New Mega Region Map

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by Indentured Servant

Different Background. I like this better....but that is just me.

The red around Knoxville TN goes all the way from the Tri-Cities, TN/VA to Atlanta. The Tri-Cities are five hours from Atlanta. There's no commuting continuity there at all.

[paytonc]

Hopefully, this can shed a bit more light on the constantly contentious CSA-boundaries arguments that crop up here. For instance, this map has a more expansive definition of Northeast Ohio's sphere of influence than the Census Bureau's CSA boundary, but it appears to line up pretty closely with the Washington-Baltimore CSA boundaries.

Originally Posted by _OT

Commuter map right? people commute from Tallahassee all the way to Birmingham?

If some people who live near A work near B, and some people who live near B work near C (A <-> B <-> C), then yes, A and C can end up in the same "megaregion." Within the economic network of places, they have stronger ties.

This in no way implies that millions of people drive from A to C every day, or that those cities are identical in every way, or that A "deeply influences" C, or that city A has been rooting for the wrong sports team, or that city C has nothing in common with city D. It's just a measure of economic ties.

Originally Posted by snoopygirlmi

If we are basing it on commuting patterns, Detroit would be its own thing - separate from the rest of Michigan.

And what you've described is exactly the situation that I've described. Some people around Lansing commute east towards Ann Arbor, some people commute west towards Battle Creek or Grand Rapids. That intertwines all of those various areas of Michigan... not as a "Detroit" thing.

And FWIW, I know at least one person who commutes to Williamsburg, Va. from Richmond. Not every day, but does.

[Magicstar1]

It seems like Washington, Richmond, and Baltimore should be in the same region. After looking at the interactive map, their is obviously a lot of connection between the Metro. Half of Caroline County (which is in Washingtons Region on this map) commutes to Richmond and it is included in the governments definition of the Richmond Metro.

[Usrname]

Interesting map but Southern OR along I-5 corridor doesn't feel like anything connected to Portland.
Portland megaregion (Willamette) goes South to Eugene, and stops right there. Not sure about "commuting" from Southern OR to Portland, it's 6 hours with more than half of it on a mountain highway. Even eliminating Portand and just looking at inter-connectivity....Northern OR region ends in Eugene, pretty much...south of it are petty empty mountains, until the next populated region with very different culture.

[Usrname]

Originally Posted by sean1the1

Interesting to see San Diego being its own "Mega region", while Sac Doesn't qualify.

Yep...Sacto should be in own megaregion, including Sierra Foothills such as Grass Valley, and places like Stockton. It has very different culture than anything in entire Bay Area, though now more people commute between 2 for jobs and more migration now. But I fail to see OC-LA analogy. More like LA - SD. There's plenty of commute of the same type between SD county and OC that are not market connected.