BosWash

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The BosWash (also referred to as Bosnywash, Boshington, the Northeast Corridor, the BosWash Corridor, or simply the 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, New Haven and Stamford, Connecticut; New York City, 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 identified two other megalopolises in the U.S., ChiPitts and SanSan, but these terms did not achieve wide use.

Beyond Megalopolis by Virginia Tech's Metropolitan Institute, an attempt to update Gottmann's work with current trends, defines a Northeast megapolitan area extending beyond Boston and Washington past Portland, Maine and Richmond, Virginia, as one of ten such areas in the United States.

Contents 1 Extent 2 Population statistics 2.1 Included or neighboring MSAs not in a CSA 3 References 4 See also 5 External links

[edit] Extent

BosWash extends from extreme southern Maine and New Hampshire south to Northern Virginia, which includes a large portion of suburban Washington DC, including Alexandria and Arlington. It has 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 Universities. 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, 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):

Portland, Maine Manchester, New Hampshire Nashua, New Hampshire Cambridge, Massachusetts Boston, Massachusetts Providence, Rhode Island Warwick, Rhode Island Cranston, Rhode Island Worcester, Massachusetts Springfield, Massachusetts New Bedford, Massachusetts Fall River, Massachusetts Hartford, Connecticut New Haven, Connecticut Bridgeport, Connecticut Stamford, Connecticut Albany, New York New York, New York Paterson, New Jersey Jersey City, New Jersey Newark, New Jersey Elizabeth, New Jersey Allentown, Pennsylvania Reading, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Atlantic City, New Jersey Vineland, New Jersey Camden, New Jersey Wilmington, Delaware Baltimore, Maryland Washington, D.C. Arlington, Virginia Alexandria, Virginia Richmond, Virginia* Newport News, Virginia* Hampton, Virginia* Norfolk, Virginia* Virginia Beach, Virginia* * 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. [edit] 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 [edit] Included or neighboring MSAs not in a CSA Rank Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) State(s) and/or Territory 1 July 2004 Population Estimate 43 Richmond VA 1,194,008 44 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford CT 1,184,564 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 [edit] 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 [edit] 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 [edit] External links About.com article on BosWash