The Mid Atlantic and Megalopolis

1. The Mid Atlantic and Megalopolis Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Amish Agricultural Region of eastern Pennsylvania New York, New York - photos taken February 2001; updated Summer 2003

3. Megalopolis The Mid-Atlantic region stretches from Maryland to New York. It is dominated by what French geographer Jean Gottman referred to as "Megalopolis," or the Mega-Metropolis of North America. A megalopolis is an urban area which extends beyond the political boundaries of a single city.

4. Megalopolis The Mid-Atlantic region contains a megalopolis consisting of these five cities: Boston* New York* Philadelphia Baltimore Washington, DC

5. Megalopolis Contains With a population of 41 million (1980), Megalopolis contains 17.5% of the people in the United States, in only 1.5% of the country's land area. The largest city and the financial center of the US: New York, with a population of over 9 million and an additional 8 million in the surrounding area The most densely populated state in the US: New Jersey, with over 1000 persons per square mile Washington, DC, the capital of the US The largest center of higher education in the US: Boston, with over 400 colleges and universities, including Harvard, MIT, Boston University and Radcliff

6. Megalopolis Contains The city in which both the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were written and signed: Philadelphia Seven cities exceeding populations of 1 million, and 34 exceeding 100,000 (1980) Thirty percent of all US exports leave through its harbors, and 40% of international departures leave from the region's airports The highest regional per capita incomes in the US (1983 figures)

7. Site and Situation In real estate it is said that the three most important factors influencing the value of property are "location, location, and location." There are actually two aspects of location, each of which offered obstacles and opportunities for the development of a place: site and situation. Site refers to the internal characteristics of a place. The term situation is used by geographers to refer to the relationship of a place with other places. "Relative location" is synonymous with "situation."

8. Site Characteristics of Megalopolis The site characteristics of the northern Atlantic Coastal Plain include a relatively narrow, flat coastal plain, interpenetrated with numerous bays, rivers, and estuaries. These make for a very long coastline within a very short distance and enhances water access and transportation.

9. Coast Formation The many bays and estuaries in this area provided deep water ports.

10. The Fall Line There were two reasons for locating cities at the Fall Line. The first is that it was the farthest point upriver that a boat could sail. Floating goods on a ship is one of the cheapest forms of transportation possible. The second was that waterfall locations provided potential sources of energy.

11. Break-in-Bulk Points Ships would have to stop at the Fall Line to break down their large, bulky shipments into smaller parcels for land transportation. Places where this change in transportation occurs are known as "break-in-bulk" points. Most of the major cities on the Atlantic Coastal Plain are break-in-bulk cities.

12. Water Power The second benefit the Fall Line provided to early American cities was as a source of water power to run water mills. Early industry in the US was located in mill towns, which depended on the diversion of falling water into canals to turn the machinery. In the mid-1800s, the rivers supplied water for the steam engines that replaced the water mills.

13. The Situation of Megalopolis Northern Europe has played an important role in the "situation" or "relative location" characteristics of the Megalopolis region since the first settlers arrived in the early sixteenth century.

14. Great Circle Route Ships traveling from Europe would go down through the Caribbean, then up the East Coast of the US, then head back east across the Atlantic to Europe. Great Circles are the shortest distance between two points on the surface of the earth. These circles also split the earth into two equal halves. A segment on a Great Circle is the shortest distance between any two points on a globe. When a round globe is made into a flat map, these circles often appear as a circular line, curved toward either the North or South Pole.

15. Resource Access A second situation factor for megalopolis cities was access to resources for development. Initially, the major cities of Megalopolis depended on the resources available in their immediate surroundings. Later, access to the rapidly developing industrial and agricultural activities in the Midwest became an important influence in the development of cities in the Mid-Atlantic.

16. Historical Cities and Their Development

17. Boston Boston was the largest city in the US up to 1750. Its early growth was based on the rich fishing industry off the coast of New England and access to inland forest products for shipbuilding. Its economy today is largely related to the importance of high technology, as well as research and development activities related to the large number of higher education institutions located in the city.

18. Philadelphia Philadelphia eclipsed Boston as the largest city in the US in the 1750s. Along with Baltimore, its early growth was a result of access to the only rich agricultural lands in the region, in southern New Jersey and on the Delmarva Peninsula. By 1760, the population of Philadelphia was 18,756, while that of Boston was 15,631.

19. Washington, DC Washington, DC, is located on the Fall Line but was never a major port or transport city. It was built in 1800 in a neutral location (between the slave-owning South and nonslave North) as the new capital of the United States. Its growth has been the result of federal government activity, which ties it to virtually every part of the country.

20. New York City If Megalopolis is the metropolitan core of the United States, New York is the core of Megalopolis. There are 9.1 million people in New York's incorporated area and 17.9 million in the entire New York metropolitan area, making it one of the largest cities in the world. Everything about New York is overwhelming. It receives 17.5 million visitors a year--more than any other city in the world.

21. New York City It has over 100,000 hotel rooms, 350 theaters, 120 museums, 400 art galleries, and 36 single-spaced pages in the restaurants section of the yellow pages. It is the gateway to the US, housing the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the second largest Chinatown in the US, Little Italy, Broadway (the theater capital of the world), the United Nations, and the former twin 110-floor towers of the World Trade Center.

22. New York City National Geographic Commentary on the symbolism of Washington & New York* (Oct 08, 2001)Washington Post article on rebuilding New York after Sept. 11, 2001* (Oct 07, 2001)

23. New York and the Midwest By 1810, New York had become the largest city in the country. This was a direct result of its relative location (or "situation") to settlement and industrialization west of the Appalachian Mountains.

24. New York and the Midwest The Appalachians were a major barrier to westward transportation and expansion. None of the early cities had good access across the mountain range, with the exception of New York. The Hudson River extends north from New York for about 150 miles, where it is joined by its major tributary, the Mohawk River. The Mohawk River originates near Lake Ontario to the west, cutting a broad valley between the Appalachians and Adirondacks.

26. Erie Canal The construction of the Erie Canal in 1825 provided a direct water connection between the Great Lakes and New York. Most of the industrial and agricultural products from the Midwest destined for Megalopolis and Europe came through the port of New York.

27. 19th Century European Migrations In the nineteenth century, New York became the major entry point for European immigration. It is estimated that 40% of Americans either came through or are descendants of people who came through Ellis Island in New York's harbor.

28. The �Continental Hinge� Thus, without any of the traditional natural resources which contribute to population growth and urbanization elsewhere in the world, a Megalopolis developed on the north Atlantic Coastal Plain of the US, based on its good ports and relative location between Europe and the Manufacturing Midwest. Jean Gottman called Megalopolis the "Continental Hinge" between US and European economic exchange. Despite recent population declines, its financial, political and educational prominence in the US will remain, as will its role as the metropolitan center of the country. 

29. Agriculture in Megalopolis While the general image of Megalopolis is of a single, dense urban region, it also contains very important agricultural areas. The largest farmer's market in the US occurs every morning in New Jersey. In an area the size of two football fields, dairy products, perishable vegetables, and fruits are wholesaled for city delivery. High-valued "table crops" consume 25% of the land area between the five conurbations that constitute Megalopolis.

30. Crop Specialization These areas specialize in crops such as tomatoes and lettuce, which are highly perishable and command a relatively high market price. Being located close to the metropolitan markets, farmers are able to reduce the high transportation costs of perishable crops, which gives them a relative advantage over a farmer growing tomatoes in a cheaper, yet more distant location. Less valuable and less perishable crops cannot afford the high cost of land so near to large urban centers.

31. Von Thunen�s Land Use Model The relationship among (1) the market price, (2) cost of production, and (3) cost of transportation to market was first explained by Johann H. Von Thunen in 1826. Von Thunen was trying to understand the distribution of different types of land uses extending beyond cities in southern Germany. To do this, he developed a land use model which assumed a flat plain with a single city and no outside influences.

32. Von Thunen�s Land Use Model With these assumptions, Von Thunen found that products near the city marketplace were either goods with high transportation costs or high production costs. Dairy products, which have both high production and transportation costs, were located closest to the city. Truck vegetables, which were brought to market on a daily basis (high transportation costs), were in the next ring out from the market.

33. Von Thunen�s Land Use Model Forests, to provide wood for cooking and heating nineteenth-century homes, were in the next ring out from the city, due to their high transportation costs. Farthest from the market center were extensive agriculture (mostly grains) and grazing (cattle and sheep). Grazing animals have the lowest transportation costs, since they can be walked to the market center.