Great Lakes megalopolis

Great Lakes Megalopolis
Megaregion of the U.S. and Canada
Toronto
Chicago
Detroit
Countries	USA Canada
States	Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Michigan Minnesota Missouri New York Ohio Pennsylvania West Virginia Wisconsin
Provinces	Ontario Quebec
Largest city	Toronto (2,826,498)
Largest metropolitan area	Chicago metropolitan area (9,729,825)
Population	59,144,461

The Great Lakes Megalopolis consists of the group of North American metropolitan areas largely in the Great Lakes region and along the Saint Lawrence Seaway. It lies mainly within the Midwestern United States, but extends into western Pennsylvania and Upstate New York, as well as Southern Ontario and the southern part of Quebec areas in Canada. It is the largest and most populated megalopolis in North America.

At its most inclusive, the region cuts a wide swath from the Twin Cities in Minnesota to Pittsburgh PA and Rochester NY. On the Canadian side, it extends as far east as Quebec City. Further south, the region is commonly considered to include Kansas City MO, Cincinnati OH, Indianapolis IN, Louisville KY, and Columbus OH. Within this broad region, there is a smaller core area that includes Chicago IL, Detroit MI, and Pittsburgh PA, which has sometimes been nicknamed Chipitts. The larger region, including fringe areas, had an estimated population of 59,144,461 as of 2011. It is projected to reach a population of approximately 65 million by 2025.

There is substantial overlap between the broader megalopolis and the once-heavily industrialized region known as the Rust Belt; however, the megalopolis and the Rust Belt are not entirely coextensive, and some metropolitan areas may be considered part of one region but not the other, depending on how they are defined geographically.

History of the concept

Map of the emerging American-Canadian megaregions as defined by America 2050. This interpretation excludes the eastern part of the Windsor-Quebec City urban corridor from the Great Lakes Megalopolis.

1907 Canadian major internal and cross border shipping routes

The region was partially outlined as an emergent megalopolis in the 1961 book Megalopolis: The Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the United States by French geographer Jean Gottmann. Gottmann envisaged the development of other megalopolies in the U.S.: BosWash, from Boston to Washington, D.C., Chipitts from Chicago to Pittsburgh, and SanSan, from San Francisco to San Diego. In 1965, Herman Kahn speculated about the future of the three megalopoleis in the year 2000, referring to their names as "half-frivolous" and not mentioning Gottmann. In the 1960s and 1970s, urban planner and architect Constantinos Doxiadis authored books, studies, and reports including those regarding the growth potential of the Great Lakes Megalopolis. Doxiadis envisioned Detroit as the central urban area in the Great Lakes Megalopolis. According to him, the megalopolis extended "from Milwaukee and Chicago to Detroit, Pittsburgh and Buffalo and into Canada from Windsor to Montreal and Quebec."

In 2005, the Virginia Tech Metropolitan Institute's Beyond Megalopolis, an attempt to update Gottmann's work, outlined a similar "Midwest" megapolitan area as one of ten such areas in the United States (Canada is discussed tangentially). Over 200 million tons of cargo are shipped annually through the Great Lakes. Half the US's population growth and two-thirds of its economic growth is expected to occur within the megaregions over the next four decades. The America 2050 project has identified eleven Megaregions of the United States, including the Great Lakes Megalopolis.^[A] The Canadian part of the region is also referred to as the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor.

Governments

There are multiple government jurisdictions throughout the megalopolis. In addition to Canada and the United States, two Canadian provinces and multiple U.S. states have jurisdiction, and there are many municipal governments. Most the states have joined the provinces in forming the Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers to coordinate economic and environmental strategies throughout most of the region.

Economy

According to the Brookings Institution, if it stood alone as a country, the economy of the Great Lakes region which includes most of the Great Lakes Megalopolis, would be one of the largest economic units on earth (with a $4.5-trillion gross regional product), roughly equal to that of Japan. The Great Lakes contain one-fifth of the world's surface fresh water and have a combined shoreline of 10,210 miles (17,017 km). About 200 million tons of cargo are shipped by way of the Great Lakes each year.

Tourism is an important economic factor in and around the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Cruising Coalition supports passenger ship cruises through a joint U.S-Canadian venture to Great Lakes Ports and the Saint Lawrence Seaway.

Major land and marine transportation corridors

The Great Lakes Megalopolis includes the following major inter-urban corridors that are provided with freeway and passenger rail service in both the core and fringe areas of the mega-region. Major waterways for shipping and cruising are also indicated where applicable. Amtrak in the United States and Via Rail in Canada offer rail passenger service, while most Class I freight rail services also connect these areas. A major rail shipping service in both Canada and the United States is provided on tracks owned by Canadian National Railway Company.

Minneapolis-Chicago

This corridor occupies the northwestern fringe of the megalopolis. Interstate highway 94 (I-94) and Amtrak rail run roughly parallel from Minneapolis MN to Chicago IL by way of Madison and Milwaukee WI.

St. Louis-Chicago

I-55, Amtrak, and the Illinois Waterway connect St. Louis MO to Chicago IL.

Chicago-Rochester

I-90 and Amtrak run approximately parallel through the core area of the megalopolis from Chicago to Cleveland OH via South Bend IN, then into the eastern fringe area comprising Buffalo and Rochester NY. Amtrak also has a passenger rail link from Cleveland to Pittsburgh PA which is roughly paralleled by I-76. The main water route deviates well to the north of the land route from Chicago to Detroit. It runs north along Lake Michigan, east through the Straits of Mackinac, then south along Lake Huron, the St. Clair River, and Lake St Clair to the Detroit River. From this point, the water route roughly parallels the land route to Rochester by way of Lake Erie, the Welland Canal, and Lake Ontario.

Chicago-Detroit/Port Huron

I-94 takes a more northerly route than I-90 through the megalopolis core area east of Chicago. It extends from that city to the west end of the Windsor-Quebec City Corridor by way of Kalamazoo, Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Port Huron MI/Sarnia ON. This interstate freeway is also paralleled by Amtrak rail service. The main water route is the same as for the western part of the Chicago-Rochester water corridor from Lake Michigan to the Detroit River.

Windsor/Sarnia-Quebec City

The core area of the Great Lakes megalopolis is often considered to extend as far north and east as Toronto on the Canadian side of the border. The remainder of the Windsor-Quebec City Corridor lies more along the northeastern fringe. The entire Canadian section of the megaregion is sometimes considered a separate megalopolis. Key freeways include Highway 401 and Highway 417 in Ontario which connect with Autoroute 20 and Autoroute 40 respectively in Quebec. Highway 416 and Autoroute 50 link the National Capital Region with Highway 401 and the Montreal area respectively, but the two freeways do not link directly with each other across the Ontario-Quebec border. Passenger rail service is provided in both provinces by Via Rail. Intermediate points along the corridor include London, Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa ON, and Montreal QC. The main water shipping route is the same as for the eastern part of the Chicago-Rochester corridor, starting at the Detroit River but continuing east beyond Lake Ontario along the St. Lawrence Seaway to Quebec City and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Secondary land or marine transportation corridors

Several corridors have interstate highways but no comprehensive passenger rail service. These highway routes pass through both core and fringe areas of the Great Lakes megalopolis. The upper Great lakes region has a marine corridor that connects Lakes Superior, Huron, and Michigan. However, this route does not include parallel Amtrak passenger rail or interstate highway service.

Kansas City-Pittsburgh

I-70 follows the southern fringe of the megaregion. It runs from Kansas City MO to just south of Pittsburgh PA by way of St. Louis MO, Indianapolis IN, and Columbus OH.

Indianapolis-Port Huron

I-69 extends from Indianapolis IN to the west end of the Windsor-Quebec City Corridor. Intermediate points include Fort Wayne IN, Lansing, Flint, and Port Huron MI/Sarnia ON.

Cincinnati-Saginaw

I-75 runs from Saginaw MI to Cincinnati OH by way of Detroit MI and Dayton OH.

Duluth-Lake Huron

The waterway connecting Duluth MN and western Lake Superior to points east and south includes the Soo Locks connecting to Lake Huron, then south to Port Huron MI/Sarnia ON or through the Straits of Mackinac to the metropolitan areas around Lake Michigan.

Selected American and Canadian population centers

Rank	Area	State/ Province	Image	CSA/CMA 2009 population	Projected 2025 population	Projected increase 2009-2025	Projected % increase 2009-2025
1	Chicago	Illinois Indiana Wisconsin		9,804,845	10,746,109	941,264	9.6
2	Toronto	Ontario		5,741,400	7,787,000	2,045,600	35.6
3	Detroit	Michigan		5,318,744	5,583,400	264,656	5.0
4	Montreal	Quebec		3,859,300	4,246,931	387,631	10.1
5	Minneapolis – Saint Paul	Minnesota Wisconsin		3,604,460	4,031,000	426,540	11.8
6	Cleveland – Akron – Canton	Ohio		3,515,646	3,795,658	280,012	6.5
7	St. Louis	Missouri Illinois		2,892,874	3,049,000	156,126	5.4
8	Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania		2,445,117	2,868,818	367,299	15.0
9	Cincinnati	Ohio Kentucky Indiana		2,214,954	2,448,000	233,046	10.5
10	Indianapolis	Indiana		1,928,982	2,270,112	341,130	16.5
11	Kansas City	Missouri Kansas		2,038,724	2,293,564	254,840	12.5
12	Columbus	Ohio		2,031,229	2,446,450	415,221	20.4
13	Milwaukee	Wisconsin		2,025,898	2,129,949	103,706	5.1
14	Ottawa – Gatineau	Ontario Quebec		1,451,415	1,596,556	145,141	10.0
15	Louisville	Kentucky Indiana		1,395,634	1,602,456	206,822	14.8
16	Grand Rapids	Michigan		1,327,366	1,530,000	202,634	15.3
17	Buffalo	New York		1,203,493	1,040,400	-163,093	-13.5
18	Rochester	New York		1,149,653	1,078,600	-71,053	-6.2
19	Dayton	Ohio		1,066,261	1,066,261	0	0
20	Hamilton	Ontario		740,200	954,858	214,658	29.1
21	South Bend-Mishawaka-Elkhart	Indiana Michigan		720,647	NA	NA	NA
22	Toledo	Ohio Michigan		672,220	672,220	0	0
23	Madison	Wisconsin		628,947	820,483	191,563	30.5
24	Youngstown-Warren-Boardman	Ohio Pennsylvania		602,964	N/A	N/A	N/A
25	Kalamazoo	Michigan		524,030	NA	NA	NA
26	Lansing	Michigan		523,609	547,325	23,716	4.6
27	Kitchener – Waterloo	Ontario		492,400	635,196	142,796	29.1
28	London	Ontario		492,200	634,938	142,738	29.1
29	Rockford	Illinois		455,595	499,400	43,805	9.9
30	Fort Wayne	Indiana		414,315	455,623	39,366	9.9
31	St. Catharines – Niagara	Ontario		404,400	521,676	117,276	29.0
32	Davenport-Rock Island-Moline	Iowa Illinois		379,690	452,565	72,875	26.1
33	Fox Cities	Wisconsin		360,000	NA	NA	NA
34	Oshawa	Ontario		356,177	419,067	62,890	17.7
35	Windsor	Ontario		330,900	426,861	95,961	29
36	Green Bay	Wisconsin		304,783	NA	NA	NA
37	Erie	Pennsylvania		280,985	N/A	N/A	N/A
38	Duluth-Superior	Minnesota Wisconsin		279,771	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Total CSA/CMA of major metro areas			60,305,653	65,735,336	6,234,698	10.0

American census urban statistical areas

For Canadian census urban statistical areas in the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway region, see Quebec City-Windsor Corridor.

An enlargeable map of the U.S. statistical areas along the Great Lakes. The lighter area shows the Great Lakes Basin watershed

Along the Great Lakes, there are 27 United States statistical areas - 10 Combined Statistical Areas, 7 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (independent of the Combined Statistical Areas), and 3 Micropolitan Statistical Areas (independent of the Combined Statistical Areas), as defined by the Office of Management and Budget.

The following sortable table lists the 27 statistical areas of the United States located on the Great Lakes with the following information:

1. The rank by population as of 2007-07-01, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau
2. The census statistical area name as defined by the United States Census Bureau
3. The census statistical area population as of 2007-07-01, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau
4. Lakes within census statistical area

Combined Statistical Areas, Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and Micropolitan Statistical Areas located on the American side of Great Lakes

Rank	Map Reference Number	Census Statistical Area	2007 Population	Lake(s)
1	16	Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, IL-IN-WI CSA	9,745,165	Lake Michigan
2	15	Detroit-Warren-Flint, MI CSA	5,405,918	Lake Erie and Lake Huron
3	21	Cleveland-Akron-Elyria, OH CSA	2,896,968	Lake Erie
4	13	Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha, WI CSA	1,739,497	Lake Michigan
5	14	Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, MI CSA	1,323,095	Lake Michigan
6	24	Buffalo-Niagara-Cattaraugus, NY CSA	1,208,270	Lake Erie and Lake Ontario
7	25	Rochester-Batavia-Seneca Falls, NY CSA	1,122,845	Lake Ontario
8	26	Syracuse-Auburn, NY CSA	725,359	Lake Ontario
9	19	Toledo-Fremont, OH CSA	711,952	Lake Erie
10	17	Kalamazoo-Portage, MI MSA	323,264	Lake Michigan
11	12	Saginaw-Bay City-Saginaw Township North, MI CSA	309,785	Lake Huron
12	9	Green Bay, WI MSA	301,131	Lake Michigan
13	22	Erie, PA MSA	279,092	Lake Erie
14	1	Duluth, MN-WI MSA	274,308	Lake Superior
15	18	Niles-Benton Harbor, MI MSA	159,589	Lake Michigan
16	7	Traverse City, MI μSA	142,075	Lake Michigan
17	23	Jamestown-Dunkirk-Fredonia, NY μSA	133,945	Lake Erie
18	27	Watertown-Fort Drum, NY μSA	117,201	Lake Ontario
19	11	Sheboygan, WI MSA	114,504	Lake Michigan
20	10	Manitowoc, WI μSA	80,928	Lake Michigan
21	20	Sandusky, OH MSA	77,323	Lake Erie
22	6	Marinette, WI-MI μSA	66,820	Lake Michigan
23	3	Marquette, MI μSA	65,216	Lake Superior
24	4	Sault Ste. Marie, MI μSA	38,922	Lake Huron and Lake Superior
25	5	Escanaba, MI μSA	37,367	Lake Michigan
26	2	Houghton, MI μSA	37,352	Lake Superior
27	8	Alpena, MI μSA	29,707	Lake Huron

The following four sortable tables list the 27 census statistical areas of the United States located on the Great Lakes, by lake, with the following information:

1. The rank by population as of 2007-07-01, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau
2. The census statistical area name as defined by the United States Census Bureau
3. The census statistical area population as of 2007-07-01, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau
4. Comment

Combined Statistical Areas, Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and Micropolitan Statistical Areas located on the American side of Lake Erie

Rank	Map Reference Number	Census Statistical Area	2007 Population	Comment
1	15	Detroit-Warren-Flint, MI CSA	5,405,918	Also located on Lake Huron.
2	12	Cleveland-Akron-Elyria, OH CSA	2,896,968
3	24	Buffalo-Niagara-Cattaraugus, NY CSA	1,208,270	Also located on Lake Ontario.
4	19	Toledo-Fremont, OH CSA	711,952
5	22	Erie, PA MSA	279,092
6	23	Jamestown-Dunkirk-Fredonia, NY μSA	133,945
7	20	Sandusky, OH MSA	77,323

Combined Statistical Areas, Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and Micropolitan Statistical Areas located on the American side of Lake Huron

Rank	Map Reference Number	Census Statistical Area	2007 Population	Comment
1	15	Detroit-Warren-Flint, MI CSA	5,405,918	Also located on Lake Erie
2	12	Saginaw-Bay City-Saginaw Township North, MI CSA	309,785
3	4	Sault Ste. Marie, MI μSA	38,922	Also located on Lake Superior
4	8	Alpena, MI μSA	29,707

Combined Statistical Areas, Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and Micropolitan Statistical Areas located on Lake Michigan

Rank	Map Reference Number	Census Statistical Area	2007 Population	Comment
1	16	Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, IL-IN-WI CSA	9,745,165
2	13	Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha, WI CSA	1,739,497
3	14	Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, MI CSA	1,323,095
4	17	Kalamazoo-Portage, MI MSA	323,264
5	9	Green Bay, WI MSA	301,131
6	18	Niles-Benton Harbor, MI MSA	159,589
7	7	Traverse City, MI μSA	142,075
8	11	Sheboygan, WI MSA	114,504
9	10	Manitowoc, WI μSA	80,928
10	6	Marinette, WI-MI μSA	66,820
11	5	Escanaba, MI μSA	37,367

Combined Statistical Areas, Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and Micropolitan Statistical Areas located on the American side of Lake Ontario

Rank	Map Reference Number	Census Statistical Area	2007 Population	Comment
1	24	Buffalo-Niagara-Cattaraugus, NY CSA	1,208,270	Also located on Lake Erie
2	25	Rochester-Batavia-Seneca Falls, NY CSA	1,122,845
3	26	Syracuse-Auburn, NY CSA	725,359
4	27	Watertown-Fort Drum, NY μSA	117,201

Combined Statistical Areas, Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and Micropolitan Statistical Areas located on the American side of Lake Superior

Rank	Map Reference Number	Census Statistical Area	2007 Population	Comment
1	1	Duluth, MN-WI MSA	274,308
2	3	Marquette, MI μSA	65,216
3	4	Sault Ste. Marie, MI μSA	38,922	Also located on Lake Michigan
4	2	Houghton, MI μSA	37,352

See also

• Combined Statistical Area
• Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers
• Census Metropolitan Area
• Conurbation
• Great Lakes
• Megalopolis (city type)
• Megaregions of the United States
• Quebec City – Windsor Corridor

Notes

A. ^ ^a Various sources include Quebec City, Montreal and Ottawa in the Great Lakes Megalopolis, while excluding Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Louisville, and Columbus. All these partial-consensus and non-consensus cities lie at the eastern, western, and southern fringes of the megalopolis.

Gallery

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  Saint Paul
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  Fox Cities
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  Duluth