The HISTORIC Rise Of The Northeast Megalopolis 

Albany NY, being just outside the megalopolis as well

I grew up in New Rochelle, it’s basically just extended NYC. Not much different from the north part of the Bronx.

The Lehigh Valley is a good example here. It's a decently sized metro area of medium and small cities, yet is overshadowed by Philly and NYC

And he didn't even mention Jersey City.

Hell, even Middletown, Newburgh, & Poughkeepsie are decently-sized cities as well.

You might as well add Salisbury, MD and Dover, DE to the list because they can grow at unexpected rates in the future.

Yep, you'd have to tear something down or chop someone's backyard to make more room

@@stevenroshni1228 I go to Boston fairly often and my ex lived outside of Hartford, so I spent a lot of time there as well...there's just no room within 30 miles of any major city in the northeast US. It was weird when I'd spend time at her place since I used to Maine where every home is on at least an acre, and I felt like I was in her neighbor's house when I needed to use the toilet...and she thought her town was "spaced out."

We need to rezone the suburbs for high density. Period. It’s the only way to pack more people in.

You know Eastern Connecticut’s pretty empty, and being right between Boston & News York it’s got a lotta potential

Walkable is the most important part of a city, cars are terrible

Chicago is at least one exception.

Same

Me too!

You mean ChiPitts? It's America's only sideways megalopolis (East-West).

All we need is something to connect Chicago to Detroit and Toledo to Cleveland... Right now it's still like three fragmented part of Milwaukee-Chicago, Detroit, Toledo, and Cleveland-Pittsburgh... 🤔🤔🤔

To say there is a Great Lakes megalopolis is a farce.

They look rundown because they are rundown. Like most of the northeast.

@@PSTXFL LOL the northeast isn't rundown

@@casmatt99 Camden, New Jersey. Queens, New York. Buffalo, New York. Bridgeport, Connecticut. Just a few dumps off the top of my head.

@@PSTXFL most of those places aren’t run down for example queens isn’t runs down considering it’s one of the few places in NYC with a fast growing population other than Brooklyn and high also isn’t run down and is apart of new york.

@@shaddythewiz3836 Queens is a complete dump and Manhattan stinks of urine, there’s garbage piled in the streets it’s disgusting.

You know it's gonna sprawl out like Texas

Don’t look forward to it, there’s nothing good about the expansion of cities.

AZ sun corridor is just SoCal part 2

Yes the people who are complaining that Richmond should not be included likely have never driven from Richmond to DC. There is a sh*t ton of traffic between those two places.

@@rvaadventures2244 not just that, they’ve always been connected…people are weird.

@@757CitiesReppa they aren’t as connect as you may think…

Maybe not for white people from outside of these areas. Northern Virginia is the outlier amongst all of these areas because it is the newest.

@@757CitiesReppa what do you define as the outer limits of nova?

MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!

For North East folks, anywhere you can't get to several stores by foot is the middle of nowhere.

He left out NEW HAVEN, BRIDGEPORT, STAMFORD, NEWARK NJ, JERSEY CITY NJ,

@@davidscott3726 He left those out, I believe, because they all have metropolitan populations lower than 1 Million. Additionally, Newark and Jersey City are part of the New York City metropolitan area.

Lancaster and York are the best ones

Replying to my own comment, for that matter if you're heading in the general direction of Montreal the same thing applies north of the border too, at least along major roads.

I think part of that is just settlement patterns, the northeast is the oldest, and was settled when water was everything and in the northeast its everywhere. Most valleys have atleast a trickling stream and basically every waterfall had a saw or grain mill on it to take advantage of the free power. We also tend to settle such that every village is 1 days travel from the last, and in colonial times that was around 10miles. In contrast the west is very dry so alot less water based settlements were made, and the main settlement happened in the age of the railroad where every 100miles a village center was artificially placed to be codependent on the railroad. The west is also just settled later and had alot less time to fill in the way the east did. The end result is the east has a sort of settled rural vibe where you can get away from people but the closest road from any given point is never more than a couple miles. And the west has an empty rural vibe where you can get several days away from "civilization". But also be aware of sample bias if you are conting rural as 10miles between towns on a major road as major roads expressly exist to link existing towns and so have a disproportionate amount of people settled along them. (Otherwise they would be a backroad to link 2 hamlets or a farm to its host village)

I grew up in Lowell MA and then moved to Nashua NH which are both decently sized cities on their own, and still a good distance away from Boston with many people commuting to the city. Compared to now where I live in Houston, as soon as you drive more than 20 miles outside the city (depending which direction you go) there's absolutely nothing at all.

@@ahyes589 I've been saying this exact thing. I used to live in Austin, TX and it was shocking to me that absolutely nothing exists between Austin and Houston. Having grown up outside of Baltimore, the same distance gets you all the way to Manhattan with no traffic, bypassing Philadelphia along the way.

Yes, either that or the Lee Highway (which includes part of US11 in Tennessee).

The same 11 that connects to Canada due south of Montreal (about 3 miles left of Lake Champlain) I find it funny its a North-South route except I'm used to the segment in NY at the bend from North-South to East-West, and at the same time the same road goes all the way to New Orleans.

@@jasonreed7522 yes. I think of it as the "road that runs from Bristol to Chattanooga in East Tennessee." And actually in East TN it splits into two branches. 11 E and 11 W. 11 E runs from Bristol through Johnson City, through Greenville and Morristown to Knoxville. 11W runs through Kingsport, Rogersville, etc. North of Cherokee Lake. The two branches merge again in Knoxville, and goes through Farragut and Lenoir City before turning south to Chattanooga.

As a DC resident, it’s on our radar. There’s people that work in DC and live in Richmond. A lot of merging going on.

I would agree that pretty much no one in the far north thinks about a small city like Richmond, so no it's probably not on your radar. But there is definitely a connection between DC and Richmond. You only have to drive from DC to Richmond or vice versa to see that connection. South of Richmond on the other hand is extremely rural and not connected to the northeast at all.

It's the Mason-Dixon Line, named after the people who came up with it. The word "Dixie," on the other hand, drives from the French word _dix_ "ten," and has nothing to do with the name of the line.

Agreed. I've lived in Richmond my whole life, and I'm 60. It's definitely not as southern as it was when I was a kid. It has its own distinct vibe. I agree with you about Baltimore too.

And new haven and new london

Allentown is a 💩 🕳

But with excellent train connections to Boston's North Station, Portland, ME

I would add Hagerstown, MD and dare I say Martinsburg, WV (or that entire Eastern Panhandle of WV). I would refer to these as the Westernmost edge of the Northeast Megalopolis. Offshoots that are not quite built up but still have significant commuter populations attached to a Megalopolis city.

Check your potential home for inland flooding. Eastern Massachusetts has countless tiny brooks, rivers, streams, and swamps with homes and roads starting to be affected by rains and king tides. No joke, even the Boston Public Library and trolley lines have had to close for this reason. Be sure to get the LATEST map on this. Other than that, I'm totally jealous and wish my family ties would let me go back.

@@kskssxoxskskss2189 Excellent advice re the inland flooding, that is a big issue.

Oil fields!!!

I looked at Google Maps, and I'm pretty sure they might be a a bunch of oil pumpjacks.

@@BeaverGeography Oh I’m stupid lol

Major Dakotan metro area

Oil

I just want to be clear that I was giving a little bit of feedback to help improve because you really seem to take it to heart! :)

I do agree with you on Bridgeport, New Haven and Springfield

I get the impression from quite a few of his videos when he talks about "bad city neighborhoods" that's he's never lived in a a city. There's a lot of older, somewhat rundown working class neighborhoods in that look bad when you visit, but are reasonably safe to live in. I still enjoy his videos, having a menacing looking beaver lecture to me about geography is one of my new favorite past times.

No doubt!

Geography King did count it i believe. If Richmond is part of the northeast megalopolis then I think Portland should be too

Good point Mike.

Its also clearly a part of the Hartford urban band from the coast to around Amherst. So if Hartford counts as part of the Megalopolis then Springfield does as well. (Ignoring traffic they are under 30min apart on the interstate)

@@jasonreed7522 should have mentioned Hartford-Springfield metropolitan area. I am aware that it takes 30 minutes to drive between the two cities. I grew up in the area.

Springfield is its own metropolitan area, but it's less than 1 Million, like Worcester, New Haven, and Bridgeport.

@@jacobbernard1393 I do agree with you on that. Springfield is its own metropolitan area and has it’s own DMA with its TV stations.

@@jacobbernard1393 I do agree with you on that. Springfield is its own metropolitan area and has it’s own DMA with its TV stations.

I hope not

Census 2020: 3.8million in the City of Los Angeles. Most of LA County, not to mention LA metro, is not in the City of LA .

they already have the car ferry.... last thing we need is even more people from Connecticut in NY 😂

They are. But their metro areas don't hit the 1mil mark. You can add Springfield metro to the Hartford metro the "I91 corridor" and that can give you a better number. Same as Worcester if you add it to the Boston metro they are both indeed part of the megalapolis.

Worcester was one of the fastest growing cities in the Northeast this last decade , mostly from Bostonians moving there to commute to work in Boston

@@samstevens2021 it still is fast growing. Also a lot of the growth is also from foreign immigrants

NYC metro.

Thanks again!

*MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

Agreed! DC and Richmond metros collide at the border of Spotsylvania and Caroline/Louisa Counties.

It’s BEEN a part of the megalopolis before there was a “NoVA”

@@757CitiesReppa I know you from city-data lol

@@hootop85 I know a lot of these people for years come out of city data spreading bs.

@757CitiesReppa Very true especially when it come to the misrepresentation of VA cities lol

The only logical thing is to put the "borders" on the state lines.

Definitely more connected to Philadelphia than NJ

new jersey or maryland personally

New York, Massachusetts and DC.

New York City is the archetypal city of the Northeast. As far as states, i'd say New Jersey

PA, New Jersey or New York. Out of those 3 New Jersey isn't a bad choice. Honestly its hard to choose though as not much unites the northeast culturally except maybe density, history and rowhouses

I'm from Providence and I think that's really easy to say when you don't come from as historic of a place, if anything I think that's keeping the legacy of the city alive and living it. London and Paris and any other significant European city has had so much renovation and reconstruction but they're still incredibly historic, it's just not realistic for a old dense city to keep up with the sprawling modern glass cities of the south and west and at the same time maintain every inch of history. I think inpart the gutting of an individual building feels so much more problematic to you because you're used to palces with out historical importance where you don't have to give any mind to that sort of thing.

@@oaxtec765 you must be misunderstanding what I am saying- I think it's fine to renovate and reconstruct historic buildings that's not a problem, but incorporating modern uses for the buildings the way Boston does is sacrilege. I was appalled when I went into Paul Revere's House to take a subway train

@@klausjackklaus There isn't really much space to put anything else. Its one of the densest regions of the country, so they have to put modern utilities in historic buildings. It's giving them a second life in a way. Instead of sitting as a museum, they serve a function.

@@klausjackklaus o ok I guess i agree with you but you do have to draw the line somewhere I think. But that makes sense in sorry about my misunderstanding

@@oaxtec765 denser cities are much better in terms of efficiency and quality of life (and many other factors) then the sprawling glass cities in America.

I agree. Virginia these days is not really traditionally Southern in a lot of areas. Demographics and culture have shifted a lot. Richmond isn't terribly Southern and neither is Hampton Roads bc of the military presence and the constant influx of different people. The same goes for Northern Virginia. To me, Virginia feels more Southern in the Southwestern area - places like Roanoke and Bristol.

Believe it or not there are some old farm remnants in dc, you gotta look for them but you can find it

@@Jack-sq6xb Hechinger Mall was a dairy farm into the 1950s.

Many sources do include Richmond and even Hampton Roads in the Northeast Megaregion. Also, the mega region is distinct from regional definitions such as North/South/Mid Atlantic. Personally, I feel like it's both Southern and Mid-Atlantic. However, I definitely think that it's apart of the Northeast Megaregion. We clearly have some connection to D.C. even if D.C. has lost alot of it's southern culture.

Yes, right now Richmond is definitely part of the south. But in future decades I don't think it will be considered that. Only historically. The DC metro has been creeping southwards for quite some time. It has already taken over Fredericksburg. In coming decades it will likely swallow up Richmond as well.

Statistically it pretty clearly helps out when youtubers ask people to subscribe. I know most people think its dumb, but it does help which makes it worth the 10 seconds.

You are totally correct.

@@BeaverGeography I find it annoying

@@BeaverGeography you obviously know your analytics better than I do, but I genuinely can't understand the thought process of someone who subscribes to a channel because they were asked to and not because they actually enjoy the content. This isn't a knock on you personally or specifically. It's just so odd to me and I get tired of hearing it on every video. I've actually unsubbed to channels because the creator went overboard on the "hit the subscribe button / ring the bell, etc" stuff. I'm not saying you're going overboard - it's just something that kinda bugs me.

I completely understand guys, but it’s only like 15 seconds and it helps me alot

Definitely when we just passed 500k people not metro

I'm interested to see Fort Collins and Greeley grow similarly, probably merging into a single bipolar metropolitan area, perhaps extending nearly all the way to Cheyenne.

NJ and CT are just suburbs of NYC

@@giovannisagardia1246 you really don't know much about either place do you?

New Jersey gets way more shit than it deserves

@@evilgenius919 I live in one of them. And visit the other one frequently while crossing the same city that divides both states multiple times.

But you're right. The author should had put the same emphasis he did on LI to Jersey. Which is more interesting since the Philly Metro and the NYC metro need some sort of division.

They need to build more apartments

@@blushdog haha i live in western long island and there is definitely no shortage of apartments being built. we have so many people moving in from the city but it’s all internal so the density problem isn’t changing

Lot of people are leaving here going to the south or out west

Oil fields!

@@BeaverGeography oh wow. Thanks for answering that for me buddy 👍

Williston's on the rise, and the Midwest's victimized. Run by malice, oil and crime, ND will be jeopardized!

I would even argue that the part of PA going from philly to pittsburgh would be more a part of the megalopolis than richmond. Like i said lot of smaller cities but theyre a lot more well connected to eachother and the rest of the megalopolis than richmond is

Firstly, by “America” you must be talking about the United States, since America consists of North and South America. Secondly, “America” is a dysfunctional Balkanized country known for its oppression and warmongering, even against its own citizens. Thirdly, states of NC, SC, GA all participated in the formation of the country, I suppose their death count is irrelevant.

@@PSTXFL aren't those some of the areas that have been oppressing their people for the last 200+ years based on the amount of melanin in a person's skin, and are taking away the rights of women over their bodies? Don't come at me unless you want the truth served to you harshly. *AND,* have some respect for the channel by NOT going into your drivel here, but on a more appropriate channel. Let us agree to keep this channel about highways, or whatever it's creator wants.

@@RealGJZig you’re the one coming on here with your arrogance bragging that the NE somehow IS America. That’s fine. If that’s the case then come get your ridiculous flag off our property. If you want a real “dose” of the history about the accomplishments of your region - with their slave trade, committing genocide against Southern U.S. citizens, the outright theft of California, annihilation of native tribes, nuking Japanese civilians, all in the name of “freedom” or whatever garbage well then just let me know. If you want to leave it to highways and geography then I suggest you check your haughty comments at the door.

@@RealGJZig Why are you being so confrontational? Take a chill pill.

@@TadanoHitohito WHO is being confrontational? I'm being factual.

who said this

Lol. NOVA resident here and that’s how we pronounce it. Going to have to accept it if you wanna join the club.