Megalopolis Regions in U.S. 

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

It's always a good day when Geography King uploads a video! :)

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!

"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.

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!

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.

Best Geography RU-vid 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!

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 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. :]

Love watching and learning from you 👍🙋🏼‍♀️🙏🏻

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.

I'm surprised the PNW region from Seattle down to Portland didn't meet the criteria for a megalopolis. Great content as always though.

Thanks so much, Geography King! Seeing density maps like these really helps one decide where to buy their plot o' land...

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 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.

thank you for the content. very smart and grounded narration.

Thanks GK. Great video as always!

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

Your the best Kyle! Nice breakdown of these areas, rural vs urban spaces in detail.

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

Awesome, I was hoping for a video on this topic!

Hell yeah I can eat my dinner with that fresh Geography King

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.

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.

Yes Kyle very interesting I love megalopolises

Video didn’t even start and I already gave it a like. This man is truly the King👑

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!

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.

Love your videos!

Thank you for mentioning Canada.

Nice video! Thank you.

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!

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.

i love this video! you should do another one on something similar, places that are between many popular cities on all sides

Howdy from Norway🇳🇴your videos are always great

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.

Another great upload!

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.

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.

New subscriber here. I’m instantly addicted to your awesome videos! Thank you sir

Thanks for sharing.

Great work here, Kyle!! 😀

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 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.

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.

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

Thanks for the Albany-Schenectady shoutout. Replayed it for my girlfriend and we both yelled that you mentioned us. King 👑

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.

One of Briggs and One of GeographyKing today was a good day🎉

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.

Another great video!! I would throw Buffalo, NY in with the Great Lakes region. Seems more like Pittsburgh and Cleveland than Philadelphia and NYC

Beaver's forcing the discord to watch. I'm loving it so far!

Praying for everyone in southwestern Florida right now🙏🏼😢💙

another excellent video!

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.

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.

3:58 Others show this as more of an interstate corridor between Raleigh-Greensboro-Charlotte-Greenville-Atlanta-Birmingham. But your point is well taken.

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

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

Great video, Beaver Geo did something like this early

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.

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

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.

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’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.

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!

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!

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.

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".

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.

You are great!

Exurbs - districts outside a city, especially the prosperous area beyond the suburbs. Huh! I did not know that word 🙂👍

Thanks for the Canada shoutout. It’s also been called the Laurentian Corridor.

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

This is so freaking interesting!!!

Growing up in Ashland City, TN, I definitely never felt like I was in a megalopolis lol.

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!

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 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'm still waiting for Mega City One to form

Great Video Kyle! Beaver Geography also makes in-depth Megalopolis videos, love the topic

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.

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.

Thank you this is the most interesting RU-vid video I ever watched. It’s quite eye-opening. I’m very impressed and I didn’t know you were from California. Yeah I’m from California(Central California exactly I wish all those people who complain about California move out too.

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 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.

As a resident of San Bernardino and Riverside counties my entire life, I can confirm we live as left as possible.

I think you've "broad brushed" these regions. In some cases (like San Bernardino) you need to dig deeper and draw the lines where the actual population centers are located. Sullivan County, NY is very much in NYC's orbit, but I would not consider it part of the megalopolis. Same with MD's Eastern Shore. A nighttime satellite map is a good visual indicator of where these areas really are.

Do you see the Great Lakes Megalopolis extending southwest to the St. Louis metro area any time soon?

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

AWESOME Kyle mentioned gainesville Florida

I'm curious why the quad cities on the Illinois-Iowa border would not be included.

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.

Your knowledge of Canada needs to improve but it has improved since you started making videos. I'd be interested in a discussion/video of Canadian metro areas

The Arizona Sun corridor and Front Range should be honorable mentions

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 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.