BosWash
The BosWash or Bosnywash or Boshington or Northeast Corridor or simply Northeast megalopolis is the name for a group of metropolitan areas in the northeastern United States, extending from Boston, Massachusetts, to Washington, D.C., including Providence, Rhode Island; Hartford and New Haven and Stamford, Connecticut; New York, New York; Newark, New Jersey; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Wilmington, Delaware; and Baltimore, Maryland. The geographic trend was first identified in French geographer Jean Gottmann's book Megalopolis: The Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the United States (1961). The cities are also linked economically, and by transportation and communications.
According to Gottmann, BosWash "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." He also envisioned the development of two similar megalopolises in the U.S.: ChiPitts, from Chicago, Illinois, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and SanSan, from San Francisco, California, to San Diego, California. However, a more accepted definition in California is Bajalta California, comprising just the southern end of SanSan.
Extent
BosWash theoretically extends from extreme southern Maine and New Hampshire all the way south to Virginia, where the megalopolis now includes the four largest cities in Virginia: Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake and Richmond (Virginia's capital). The megalopolis contains a reported population of 44 million, or 16 percent of the population of the United States (about 0.7 percent of the world population), three World Cities (New York, Washington, and Boston), and four of the world's 70 largest metropolitan areas (New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore-Washington).
The region is home to the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, the White House and United States Capitol, the UN Headquarters, the headquarters of ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and the New York Times Company as well as the Washington Post, and six of the eight Ivy League schools. The headquarters of many major financial companies such as State Street, Citigroup, and Fidelity are located within the region. The region accounts for 1/5 of the economic activity in the US and it is home to 58 of the Fortune Global 500 companies.
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, arguably one of the most vital highways in the country, is also a major transportation route for the BosWash area.
The major cities in the BosWash megalopolis include the following (listed north to south):
(* Not always included in Boswash, usually considered part of the South)
Several small and medium-sized metropolitan areas near the southwestern end of the corridor, including Lancaster, Harrisburg, and York, Pennsylvania and Hagerstown and Frederick, Maryland, are also sometimes considered part of the region, though opinions vary from geographer to geographer as to which cities are included or excluded.
Population statistics
Combined Statistical Area (CSA) | State(s) | 2006 Estimate | 2000 Population | Percent Change (1990-2000) |
---|---|---|---|---|
New York-Newark-Bridgeport | NY-NJ-CT-PA | 21,976,224 | 21,361,797 | 8.4 |
Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia | DC-MD-VA-WV | 8,211,213 | 7,572,647 | 13.1 |
Boston-Worcester-Manchester | MA-NH-RI | 7,465,634 | 7,298,695 | 6.9 |
Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland | PA-NJ-DE-MD | 6,382,714 | 6,207,223 | 4.7 |
Combined | 44,035,785 | 42,440,362 |
Included or neighboring MSAs not in a CSA
Rank | Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) | State(s) and/or Territory | 1 July 2004 Population Estimate |
---|---|---|---|
33 | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News | VA-NC | 1,644,250 |
44 | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford | CT | 1,184,564 |
46 | Richmond | VA | 1,154,317 |
59 | Albany-Schenectady-Troy | NY | 845,269 |
63 | Allentown - Bethlehem - Easton | PA-NJ | 779,816 |
70 | Springfield | MA | 687,973 |
86 | Scranton--Wilkes-Barre | PA | 551,531 |
91 | Harrisburg - Carlisle | PA | 519,331 |
96 | Portland-South Portland-Biddeford | ME | 510,791 |
99 | Lancaster | PA | 487,332 |
117 | York-Hanover | PA | 401,613 |
121 | Reading | PA | 391,640 |
164 | Atlantic City | NJ | 268,693 |
Norwich-New London | CT | 265,918 | |
183 | Barnstable | MA | 228,683 |
216 | Charlottesville | VA | 180,901 |
254 | Bangor | ME | 148,196 |
268 | Dover | DE | 138,752 |
275 | Pittsfield | MA | 132,486 |
288 | Lebanon | PA | 124,489 |
311 | Harrisonburg | VA | 111,284 |
327 | Lewiston-Auburn | ME | 107,022 |
Ocean City | NJ | 100,263 | |
Combined non-CSA MSAs | 12,224,733 | ||
Combined CSAs and MSAs | 53,871,278 |
References
- Gottmann, Jean (1961), Megalopolis: the Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the United States. ISBN 0-527-02819-3
- Gottmann, Jean (1987), Megalopolis Revisted—25 Years Later. ISBN 0-913749-04-4
- Swatridge, L.A. (1971), The Bosnywash megalopolis: A region of great cities. ISBN 0-07-092795-2
See also
- List of U.S. multistate regions
- Highways along the BosWash corridor
- Megacity
- Mega-City One, another science fiction megalopolis based on BosWash from the Judge Dredd series
- Northeast Corridor, the railroad line that runs through the region.
- Overpopulation
- Quebec City-Windsor Corridor, the Canadian equivalent of the Northeast Corridor/BosWash
- The Sprawl, a science fiction extension of BosWash which extends from Boston to Atlanta from the books of William Gibson
- Urban sprawl