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I think he even mentions that the region isn't growing as fast as it was in the past. It probably won't catch the northeast. The northeast has too much of a headstart and people just aren't having kids anymore.
Between DC, Baltimore, Philly, NYC & Boston and the smaller cities/towns that surround them, there's over 50 million people (and still growing) in the corridor.
It's interesting to think about, but I don't see that happening. Certainly they have different growth rates, and there is a shift away from the congested, high tax, cold weather north in favor of the warmer, less expensive south. As an ATL resident, we have gained a lot of corporate HQ's over the last several years.
But Durham to Memphis is 730 miles. Kind of a literal stretch if you ask me? DC to Boston by comparison is just over 400 miles. Memphis is also not typically considered a part of the southeast, but rather the south.
US population is only expected to grow 17% between now and 2050, which would put this mega region at 31.5M assuming it grew at the national average. Which means, it would have to "steal" almost 23M residents from other states in addition to natural growth, while also assuming the NE holds completely flat, which is unrealistic.
But ultimately, I pretend to know nothing about the US come 2050
Not an emerging mega-region imo unless it is pushing toward 20 million by 2050. So 4 mega regions for sure, 8 at most. Others are regional centers and may be "important" but are unlikely to be full mega-regions for 50 plus years. Fold Arizona into So Cal.
The true Piedmont mega region is in the Carolinas, stretching from Raleigh all the way to Spartanburg and Greenville. This is practically a homogeneous region, historically reliant on textiles, and very developed. There are few rural stretches along this corridor, if any at this point. Even if you ignore the large cities like Charlotte, there are still towns like Burlington or Gastonia that might be smaller but I wouldn’t describe them as “small towns.” I suppose this mega region could be extended to Atlanta, but keeping it in the Carolinas makes more sense to me.
As others have mentioned, a corridor between Nashville and Charlotte wouldn’t exactly work because of the mountains. I don’t consider those two cities to be in the same region. Yes, they’re both southern, but slightly different parts of the South.
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
He actually didn't predict that it would by 2050. In fact, he says that it will likely never pass it.
I agree with him. While the South is among the fastest growing parts of the USA today, there's nothing happening in our country's current growth that can compare to a century's worth of massive immigration waves that fueled the industrialization that happened in the Northeast up through the immediate post WW2 years
Charlotte, Atlanta and Greenville or Chattanooga perhaps but not with Nashville. Nashville is too far off to be included in this.
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