Metro Lakeland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Metro Lakeland area is located 88 air miles (120 miles by interstate) southeast of St. Louis, MO and is most centered around the highway commerce intersections of Interstate 57, Interstate 24, and Illinois Route 13- a main east-west 4-lane expressway connecting the major communities of Murphysboro, Carbondale, Carterville, Herrin, Marion, and Harrisburg. The Metro Lakeland area consists of Jackson, Williamson, Franklin, Saline, and Perry Counties, where roughly 210,000 citizens of Illinois make their home. Carbondale (14 miles west), Herrin, and Marion are the key urban areas in Metro Lakeland with a combined city proper population of over 65,000 (2007 Census estimate)^[1] Carbondale, which is home to Southern Illinois University is the region's largest city by population, and Marion is the area's largest economic center.

Contents 1 Origin of Name 2 Counties 3 Major Cities 3.1 10,000+ 3.2 <10,000 4 Highways 5 References

[edit] Origin of Name

The region was given the name "Metro-Lakeland" by the US Census Bureau. The term "Lakeland" was given due to its abundance of rivers and lakes in the area, and the term "Metro" since the five county area is considered to be one of the largest micropolitan statistical areas in the nation.

[edit] Counties

• Jackson
• Williamson
• Saline
• Franklin
• Perry

[edit] Major Cities

Note: Anchor Cities are bolded.

[edit] 10,000+

• Murphysboro
• Carbondale
• Herrin
• Marion
• Harrisburg
• West Frankfort

[edit] <10,000

• Carterville
• Benton
• Johnston City
• Eldorado
• DuQuoin

[edit] Highways

• Interstate 24
• Interstate 57
• U.S. Route 45
• U.S. Route 51
• Illinois Route 13
• Illinois Route 37
• Illinois Route 127
• Illinois Route 146
• Illinois Route 149

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.census.gov/