BosWash

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Population-density map of BosWash

BosWash (also referred to as BoWash, BosNYwash, the Northeast Corridor, or simply the Northeast Megalopolis) is a group of metropolitan areas in the northeastern United States. The geographic trend was first identified in French geographer Jean Gottmann's 1961 book Megalopolis: The Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the United States, which however never used the term "BosWash".^[1] According to Gottmann, the area he termed simply Megalopolis "provides the whole of America with so many essential services, of the sort a community used to obtain in its 'downtown' section, that it may well deserve the nickname of Main Street of the nation."^[2]

Taking into account the adjacent localities as well as the main cities, the area is essentially a contiguously inhabited corridor that is home to more than 55 million people (based on 2006 population estimates). Were this region a separate country, it would be the 24th most populous in the world, almost as large as the United Kingdom or Italy and larger than Spain; and with 931.3 persons/mi² (359.6/km²), the 27th most densely populated, leading Japan.

[edit] Extent

Gottmann pointed out that his book was not intended as a description of Megalopolis but rather an attempt to understand the dynamics, but nevertheless describes it as 600 miles long and between 30 and 100 miles wide, with 38 million people in little more than 50,000 square miles.^[3]

Gottmann included the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre area of northeastern Pennsylvania^[4] as the only place where Megalopolis extends into the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians^[5], but excluded Portland, Maine, Albany, New York, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh.^[6] On the other hand, he referred to the Lowell-Lawrence area and Portland as "distinctly Boston satellites."^[7]

In an attempt to update Gottmann's work with current trends, Virginia Tech's Metropolitan Institute outlined a "Northeast" megapolitan area (finding combined names like "BosWash" to be "too contrived", p. 12) extending beyond Boston and Washington, past Portland, Maine and Richmond, Virginia, and described it as one of ten such areas in the United States.^[8]

[edit] Demographics

It has a population of 55 million, or 18 percent of the population of the United States (living on only 2% of the nation's land) and about 0.8 percent of the world population. The region has four global cities (New York City, Washington, Philadelphia, and Boston), one developing global city (Baltimore^[9]), and four of the world's 100 largest metropolitan areas (New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore-Washington). Over the next generation, the region will add 18 million new residents.

[edit] Economy

New York City is the largest city economy in the United States and the second largest city economy in the world.

The region accounts for 20% of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product.^[10] Were the region a separate country, it would rank either as the 4th (nominal) or 5th (purchasing power parity) largest economy in the world. The region is home to the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, the White House and United States Capitol, the UN Headquarters, Comcast, the headquarters of ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, the New York Times Company, and The Washington Post. The headquarters of many major financial companies – such as State Street, Citigroup, and Fidelity – are located within the region, which is home to 54 of the Fortune Global 500 companies. The region is also the center of the global hedge fund industry, with 47.9% of $2.48 trillion of hedge fund assets being managed in its cities and suburbs. ^[11] Similarly, the majority of the global private equity, venture capital, investment banking, and management consulting industries are centered and/or headquartered in this region.

[edit] Education

Six of the eight Ivy League Universities are located in the region: Brown University, Columbia University, Harvard University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania and Yale University. Also present are many of the top-ranked national universities, according to U.S. News and World Report in 2009: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston College, Boston University, Tufts University, Northeastern University, Brandeis University, Wellesley College, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Clark University, University of Connecticut, New York University, Fordham University, Yeshiva University, Rutgers University, Villanova University, Temple University, Drexel University, University of Delaware, Georgetown University, George Washington University, American University, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Maryland, as well as numerous elite liberal arts schools, such as Amherst College, Loyola College in Maryland, Swarthmore College, Wesleyan University, and Haverford College.

Cornell University and Dartmouth College, the other two Ivy League schools, are located just outside the region.

[edit] Transportation

Amtrak's fastest train, the Acela Express, runs on the Northeast Corridor, an electrified rail line extending the length of the BosWash area. Interstate 95, although currently incomplete, is a major transportation route within the BosWash area.

A satellite view of the BosWash region at night. Photo courtesy of NASA.

[edit] Population statistics

To-scale comparison of BosWash and Japan's Taiheiyō Belt.

[edit] MSAs over 200,000 not in a CSA

[edit] See also

• Highways along the BosWash corridor
• List of U.S. multistate regions
• Megacity
• Northeast Corridor, the railroad line that runs through the region.

Other megalopolises

• Blue Banana (Europe)
• ChiPitts (United States)
• Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (Canada)
• Taiheiyō Belt (Japan)

In fiction

• Mega-City One, a science fiction megalopolis based on BosWash from the Judge Dredd series
• The Sprawl, a science fiction extension of BosWash which extends from Boston to Atlanta from the books of William Gibson; officially known as "Bama" or the "Boston-Atlanta Metropolitan Axis"

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Gottmann, Jean (1961). Megalopolis: the Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the United States. ISBN 0-527-02819-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=dP9pAAAAIAAJ. 
• Gottmann, Jean (1987). Megalopolis Revisited — 25 Years Later. ISBN 0-913749-04-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=KKv_AAAACAAJ. 
• Gottmann, Jean (1990). Robert Harper. ed. Since Megalopolis: The Urban Writings of Jean Gottman. ISBN 0801838126. http://books.google.com/books?id=oI1PAAAAMAAJ. 
• Swatridge, L.A. (1971), The Bosnywash megalopolis: A region of great cities. ISBN 0-07-092795-2

[edit] External links

• About.com article on BosWash
• The BostWash Corridor

Coordinates: 41°N 74°W / 41°N 74°W / 41; -74