Well, since my whole assumption that SF-SJ = Philadelphia-New York got not only quashed, but pretty much aborted, it spurned an idea for this thread.
I realized that it's somewhat rare to have 2 metro areas that have at least 2 million people in each of the areas to be within 100 miles of each other. I find it interesting that nowadays, these sorts of places are beginning to grow right into each other.
Instead of making a poll, I decided just to post some maps and have some discussion on the future of growth between those two metro regions are, and whether or not they will fully connect via development and could, conceivably one day just be considered one mega metro region.
I'll start by posting maps and my thoughts
This is the first region I think will have the most connectivity in the future. Given that there is only 46 miles separating the city borders of both Philadelphia and New York City and the fast suburbanization and urbanization of places like the Lehigh Valley and Central New Jersey, the development along the NYC and Philadelphia CSA border will be palpable. As you can see from the map, its already beginning to happen.
SoCal is an interesting story. Given the mountainous terrain and the presence of a marine corp base between Los Angeles and San Diego, I don't think that the borders of these areas will ever fully bleed into each other. With that being said, I would be curious to see if there are any mass commuters going between those areas.
Milwaukee-Chicago have a higher chance of developing into each other, and at least along Lake Michigan in a thin strip, already have in a dense matter. Given that there are no natural constraints and the fact that it's only a mere 80 miles from Chicago to Milwaukee downtown to downtown, these areas can soon connect.
Here's one that I don't hear about very much but is interesting to put into the conversation. The area between the Bay Area and the Central Valley, especially a place like Sacramento, may actually grow into each other one day. However, unlike the above metros, there is still a minor but noticeable gap of literally nothing (notice the tract with less than 50 ppsm) between Sacramento and the Bay Area exurbs that have put a dent in people's perceptions on how these two areas are developing.
I didn't post this one up merely because of Baltimore and DC, though within 5-10 years, I expect the border between them to blur and an MSA designation will be given instead of a CSA one, but I posted this to note the northward growth of Baltimore toward Philadelphia. However, there are natural constraints (much of this area is very swampy and protected) and Baltimore/Philadelphia don't seem to be growing in each other's directions. That being said, this corridor will be the one to watch out for.
Tampa-Orlando is interesting, to say the least. There is straight line-snake like development between the two, but much of it is of the lighter density type. However, given that there is a high speed rail line set to connect the two, I can see growing connections between Tampa and Orlando. There are already plenty of Magic fans in Tampa, and Buccanner and Rays fans in Orlando, and given that the area is high growing, we could see more connection between the two.
If anyone else has any 2 million+ connected pairs that seem to be growing into each other within 100 miles, let me know and I'll give some analysis at least from a map point of view on it.
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