s more suburban due to the massive growth of St. George MSA (fastest growing metro in the US) but as I got more into geography and took more trips North to the SLC area, I noticed something. Starting in Santaquin, and going all the way up north to Brigham City, you had a 122 mile stretch of I-15 , 10-15 miles on either side that was nearly nothing but urban/suburban sprawl of wall to wall people. Only to find out Provo/SLC/Ogden are considered 3 different MSAs. The Wastach Front of Utah is a megalopolis, that place doesn’t feel like it ends, and it’s coming up on a population of 3,000,000, plus theirs room to grow.
St. George’s growth. Is. Insane!! Insane!! That area 20 to 30 years ago was definitely way smaller and sleepier. The growth has been dramatic, I’m dumbfounded at how fast St. George and Washington County have exploded! I think over the next 20 years that whole stretch of I-15 from SLC down to St. George is gonna blur together in an urban sprawl. SLC alone is getting very big.
I hope not, but it is trending that way. They really need to get another freeway running north and south or at least plan to keep a corridor open because I-15 can't take too much more traffic from Provo to Ogden.
Yes, that Atlantic coast of Florida from Daytona south to the Keys will be continuous soon enough if it is not already. Maybe the I-10 corridor in Arizona between Phoenix and Tucson as well, though geography will play a challenge with that one. And/or the I-35 corridor from OKC to DFW in Oklahoma and Texas. Oh, and the song in the album your displaying, "Whammer Jammer", that was used for the long puke sequence in the movie "Problem Child 2".
Rochester, Buffalo and Erie are all linked and just connected by small cities and should be considered part of the Great Lakes Megapolis because their are of the same economic and cultural class. And this is all connected to the Golden Horseshoe of Ontario where close to 10 million are crammed around the west end of Lake Ontario. Since I live in the Horseshoe and spent a great amount of time in the Western NY area and over in Michigan, I would argue to an extent it is all part of the Great Lakes Megapolis
I make the same case for the Twin Cities, Madison, Eau Claire, and the whole stretch up to Minnesota as an inclusion in the megalopolis, at least emerging. Even if a lot of rural area it is VERY much filled in with suburban, exurban, and small cities dotting the whole corridor that it is very much a stretch included. Even moreso would be the I-35W+Northern Lights Express corridor up to Duluth MN, where a significant stretch of MN's population is all along a corridor that continues this Great Lakes emerging Megalopolis development pattern.
You should do a video of cities in the state of Missouri. A lot have names from other states or countries. Cuba, Mexico, Savannah, Memphis, Stockton, Nevada, Buffalo, Annapolis, New Haven, Maryland Heights, Florida, Miami, Richmond, New Boston, Trenton, Albany, and Oregon are examples. They have many to do with "Liberty", such as Jefferson City, Independence, Liberty, and Monroe City. They of course have Kansas City, and a city called Birch Tree.
Speaking of the California megalopolis, I think the biggest beneficiary of the first phase of the high speed rail between Bakersfield and SF will be the Fresno/Madera/Visalia/Hanford area as the last affordable metro area in California. This area is more closely tied to the Bay Area while Bakersfield is more tied to Los Angeles but it won't be connected to LA anytime soon. The Modesto/ Stockton area is already getting better rail connections to the South Bay. I anticipate growth rates that will quickly fill in the Fresno/Madera/Visalia/Hanford area. I hope so because the central San Joaquin Valley's economy has been stagnant for 50 years. Fresno, the state's 5th largest city and my hometown, has grown substantially north but its downtown has not had a new major non-govt building built since the 70s despite a revitalization plan every decade. The skyline of downtown Fresno looks exactly the same as it did in 70s. There are no middle class jobs there unless you own your own business or work for the govt. I imagine Visalia, Tulare, Hanford, and Madera are in the same boat. That's why I have high hopes for high speed rail and the economic transformation that it should finally bring for the entire area.
Thank you for including Richmond and Hampton Roads in the Northeast. It is odd how frequently those areas are left out. There are only about 30 miles of rural area between Ashland and Fredericksburg and about 25 miles of rural area between Eastern Henrico and Williamsburg.
I live in Richmond and will agree that they are basically the southern extent of the NE Megalopolis, however, other than the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnels the traffic in HR/Richmond is not nearly as bad as further north. Fredericksburg and north is nearly constant gridlock during daylight hours it seems. Richmond is great because it is 2 hours from DC, 2 hours from Shenandoah, 2 hours from VA Beach, a fairly decent sized city with some things to do, but prices and traffic aren't nearly as bad as a few hours further north.
Richmond is not in the Northeast. I know by my blood pressure! When driving south from NYC, once halfway between DC and Richmond, the entire vibe changes completely and all anxiety releases from my body.
@@jlpack62 yep! Culturally from Ricmond South it's actually Southern more specifically Southeastern in culture. The Eastern shore of Maryland and Southern Delaware too. They have more in common with the Carolinas than NYC.
Driving south it’s pretty clear that it extends to south close to the North Carolina line and those gaps are smaller than the quiet corner of Connecticut and quabbin Massachusetts area gap which no one mentions. As far as the culture goes it’s clear that the area is culturally southern but New England is very culturally different from the mid Atlantic and New York so I don’t think the megalopolis is a cultural region.
Yes Richmond has more in common with the south than the northeast its closer to Raleigh/Durham than It is to Philly....its Closer to Charlotte than it is to NYC its closer to Charleston, Savannah and Atl than it is to Boston
I live right in the edge of the hole there in northwest North Carolina (Elkin-Jonesville area) and it has felt almost like a tsunami coming for the past ten years or so. Even since COVID I have noticed a lot more heavy traffic where there were once never any jams. It’s exciting to think there will be less and less that’s a 30 minute drive away in the next town but sad we are slowly losing the small town charm we once had. I hope to hang onto it as long as possible
I live in Philly right in the middle of the NE Megalopolis and in a lot of ways the corridor between NE Virginia and SW Maine operate as one large urban area, both economically, and the movement of people between its many cities. After decades of de-industrialization the region is finally finding its footing in the new economy. Unfortunately a lot of communities were left behind. All one has to do is take Amtrak from Boston to DC and look out the window and you'll see the wreckage de-industrialization left behind. And at the same time see all of the new development taking place.
Love the video and information but Wilkinson County, GA (my home) is one of the counties you highlighted on the edge of the southeastern megalopolis. It’s population of 9500 is lower now than in 1880 and is as rural as it gets in the southeast. It’s not surrounded by developed counties and doesn’t contain suburbs of larger cities. I don’t feel it belongs on the map. Keep up the great work! I love your videos!
would love to see one add on video to this covering the big urban areas spanning between 2 countries (Seattle-Vancouver, San Diego-Tijuana, Copenhagen-Malmö, etc.)
I think you should have included the entire coastal Georgia counties. Glynn county (Brunswick) for sure is part of the Jacksonville Mega. Excellent content either way, have a like!
Two that will show up in the next fifty years or more may be from Vancouver, BC, Canada down to a little south of Portland, OR. The other may be Idaho Falls, ID down passed Salt Lake City, UT. Those areas are really building up.
I think an argument could be made for extending the Great Lakes Megalopolis from Madison to the Northwest through La Crosse, Eau Claire, Rochester (MN), the Twin Cities and up to St. Cloud. It would be a little bit of a stretch at the moment, but St. Cloud, the Twin Cities and Rochester are already practically grown together and I think the stretch between the Twin Cities and Madison with Eau Claire, La Crosse, Winona etc... will really start to grow together over the next couple of decades. If the predicted climate refugees start showing up in Duluth, then that area might start grown more down toward the Twin Cities as well.
I definitely agree that La Crosse, Eau Claire and Winona are all gonna blur together ultimately, it’s obvious that region is well on its way towards that.
Same thing with the Wasatch front in salt lake. Constant urban from Ogden to Payson now, no breaks for almost 100 miles. Only 3 million people, but much more dense and urban that most would expect because it’s all shoved into the tiny area between the lakes and the mountains. Used to be farms and orchards, now just never ending City and smog.
I’m a bit surprised that you didn’t mention that the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia is part of the Northeast megalopolis, and Northern Panhandle is part of the Great Lakes megalopolis.
I loved seeing them all together at the end. I’ve seen people talk about the first range megalopolis, but I was also wondering about the Pacific Northwest and also the Gulf Coast. I’m from Houston so I know the Gulf Coast is more a string of pearls than a true megalopolis but maybe in a future video you could show areas like that in yellow to discuss emerging areas/ future megalopolises or how established ones like New England are connecting with piedmont Atlantic and florida and Texas triangle
He left out Portland, Seattle, Vancouver. That's 300 miles along I-5 with those three very connected cities. It absolutely was forgotten and should have been mentioned.
You have way underestimated the population of the Southeastern Megalopolis. You speak of three million, but the 17-county Atlanta Metro is 5.5 million by itself. I think 8 or even 10 million would be a better estimation. These presentations are very informative. Thank you for educating us.
It would be interesting to see a video on the size and shapes and concentration of the counties in different states and different areas of the western states.
The Atlanta suburbs continue to expand up the 85/400 corridors more than other directions out from Atlanta. Halfway rural areas between Atlanta and Athens like Winder are now starting to sprout with subdivisions, shopping and traffic. You could almost say that suburban/exurban areas now go as far north as Dahlonega and Dawsonville now.
Franklin County, Massachusetts, definitely doesn't feel like part of a megalopolis. Of course as you point out the boundaries of the NE megalopolis are fuzzy. Awesome video as always.
Great video, but I am a little surprised that you didn't include the quad Cities or St Louis in the Great Lakes megalopolis. However, there is some pretty rural parts separating the I-39 corridor to Rock Island & Springfield to St Louis so I guess not terribly surprised.
I always watch these vids 2 or 3 times (but not in quick succession) and get different impressions each time. The full view of the US at 15:09 shows why the urges to “Go West” were so powerful. After 150 years, the north east coast grew beyond its ability to support all the industry, ambition and agricultural needs of a growing population. US geography tells an amazing story.
I just wanted to say again that I really enjoy your videos. In the early 90’s at the CTA in Chicago’s strategic planning department I was in of a very few who started to understand the powerful potential of mapping data from our market research and fares data over time. Of course, today, since my retirement in 2004, technology has raced ahead, but I enjoy watching what you do so well. One concern I’ve had about the megalopoli in the US, is that most of them are located on the coasts which could be severely impacted by rising sea levels and or catastrophic tsunami activity. Have you ever considered plotting this county population data against sea level and/or earthquake exposure. I worry about this less than I might because my home is 660 feet above sea level in Chicago. But the increase in sea levels and heat in ocean waters seem destined to wreak havoc on some pretty heavily populated areas. In your Chicago centered megopolis there are some trends I’ve been following since going to high school on the near west side. That is that as the suburban areas have aged, the cost of urbanization and rebuilding in the city proper has been more affordable than rebuilding in the suburbs and that has created decades of redevelopment and gentrification from the city core out. This has pushed some expansion directly from the city itself, out especially south into NW Indiana. There are a number of pretty farm filled areas between Chicago and Madison but I’ve noticed more and more development there over the last 25 years and perhaps More in the Madison-Milwaukee patch. The lakeshore property all along the lakeshore from just South of Door County around the south end of the lake up to about Holland, Michigan, has been popular since my great grandfather’s time. One thing of unusual note is that as Part of Daniel Burnham’s Plan of Chicago the public here has unrestricted access to the lakeshore. Almost no commercial development on the lakeshore itself has been allowed. (We’ll ignore Lake Point Tower as a political artifact and anomaly.) There is still quite a bit of farmland along the I-80 corridor East of Chicago, but the growth in South Bend - Cleveland and yonder has been substantial in the last few decades. Even still, There has been some Chicago emigration as far West as Starved Rock state park and thereabouts partly do to the canal connecting Chicago eventually to the Mississippi. One last point is that the downtown area of Chicago was once a swamp too which over decades was drained and raised several stories. So that does make me wonder about the future of some of those swamps or whether they’ll be so inundated by seawater that it won’t matter. I have noticed that Chicago’s winters have been progressively milder the last few years. While I wouldn’t mind San Diego weather personally, I can’t help but wonder what the human cost of that would be.
I used to work in emergency management and I wrote the tsunami preparedness and response plan for Monterey County, CA following the big Indian Ocean tsunami in 2005. I was recently in Chicago and enjoyed the lack of development up to the lakeshore. Enjoyed my visit Thank you for your comment. I appreciate all of the info
I grew up on the edge of the San Bernardino County that begins the true megalopolis. Desert towns in a valley that makeup 500,000 right off the bat. And it’s true - look east towards Vegas and it’s a whole lotta nothin. Love the videos gk!
I think there's a case to be made that Kentucky has combined the south/piedmont megalopolis and the great lakes megalopolis. There isn't that much open space and alot of cities along the I 65 and I 75 corridors. Bowling Green, Elizabethtown, Louisville, Lexington, Georgetown, Frankfort, London, Richmond, Florence, Newport and the cities in Southern Indiana like Jeffersonville, New Albany and Bloomington. Kentucky feels very connected to Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Nashville.
I’m a courier and live in southern CT between Waterbury and New Haven and not too far from Bridgeport either. My job takes me pretty far sometimes and when I mention this or that destination, sometimes people ask about the farthest places I go, and I’ve got this answer down pat by now, “I go from northern DE, up to southern NH, and as far west as Albany NY.” Almost precisely the all the red areas of the northeast megalopolis…and I never even realized it till recently.
I would include Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse in the Great Lakes Megalopolis. If you follow I-90 east from Cleveland, through Erie, and into New York, there isn't much open space. I appreciate your great videos.
I live in Chicago and work remotely for a company in Racine, WI and have been driving up to Racine twice a month for almost four years. Besides the Hawthorn Hollow Nature Arboretum and a golf course, there is ZERO demarcation between the Chicago metro area (ending in Kenosha) and the Milwaukee metro area (starting in Racine). Having been doing this up and down more times than I can count, I'm actually confused as to why Chicago and Milwaukee aren't one giant CSA at this point. Aside from a small patch of green space (look it up on a map, it is minuscule), it is concrete from Joliet and NW Indiana all the way through Milwaukee to Cedarburg. People go between Chicago and Milwaukee so fluidly. I have a sister who comes down to have dinner in Chicago every month or so and heads home after. It's not a large swath of land in the grand scheme of things.
Thank you, a lot of folks outside the Chicago area don’t realize it’s ALL blurred together now from Chicago up to Milwaukee! The two really should be one larger area at this point. The urban blur is expanding down from Chicago to Champaign very rapidly as well. Ultimately all that is gonna be a huge blur too.
They aren't gonna combine unless people all of a sudden start commuting a lot in between the cities. I'm talking about hundreds of thousands of people commuting between MKE and CHI. Right now, there are only a few thousand people who commute between the 2 cities.
I definitely agree with the Florida megalopolis idea! The entire state is pretty much a city. There are a lot of open areas, but the amount of construction is absolutely insane. I see construction pretty much any time I go literally anywhere. Roads, buildings, even neighborhoods and borderline towns/cities are being built right now. It's on the fine line too, it's nice to see the buildup, but sometimes it gets way too crazy
The thing about California is that all the cities and communities are truly actually connected, so when traveling on the freeway, unless you’re familiar with the area, you might not notice where city limits begin or end. I know being from Southern California, pretty much from Oxnard to San Diego is basically one connected group of cities separated by few un populated areas, which are usually military installations like Camp Pendleton
It would be interesting to see an overlay map of the interstate highway corridors to make a connection between the growth of the megalopoli and the building of the interstates.
I live in Victoria,Tx and I can say when I was a kid it took about 2 1/2 hours to get Houston but now it’s about an hour & thirty I’d say yea in a few years it will down to 45 min especially because of the new I-69 interstate corridor being put in
I was surprised to see where you stopped the southeast megalopolis. We in the Columbus Georgia,Auburn, Alabama, Lagrange, Georgia area feel that we are becoming a part of it willy-nilly.
Decades ago I read an article about US megalopolis-es. The only one already defined was "BosWash," which has now expanded through eastern Virginia. The article proposed three more megalopoles (megalopoli?): "JaMi" in Florida, "ChiPitts" in the midwest, and "SanSan" along the California coast. The article pointed out that a megalopolis wasn't an "infinite extension of Times Square," but a pattern of urban, suburban and exurban zones. Interesting.
What about an honorable mention to the Front Range of the Rockies? Not nearly as many people as other megalopolii, but the cities which are there have all pretty much grown together in the past 1/2 century. I lived in Ft. Collins in the late 70s, and at that time the area between Ft. Collins and Loveland was farm or ranch land. not so much anymore. The two have grown into a single city. It won't be too long until the entire area between Colorado Springs and Cheyenne WY is a single, large city
Got a long time before Cheyenne and Ft Collins are one metropolis. Driven through there plenty of times and it's no where near developed enough
@@ajduker Yeah, it's be impossible to drive from DC to Philly, stopping by Bmore and think you are seeing the same phenomenon going from Colorado to Cheyenne. The West being so spread out makes it hard for them to truly form out there.
no
Between Monument and Castle Rock is pretty dead though.
That would be amazing From Colorado springs to Cheyenne uniting salt lake city to CO gimme that
It's always a good day when Geography King uploads a video! :)
Big fan of both of your channels.
time to absolutely cope for a colab now
Two Kyles from semi-neighboring regions!
The eastern seaboard megalopolis has been the subject of speculative science-fiction since the 70s. From the British comic 2000 AD (specifically the 'Judge Dredd' strip) and the not-quite fictional "Mega-City One" to the Boston-Atlanta Metropolitan Axis (BAMA, AKA "The Sprawl') of William Gibson. If you see night-time satellite photos you can clearly see megapolitan areas taking shape. Thank you for the video!
I learned about The Sprawl from the Sonic Youth song
Are there any more examples? I'd love to a deep read into representations of this megalopolis.
I'm glad that you included the AL/GA/NC/SC area. I have to occasionally take a 400 mile trip from Birmingham to Atlanta via I20 and then pick up I-85 to Charlotte and then I-77 North. It feels like I am driving through a city almost the entire trip. I've been making the trip for 40 years and it has become almost unbearable.
I'm currently in Raleigh, which is in turn part of the Research Triangle which is in turn part of the Piedmont Crescent, which is part of the SE megalopolis. Birmingham Metro was hugely sprawling when I lived there in the nineties - I can only imagine what it's like now!
Cut across highway 25 to i26 to i81.
I did that headed home from Atlanta when I had a light load on.
Yea the piedmont corridor in the south is vastly growing between Raleigh and Birmingham. I’m in Charlotte and the perpetual road construction between Charlotte and Atlanta with the height being in Greenville/Spartanburg gets on my nerves.
"The great dismal swamp!" I love it. The Cleveland area used to be a great dismal swamp, but now it's a great dismal megalopolis.
The place in VA is actually called The Great Dismal Swamp though!
@@Birdbinch Exactly! That's its actual name!
I believe the flats west of toledo were at one time called the dismal swamp, before they straightened a river to drain it.
I remember reading about megalopoli in the '70s with three predicted: Boswash (Boston to Washington), Chipitts (Chicago to Pittsburgh though Milpitts is probably more accurate), and Sansan (San Francisco to San Diego). Times certainly change. Great video Kyle!
I remember being taught those terms in 6th grade social studies in the early seventies.
Looks like Geography King has shown that its pretty much become reality, just without the name changes.
From now on I will say that the Texaplex includes the southern part of Santa Rosa County, FL, and if they ask me why, I will say that the Geography King considers it that way haha 😅 I’m kidding of course. Thanks for your videos. Geography nerds really appreciate your channel!
You gotta include Panama City in Florida. You drive on 98 from Panama City to Mobile, and it is one big city.
Best Geography UA-cam channel out there, you truly are the Geography King and you have facts, personal experience, and data to back your info up, which I appreciate!
Thank you!
I like how the last video was best rural areas, and now it's largest urban areas; gotta love the variety, thanks for more great content Kyle. :]
3:58 Others show this as more of an interstate corridor between Raleigh-Greensboro-Charlotte-Greenville-Atlanta-Birmingham. But your point is well taken.
Love your videos and how up to date you are. The NE Megalopolis now includes Richmond and Norfolk but because the Richmond area is at around 1.2 mil and Norfolk (Hampton Roads) is at 1.8 mil, they don't stand out as much as the bigger cities but are actually part of the megalopolis.
Dude! You’re so “my speed”. Love the knowledge and I’m a geography nerd so your content is very good! Thanks man!! Keep on keeping on with it!! 🎉
Oh and I’m with dude about the Front Range in Colorado. Lived in Boulder many years. That’s the quietest metro area EVER but it is that… and growing! Thanks for your great research and videos man!
I would personally argue Florida should be considered a real megalopolis aswell. The Naples metro does connect to Miami through Tampa & Orlando, would love to know your thoughts
I don't like this you already made a video about this
Peninsular Florida is mostly contiguous development, but I think the major difference between Florida and the NE megalopolis is that Florida has such low-density development. The area of the Florida peninsula is about 2/3 the size of the NE megalopolis but with less than half of the population (~20 million vs ~50 million). Although it meets the contiguous urban area criteria, it doesn't quite have the same "density intensity" as the NE. But I can see it being considered equal to the NE based on the lack of rural area within the larger region.
I am currently in a flight school based out of Raleigh in eastern North Carolina. If we fly northeast for any considerable amount of time it is jarring to see the abrupt Metro, rural, then metro (again) scene. The area between the northeast and southeast Megapolis is so underdeveloped it’s hard to believe it’s bordered by such populated areas.
Thank you for such a great video as always!
Every time I watch one of your vids, I think about how great it would be to go on a road trip with you!
I live in Oklahoma City which could be considered part of the Texas megalopolis at some point later in my lifetime. Back in the early days of statehood there was thoughts that OKC and Tulsa would grow together but the turnpike connecting the two really limits the buildup of commercial businesses along the way.
Tulsa has just passed 1 million in the extended metro area.....thinking about the Ozarks
With the northeast megalopolis, the busiest Amtrak line in the US is the Northeast Regional which runs from Boston to DC. Couple that with I95 which has a similar route.
I'm surprised the PNW region from Seattle down to Portland didn't meet the criteria for a megalopolis. Great content as always though.
There's a 70 mile rual stretch between Olympia and Portland. But, I agree. Almost 4 million people squished in between the mountains and the Puget Sound .
Even being generous and going as far as Bellingham down to Eugene is about 8 million people total. The ones I discussed here are all 20 million plus, but Cascadia is definitely heading in that direction.
@@GeographyKing that’s totally fair. I just remember reading an old article that referred to that area as a megalopolis. I believe it mainly focused on how the metros blur together more than measuring the population though so I get where you’re coming from. Thanks for the reply!
Portland to Vancouver absolutely should have been mentioned. No reason to keep it US only when things like this stretch just across the border.
In Michigan the Grand Rapids exurban development has really started running into Holland's exurban development especially along the I-196 corridor. Ottawa County is by far the fastest growing County in Michigan and most of that development happens there
I do wonder why he extended it into Newaygo and Oceana counties however. Both of those, especially Newago, are very rural, and extensively covered by Manistee National forest(Newaygo co). I can see of course Ottawa and Muskegon counties, but those other two really don 't make any sense.
@@NightwingGR1 yeah adding Newaygo County is pretty odd to me too, even the border of Newaygo County and Kent County is still rather rural yet. And Oceana County is definitely an odd addition as it's quite rural and far from Grand Rapids
Great video as always. LOVE this topic. As a Clevelander I’d have to say Erie and Buffalo/Rochester could be included. Only one I was surprised you didn’t mention was Portland to Vancouver. Never been but always hear about the population growth up there.
Honestly it's more like Salem to Vancouver
I remember back in elementary school learning what a megalopolis was. The social studies book had a map of the northeast megalopolis, although back then (the late 1970's) it was defined as just a narrow strip from southern Maine to Northern Virginia, roughly around I-95.
The only thing I would disagree with on the northeast megalopolis is the portions in Upstate NY, yes there are lots of cities there but the population isn’t really that big, and the cities aren’t huge. Lots of space between towns at least in the northern parts shaded on the map in the video.
The only thing I would disagree with on the northeast megalopolis is the portions in Upstate NY, yes there are lots of cities there but the population isn’t really that big, and the cities aren’t huge. Lots of space between towns at least in the northern parts shaded on the map in the video.
Thanks so much, Geography King! Seeing density maps like these really helps one decide where to buy their plot o' land...
Another great video. But I do think Chautauqua County, Erie County (Buffalo) and Niagara County in New York should also be part of the Great Lakes or part of the Canadian metro. All 3 counties are pretty important to both regions as far as population (about 1.3 million people) and definitely the biggest region in New York that wasn’t mentioned earlier
Agreed; when you take away the country borders it easily connects Buffalo CSA via the Golden Horseshoe. Country borders seem arbitrary when talking about the geography of people.
I thought the same as well, I would have figured that the WNY/Buffalo metro area would have constituted the eastern border of the Great Lakes region given its direct proximity to the lake as well as its closer connections to both Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
always appreciate how you get the details right. Newton County, Indiana is still verrry rural whereas Jasper County just to the east is latching onto Porter County's insane growth.
surprised however that Buffalo wasn't part of the GLM. Chataqua County is rural but is essentially a bridge from Erie to Buffalo
I recently did an in depth look at the Florida Penninsula on my own time, and nearly everything south of Jacksonville and Gainesville is either Urban, Suburban or Exurban. And there really isn't much space between the cities and towns.
Yeah there’s only about 10 miles of country in between Orlando and Tampa that separates places that you could say you’re from either of those cities. That stretches all the way down to fort myers
@@contigodole810 And down here in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro every city is directly connected to at least one other. I'm from Coral Springs which directly borders 5 other cities.
The county level map makes the southwest corner of the FL peninsula appear more urban than it is, with much of that region made up of the Everglades and Big Cyprus National Parks, and the only urban area in Monroe County is Key West
I was going to comment about the Windsor-Quebec City Corridor, so I'm glad you mentioned it! Wikipedia says it might be included as part of an the Great Lakes Megalopolis if such things can cross international borders, but it's controversial (especially since eastern Ontario/QC are pretty far removed from any of the Great Lakes, though there is the St. Lawrence Seaway feeding into Lake Ontario). Moreover, there are some large rural gaps between cities in that stretch - like, driving between the GTA and Ottawa, regardless of route, you're going to have 2-3 hour stretches of nothing but farms or small towns. (Then you hit Kingston or Peterborough, then it's another 2-3 hours of nothing until Ottawa.)
The other one for Canada is Lower Mainland BC, which you pointed out. Again, Wikipedia suggests it could be connected to Cascadia Metroplex (which I was surprised you didn't mention) as Vancouver and Seattle basically touch each other. I'm a little surprised you didn't include Cascadia, as many lists on this topic seem to.
Ottawa/Montreal/Quebec City (I'm in Montreal, btw) is more akin to St. Louis, Missouri, in the sense that there's enough rural space between E Ontario/S Quebec and Toronto/S Ontario just as there is between St. Louis and Chicago.
You know what would be really fascinating is to see these megalopolis areas lit up at night. You could get a better sense of how dense they are more than by showing counties!
Portland to Bellingham might make an appearance on this list in not too long. Right now it's pretty continuous from about Chehalis to Bellingham (or really the Canadian border) but I wouldn't be surprised if that started connecting down to Vancouver--there are a lot of little towns down there that could get bigger.
I’m proud to be from the northeast megalopolis
That whole I-5 corridor from Portland OR up to Vancouver BC will become 1 continuous stretch of metro soon. Not surprising, I-5 is the most commercially traveled road in the US
You mean Vancouver, British Columbia to Eugene, Oregon
NOT! I live in Bham! All farmland south of us. Blaine, just North of here is a border town, and as sleepy as can be. Love it!
Cascadia megalopolis has definitely been growing a lot and I have a feeling it will grow even more if the proposed high-speed rail becomes a reality
New subscriber here. I’m instantly addicted to your awesome videos! Thank you sir
Welcome to the channel!
@@GeographyKing keep making these awesome videos please! Will definitely watch
I live in York SC, 25 miles SW of Charlotte, & when you drive the 80 miles down I85 from Gastonia to Greenville it just all runs together now with gridlock & road construction most of the way.
I could see the great lakes growing more in the next 20 years. we have all the water and vary few major weather events other then the winters. Michigan alone has nearly everything you need to have fun in the summer and the Detroit metro has a ton of empty space. If the city came back to what it once was you could add a few mill to that one city alone.
lol, so many deluded people in these comments
Americans don't want to move to areas with cold winters. And with the Urban Decay I just don't see people moving back
@@benjaminhoff5004 The urban decay is only a small fraction of the metro area as a whole. As far as winters go, they have been very mild in more recent years. I would argue winter gray skies would be a larger deterrent.
Question about Detroit: could the skeleton of the city be retrofitted with decent public transportation? Might be a good place to settle a bunch of our illegal migrants and allow them to set up an economy there within city limits. Yes I am talking 100% out of my ass.
Thanks for the Albany-Schenectady shoutout. Replayed it for my girlfriend and we both yelled that you mentioned us. King 👑
thank you for the content. very smart and grounded narration.
For the Texas Triangle, an interesting piece is that 9 of the 20 largest cities in the entire state are in the DFW Metroplex.
Also, the GDP of the Triangle is larger than that of Mexico, and just below Spain (equal to 16th in the world if it were an independent nation).
The Triangle is estimated to reach “carrying capacity” of 30M residents by 2040, largely due to heavy immigration from the southern border and relocation of west coast corporate centers to the Triangle, mostly in DFW and Austin metros.
Howdy from Norway🇳🇴your videos are always great
Love watching and learning from you 👍🙋🏼♀️🙏🏻
There is the Gulf Coast Megalopolis. Starting from Tallahassee in the East going to Lafayette, LA in the West. Includes Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Gulfport, Biloxi, Mobile, Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, Destin and Panama City and maybe Dothan.
The populations on the Mississippi Gulf Coast aren't populated enough to be considered big cities
I live in the Netherlands where a farm 2 km away from a city is considered a rural area. I am pretty sure that it is impossible to be more than 5 km away from a city or town in this country. It is that dense.
Netherlands and Belgium together are about 97% urban.
What’s a km
As a Mainer, I appreciate seeing you push the northeast corridor up to Portland. York and Cumberland counties are 100% connected. Development of economic connection and urban suburban sprawl is creeping up to where I live in Lewiston Maine
I was thinking that too, I also live in Lewiston and while there’s definitely very rural parts in between I think the megalopolis can be extended up to Lewiston, or maybe even Augusta and Bangor
@@zacharymorin5696 And of not now, definitely in another 10-15 years
Growing up I lived in Southern Utah, started out rural; now it’s more suburban due to the massive growth of St. George MSA (fastest growing metro in the US) but as I got more into geography and took more trips North to the SLC area, I noticed something. Starting in Santaquin, and going all the way up north to Brigham City, you had a 122 mile stretch of I-15 , 10-15 miles on either side that was nearly nothing but urban/suburban sprawl of wall to wall people. Only to find out Provo/SLC/Ogden are considered 3 different MSAs.
The Wastach Front of Utah is a megalopolis, that place doesn’t feel like it ends, and it’s coming up on a population of 3,000,000, plus theirs room to grow.
St. George’s growth. Is. Insane!! Insane!! That area 20 to 30 years ago was definitely way smaller and sleepier. The growth has been dramatic, I’m dumbfounded at how fast St. George and Washington County have exploded! I think over the next 20 years that whole stretch of I-15 from SLC down to St. George is gonna blur together in an urban sprawl. SLC alone is getting very big.
I hope not, but it is trending that way. They really need to get another freeway running north and south or at least plan to keep a corridor open because I-15 can't take too much more traffic from Provo to Ogden.
Hell yeah I can eat my dinner with that fresh Geography King
Yes, that Atlantic coast of Florida from Daytona south to the Keys will be continuous soon enough if it is not already.
Maybe the I-10 corridor in Arizona between Phoenix and Tucson as well, though geography will play a challenge with that one. And/or the I-35 corridor from OKC to DFW in Oklahoma and Texas.
Oh, and the song in the album your displaying, "Whammer Jammer", that was used for the long puke sequence in the movie "Problem Child 2".
Rochester, Buffalo and Erie are all linked and just connected by small cities and should be considered part of the Great Lakes Megapolis because their are of the same economic and cultural class. And this is all connected to the Golden Horseshoe of Ontario where close to 10 million are crammed around the west end of Lake Ontario. Since I live in the Horseshoe and spent a great amount of time in the Western NY area and over in Michigan, I would argue to an extent it is all part of the Great Lakes Megapolis
No.
Erie may be a shithole, but I've never met anyone from Buffalo with a filter on their inner monologue.
I make the same case for the Twin Cities, Madison, Eau Claire, and the whole stretch up to Minnesota as an inclusion in the megalopolis, at least emerging. Even if a lot of rural area it is VERY much filled in with suburban, exurban, and small cities dotting the whole corridor that it is very much a stretch included.
Even moreso would be the I-35W+Northern Lights Express corridor up to Duluth MN, where a significant stretch of MN's population is all along a corridor that continues this Great Lakes emerging Megalopolis development pattern.
It would be interesting to overlay the Appalachian trail with the northeast megalopolis, to show how the some of rural areas mix with the urban sprawl
Beaver's forcing the discord to watch. I'm loving it so far!
You should do a video of cities in the state of Missouri. A lot have names from other states or countries. Cuba, Mexico, Savannah, Memphis, Stockton, Nevada, Buffalo, Annapolis, New Haven, Maryland Heights, Florida, Miami, Richmond, New Boston, Trenton, Albany, and Oregon are examples. They have many to do with "Liberty", such as Jefferson City, Independence, Liberty, and Monroe City. They of course have Kansas City, and a city called Birch Tree.
Don’t forget Versailles Missouri.
Yes Kyle very interesting I love megalopolises
Speaking of the California megalopolis, I think the biggest beneficiary of the first phase of the high speed rail between Bakersfield and SF will be the Fresno/Madera/Visalia/Hanford area as the last affordable metro area in California. This area is more closely tied to the Bay Area while Bakersfield is more tied to Los Angeles but it won't be connected to LA anytime soon. The Modesto/ Stockton area is already getting better rail connections to the South Bay.
I anticipate growth rates that will quickly fill in the Fresno/Madera/Visalia/Hanford area. I hope so because the central San Joaquin Valley's economy has been stagnant for 50 years. Fresno, the state's 5th largest city and my hometown, has grown substantially north but its downtown has not had a new major non-govt building built since the 70s despite a revitalization plan every decade. The skyline of downtown Fresno looks exactly the same as it did in 70s. There are no middle class jobs there unless you own your own business or work for the govt. I imagine Visalia, Tulare, Hanford, and Madera are in the same boat. That's why I have high hopes for high speed rail and the economic transformation that it should finally bring for the entire area.
Cancer must grow... growth is not always good. Give me a little country town that has been 2500 pop. for decades
@@anderander5662 move to Wyoming then?
@@LucasFernandez-fk8se Not a bad idea.... I guess I'm tired of people piled on top of each other.
Your the best Kyle! Nice breakdown of these areas, rural vs urban spaces in detail.
Thank you for including Richmond and Hampton Roads in the Northeast. It is odd how frequently those areas are left out. There are only about 30 miles of rural area between Ashland and Fredericksburg and about 25 miles of rural area between Eastern Henrico and Williamsburg.
I live in Richmond and will agree that they are basically the southern extent of the NE Megalopolis, however, other than the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnels the traffic in HR/Richmond is not nearly as bad as further north. Fredericksburg and north is nearly constant gridlock during daylight hours it seems. Richmond is great because it is 2 hours from DC, 2 hours from Shenandoah, 2 hours from VA Beach, a fairly decent sized city with some things to do, but prices and traffic aren't nearly as bad as a few hours further north.
Richmond is not in the Northeast. I know by my blood pressure! When driving south from NYC, once halfway between DC and Richmond, the entire vibe changes completely and all anxiety releases from my body.
@@jlpack62 yep! Culturally from Ricmond South it's actually Southern more specifically Southeastern in culture. The Eastern shore of Maryland and Southern Delaware too. They have more in common with the Carolinas than NYC.
Driving south it’s pretty clear that it extends to south close to the North Carolina line and those gaps are smaller than the quiet corner of Connecticut and quabbin Massachusetts area gap which no one mentions. As far as the culture goes it’s clear that the area is culturally southern but New England is very culturally different from the mid Atlantic and New York so I don’t think the megalopolis is a cultural region.
Yes Richmond has more in common with the south than the northeast its closer to Raleigh/Durham than It is to Philly....its Closer to Charlotte than it is to NYC its closer to Charleston, Savannah and Atl than it is to Boston
Thank you for mentioning Canada.
I live right in the edge of the hole there in northwest North Carolina (Elkin-Jonesville area) and it has felt almost like a tsunami coming for the past ten years or so. Even since COVID I have noticed a lot more heavy traffic where there were once never any jams. It’s exciting to think there will be less and less that’s a 30 minute drive away in the next town but sad we are slowly losing the small town charm we once had. I hope to hang onto it as long as possible
Another great video!! I would throw Buffalo, NY in with the Great Lakes region. Seems more like Pittsburgh and Cleveland than Philadelphia and NYC
I live in Philly right in the middle of the NE Megalopolis and in a lot of ways the corridor between NE Virginia and SW Maine operate as one large urban area, both economically, and the movement of people between its many cities. After decades of de-industrialization the region is finally finding its footing in the new economy. Unfortunately a lot of communities were left behind. All one has to do is take Amtrak from Boston to DC and look out the window and you'll see the wreckage de-industrialization left behind. And at the same time see all of the new development taking place.
Love the video and information but Wilkinson County, GA (my home) is one of the counties you highlighted on the edge of the southeastern megalopolis. It’s population of 9500 is lower now than in 1880 and is as rural as it gets in the southeast. It’s not surrounded by developed counties and doesn’t contain suburbs of larger cities. I don’t feel it belongs on the map. Keep up the great work! I love your videos!
would love to see one add on video to this covering the big urban areas spanning between 2 countries (Seattle-Vancouver, San Diego-Tijuana, Copenhagen-Malmö, etc.)
I think you should have included the entire coastal Georgia counties. Glynn county (Brunswick) for sure is part of the Jacksonville Mega.
Excellent content either way, have a like!
Two that will show up in the next fifty years or more may be from Vancouver, BC, Canada down to a little south of Portland, OR. The other may be Idaho Falls, ID down passed Salt Lake City, UT. Those areas are really building up.
I think an argument could be made for extending the Great Lakes Megalopolis from Madison to the Northwest through La Crosse, Eau Claire, Rochester (MN), the Twin Cities and up to St. Cloud. It would be a little bit of a stretch at the moment, but St. Cloud, the Twin Cities and Rochester are already practically grown together and I think the stretch between the Twin Cities and Madison with Eau Claire, La Crosse, Winona etc... will really start to grow together over the next couple of decades. If the predicted climate refugees start showing up in Duluth, then that area might start grown more down toward the Twin Cities as well.
I definitely agree that La Crosse, Eau Claire and Winona are all gonna blur together ultimately, it’s obvious that region is well on its way towards that.
Praying for everyone in southwestern Florida right now🙏🏼😢💙
Video didn’t even start and I already gave it a like. This man is truly the King👑
Ok now that I watched the video, my mind is blown … didn’t comprehend how dense the population is in this country
Thanks for the Canada shoutout. It’s also been called the Laurentian Corridor.
One of Briggs and One of GeographyKing today was a good day🎉
Same thing with the Wasatch front in salt lake. Constant urban from Ogden to Payson now, no breaks for almost 100 miles. Only 3 million people, but much more dense and urban that most would expect because it’s all shoved into the tiny area between the lakes and the mountains. Used to be farms and orchards, now just never ending City and smog.
Awesome, I was hoping for a video on this topic!
I’m a bit surprised that you didn’t mention that the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia is part of the Northeast megalopolis, and Northern Panhandle is part of the Great Lakes megalopolis.
I love living in a megalopolis (great lakes). If you get bored of your city, you're within a days drive of so many more cities.
I loved seeing them all together at the end. I’ve seen people talk about the first range megalopolis, but I was also wondering about the Pacific Northwest and also the Gulf Coast. I’m from Houston so I know the Gulf Coast is more a string of pearls than a true megalopolis but maybe in a future video you could show areas like that in yellow to discuss emerging areas/ future megalopolises or how established ones like New England are connecting with piedmont Atlantic and florida and Texas triangle
He left out Portland, Seattle, Vancouver. That's 300 miles along I-5 with those three very connected cities. It absolutely was forgotten and should have been mentioned.
You have way underestimated the population of the Southeastern Megalopolis. You speak of three million, but the 17-county Atlanta Metro is 5.5 million by itself. I think 8 or even 10 million would be a better estimation. These presentations are very informative. Thank you for educating us.
What about the Seattle - Portland - Eugene area? I feel left out, but I'll get over it. I love your videos, keep up the good work!
This is the First Channel that failed to mention Vancouver Canada all the way down to Salem Oregon. 15 Million People.
Kyle you could make an in depth video focud on reasons why some rural areas around those megalopolis are still rural
Thanks GK. Great video as always!
It would be interesting to see a video on the size and shapes and concentration of the counties in different states and different areas of the western states.
The Atlanta suburbs continue to expand up the 85/400 corridors more than other directions out from Atlanta. Halfway rural areas between Atlanta and Athens like Winder are now starting to sprout with subdivisions, shopping and traffic. You could almost say that suburban/exurban areas now go as far north as Dahlonega and Dawsonville now.
Great Video Kyle! Beaver Geography also makes in-depth Megalopolis videos, love the topic
Yes 😋
Geez, there’s that damned beaver again.
Franklin County, Massachusetts, definitely doesn't feel like part of a megalopolis. Of course as you point out the boundaries of the NE megalopolis are fuzzy. Awesome video as always.
Great video, but I am a little surprised that you didn't include the quad Cities or St Louis in the Great Lakes megalopolis. However, there is some pretty rural parts separating the I-39 corridor to Rock Island & Springfield to St Louis so I guess not terribly surprised.
I always watch these vids 2 or 3 times (but not in quick succession) and get different impressions each time.
The full view of the US at 15:09 shows why the urges to “Go West” were so powerful.
After 150 years, the north east coast grew beyond its ability to support all the industry, ambition and agricultural needs of a growing population.
US geography tells an amazing story.
I just wanted to say again that I really enjoy your videos. In the early 90’s at the CTA in Chicago’s strategic planning department I was in of a very few who started to understand the powerful potential of mapping data from our market research and fares data over time.
Of course, today, since my retirement in 2004, technology has raced ahead, but I enjoy watching what you do so well. One concern I’ve had about the megalopoli in the US, is that most of them are located on the coasts which could be severely impacted by rising sea levels and or catastrophic tsunami activity.
Have you ever considered plotting this county population data against sea level and/or earthquake exposure.
I worry about this less than I might because my home is 660 feet above sea level in Chicago. But the increase in sea levels and heat in ocean waters seem destined to wreak havoc on some pretty heavily populated areas.
In your Chicago centered megopolis there are some trends I’ve been following since going to high school on the near west side. That is that as the suburban areas have aged, the cost of urbanization and rebuilding in the city proper has been more affordable than rebuilding in the suburbs and that has created decades of redevelopment and gentrification from the city core out.
This has pushed some expansion directly from the city itself, out especially south into NW Indiana.
There are a number of pretty farm filled areas between Chicago and Madison but I’ve noticed more and more development there over the last 25 years and perhaps More in the Madison-Milwaukee patch.
The lakeshore property all along the lakeshore from just South of Door County around the south end of the lake up to about Holland, Michigan, has been popular since my great grandfather’s time.
One thing of unusual note is that as Part of Daniel Burnham’s Plan of Chicago the public here has unrestricted access to the lakeshore. Almost no commercial development on the lakeshore itself has been allowed. (We’ll ignore Lake Point Tower as a political artifact and anomaly.)
There is still quite a bit of farmland along the I-80 corridor East of Chicago, but the growth in South Bend - Cleveland and yonder has been substantial in the last few decades.
Even still, There has been some Chicago emigration as far West as Starved Rock state park and thereabouts partly do to the canal connecting Chicago eventually to the Mississippi.
One last point is that the downtown area of Chicago was once a swamp too which over decades was drained and raised several stories. So that does make me wonder about the future of some of those swamps or whether they’ll be so inundated by seawater that it won’t matter.
I have noticed that Chicago’s winters have been progressively milder the last few years. While I wouldn’t mind San Diego weather personally, I can’t help but wonder what the human cost of that would be.
I used to work in emergency management and I wrote the tsunami preparedness and response plan for Monterey County, CA following the big Indian Ocean tsunami in 2005.
I was recently in Chicago and enjoyed the lack of development up to the lakeshore. Enjoyed my visit
Thank you for your comment. I appreciate all of the info
I grew up on the edge of the San Bernardino County that begins the true megalopolis. Desert towns in a valley that makeup 500,000 right off the bat. And it’s true - look east towards Vegas and it’s a whole lotta nothin.
Love the videos gk!
I live in the megaopolis! I used to live in the Midwest but had to come here for work. It is a culture shock for sure
another excellent video!
Thank you!
I think there's a case to be made that Kentucky has combined the south/piedmont megalopolis and the great lakes megalopolis. There isn't that much open space and alot of cities along the I 65 and I 75 corridors. Bowling Green, Elizabethtown, Louisville, Lexington, Georgetown, Frankfort, London, Richmond, Florence, Newport and the cities in Southern Indiana like Jeffersonville, New Albany and Bloomington. Kentucky feels very connected to Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Nashville.
I’m a courier and live in southern CT between Waterbury and New Haven and not too far from Bridgeport either. My job takes me pretty far sometimes and when I mention this or that destination, sometimes people ask about the farthest places I go, and I’ve got this answer down pat by now, “I go from northern DE, up to southern NH, and as far west as Albany NY.”
Almost precisely the all the red areas of the northeast megalopolis…and I never even realized it till recently.
Growing up in Ashland City, TN, I definitely never felt like I was in a megalopolis lol.
I would include Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse in the Great Lakes Megalopolis. If you follow I-90 east from Cleveland, through Erie, and into New York, there isn't much open space. I appreciate your great videos.
I live in Chicago and work remotely for a company in Racine, WI and have been driving up to Racine twice a month for almost four years. Besides the Hawthorn Hollow Nature Arboretum and a golf course, there is ZERO demarcation between the Chicago metro area (ending in Kenosha) and the Milwaukee metro area (starting in Racine). Having been doing this up and down more times than I can count, I'm actually confused as to why Chicago and Milwaukee aren't one giant CSA at this point. Aside from a small patch of green space (look it up on a map, it is minuscule), it is concrete from Joliet and NW Indiana all the way through Milwaukee to Cedarburg.
People go between Chicago and Milwaukee so fluidly. I have a sister who comes down to have dinner in Chicago every month or so and heads home after. It's not a large swath of land in the grand scheme of things.
Thank you, a lot of folks outside the Chicago area don’t realize it’s ALL blurred together now from Chicago up to Milwaukee! The two really should be one larger area at this point. The urban blur is expanding down from Chicago to Champaign very rapidly as well. Ultimately all that is gonna be a huge blur too.
They aren't gonna combine unless people all of a sudden start commuting a lot in between the cities. I'm talking about hundreds of thousands of people commuting between MKE and CHI. Right now, there are only a few thousand people who commute between the 2 cities.
I definitely agree with the Florida megalopolis idea! The entire state is pretty much a city. There are a lot of open areas, but the amount of construction is absolutely insane. I see construction pretty much any time I go literally anywhere. Roads, buildings, even neighborhoods and borderline towns/cities are being built right now. It's on the fine line too, it's nice to see the buildup, but sometimes it gets way too crazy
Satellite pictures of the U.S. at night seeing the city lights really highlight where the megapolis are developing and where they are in full effect.
Another great upload!
Love your videos!
The thing about California is that all the cities and communities are truly actually connected, so when traveling on the freeway, unless you’re familiar with the area, you might not notice where city limits begin or end. I know being from Southern California, pretty much from Oxnard to San Diego is basically one connected group of cities separated by few un populated areas, which are usually military installations like Camp Pendleton
It would be interesting to see an overlay map of the interstate highway corridors to make a connection between the growth of the megalopoli and the building of the interstates.
i love this video! you should do another one on something similar, places that are between many popular cities on all sides
Exurbs - districts outside a city, especially the prosperous area beyond the suburbs.
Huh! I did not know that word
🙂👍
Growing up, I was told that in PA there was always a town every 8 miles for the stage coach to take a rest and perhaps change horses.
I live in Victoria,Tx and I can say when I was a kid it took about 2 1/2 hours to get Houston but now it’s about an hour & thirty I’d say yea in a few years it will down to 45 min especially because of the new I-69 interstate corridor being put in
In California, it is fair to add Vegas. I am from India, I feel most of India is single metro area. We have large states with 1000+ people per sqkm.
I was surprised to see where you stopped the southeast megalopolis. We in the Columbus Georgia,Auburn, Alabama, Lagrange, Georgia area feel that we are becoming a part of it willy-nilly.