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The distances here are ~400 miles at most from Nashville to Charlotte. NSH-ATL and ATL-CLT are ~250 miles each. Each 'edge' of the triangle has growing, mid-size metro areas in between as well with Greenville, Spartanburg and Athens between CLT and ATL, Chattanooga between ATL and NSH, and Asheville and Knoxville between NSH and CLT. It will never be as continuous as the NE megalopolis but there could be significant fill-in in the in between towns and cities with climate change and possibly an increased move to smaller towns from major cities because of Covid
With little net immigration right now (legal or even illegal compared to past) and modest birth rates, the mega-regions will mostly grow by further sucking folks from outside mega-regions or from other mega-regions (or notable change in longevity). That can still be notable but likely less dramatic than in the past. The mega-regions already have about 75% of the population. Probably less to well less than 2% per year population growth going forward for every mega-region except recent leader AZ Sun Corridor.
Cascadia slowest growing mega-region for 2010-2025. Even slower than Great Lakes mega-region. That would surprise some. Mainly because of location but not entirely. Climate, politics, housing costs are also contributing factors.
Northeast / Great Lakes down to just 35% of total country population. Once was super majority then majority. Still has outsized "importance" / "power".
no, the topography between the Atlanta-Nashville corridor is too rugged for that. But Raleigh-Charlotte-Atlanta, sure. To be honest, Charlotte-Raleigh is probably getting there sooner than Charlotte-Atlanta. I drove from Greenville to Charlotte on 85 today, there is still work to be done between Spartanburg and Gastonia for sure. From Greenville to NE Metro Atlanta is still very rural and will take the most time. I'd say another major population center like an Anderson or Burlington size needs to grow in that corridor for that. From Kannapolis to Thomasville/High Point there is work to do, but Salisbury is there for now. It's pretty good from there all the way to Raleigh, except for the Mebane/Burlington-Hillsborough area, which I consider the dividing line between Triad and Triangle
This sounds cool but I don't really see it happening in the sense of a true continuous urbanized zone like Keihanshin
The cities are too geographically and culturally disconnected, especially Nashville. In the short term the closest thing I could actually see is a continuous spur of development along the Piedmont corridor from Atlanta to Raleigh. That is something that's already happening to some extent, but it's not really going to be urban. It's definitely going to be suburban sprawl almost from end to end and we'll be lucky to see a high speed train from one end to the other.
This sounds cool but I don't really see it happening in the sense of a true continuous urbanized zone like Keihanshin
The cities are too geographically and culturally disconnected, especially Nashville. In the short term the closest thing I could actually see is a continuous spur of development along the Piedmont corridor from Atlanta to Raleigh. That is something that's already happening to some extent, but it's not really going to be urban. It's definitely going to be suburban sprawl almost from end to end and we'll be lucky to see a high speed train from one end to the other.
Yep, HSR from Atlanta to D.C. would be a boon to the entire I-85 corridor.
I once flew from Chicago to Huntsville at night. The lights on the ground started at Bowling Green and went all the way to Huntsville--through Nashville and Middle Tennessee.
I never expect the region to be a Megapolis by Northeast standards, but 3 interstate highways, great railroads, two major navigable rivers and being within a day's drive of 50% of the U.S. population makes this area to be a happening place.
We moved to Huntsville last Fall because homes are half as expensive as Nashville, and it's a place with a high standard of living. Property taxes are also ridiculously low in Alabama. NASA and the Army's Redstone Arsenal are adding employees by the thousands. The FBI is moving 4,000 people here next year. And Mazda-Toyota's new assembly factory will have another 4,000 employees.
Just watched a YouTube video about a southern Piedmont mega religion stretching from Raleigh to Atlanta. He predicts that it may surpass the Northeast megaregion by 2050. Do you agree? https://youtu.be/eoxmd0EgsY8
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Southeast megaopolis
