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I have a couple other, semi-related thoughts to add to the thread:
Though the valley/I-81 corridor, four state region is at the edge of Megalopolis, it still exhibits those cross-state relationships that are common in the region, and like some of the other smaller but not insignificant urbanized areas away from the I-95 corridor, it also has close ties to the nearby, larger regions (particularly DC but also Baltimore and even south central PA to a lesser degree). Truthfully, my impression is that the eastern WV panhandle has closer relationships with various regions outside of West Virginia than it does with most of the rest of the state, and that probably creates some political tension in the state.
There is no question that is the case in West Virginia. We are a state comprised entirely of small cities and rural areas, but bordered in the north and the east by large population centers. In the areas north of Sutton, West Virginia there is no doubt that Pittsburgh has more sway over culture, economy, and other factors than the whole rest of our state combined. In the Potomac Highlands, Cumberland, Maryland and to a degree Morgantown and a lesser degree Pittsburgh fill that niche. The Northern Panhandle might as well be a Pittsburgh suburb. The Eastern Panhandle is definitely in the DC/Baltimore orbit. The southwest portion identifies with Kentucky.
We are a strange bunch, really in some respects. We have a strong identity with our state, but in reality that identity means different things to different people depending on location. There is no single location in our state that serves as a real locus of influence, although our political center is in Charleston and our educational center is in Morgantown.
2) When you come right down to it, the Megalopolis region on the East Coast is defined to a significant degree by its cross-state connections that don't follow political boundaries. South central Pennsylvania, where Harrisburg, Lancaster, and York are located, has a fairly close relationship in many ways with the Baltimore area and to a lesser degree the DC area (as well as the Philadelphia area). The Lehigh Valley (i.e. the Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton area in east central PA) has an increasingly close relationship with NYC/northern NJ (as well as Philadelphia). Both Philadelphia and New York often use the term "Tri-State Area" in the local media (for PA, NJ, and DE for Philly, and for NY, NJ, and CT for NYC; in Philadelphia's case even a small portion of NE Maryland is part of its region). The DC area is often called the DMV for the District, Maryland, and Virginia. Finally, the large East Coast cities have fairly close relationships with one another, even though they are all in different states.
Though the valley/I-81 corridor, four state region is at the edge of Megalopolis, it still exhibits those cross-state relationships that are common in the region, and like some of the other smaller but not insignificant urbanized areas away from the I-95 corridor, it also has close ties to the nearby, larger regions (particularly DC but also Baltimore and even south central PA to a lesser degree). Truthfully, my impression is that the eastern WV panhandle has closer relationships with various regions outside of West Virginia than it does with most of the rest of the state, and that probably creates some political tension in the state.
If you have ever heard that saying, "think globally, act locally", you might wonder if whoever said that lived in any of these regions where you have to contend with not just a variety of local jurisdiction governments (city and county) but also with a variety of potentially competing State governments.
About the DC area? That whole "DMV" is kind of a code word for the "new generation". Previously it has been considered, and is recognized at the Federal level as, "Greater Washington DC Metropolitan Area", which is basically the District proper and the enclosing ring of contiguous counties. Montgomery County and Prince George's County is included, but Frederick and Howard Counties are "not so much" included. This is another distinction from the SMSAs or "standard marketing and statistical areas". DC and all of the I-95 corridor from down near Fredericksburg VA up to the Mason-Dixon line is all in the Baltimore-Washington SMSA. Locally I think there are two SMSAs for statistical purposes, and I seem to recall that the dividing line is arbitrarily at the Potomac River, which might give misleading statistics between Martinsburg and Hagerstown, for example.
I am making this distinction just to point out that there is the "official and recognized" organization and affiliates (actually several), and there is the "populist and unofficial" designation. Broadcast media and other people trying to market to "trendy" often use the populist-and-unofficial designation. In my various travels I've seen this same thing happening in a lot of areas from coast-to-coast. I am not sure we should have our regions in the nation defined by the broadcast media, though that commonality of living in a reception area is a strongly-affecting commonality.
I see Hagerstown as a pretty significant "gateway to the west" due to the Interstates system cross connections. But I see it as growing a lot less rapidly than Berkeley County, which in my opinion is poised to erupt into frantic growth, if only the economic conditions begin to favor that more than they already do. I see everything between US-11 and I-81 from Falling Water to Inwood being poised for extremely rapid development both in housing and large-facility construction, especially in the transportation hub and packaging/final-assembly areas, already pretty well established in the area.
In any case, I think there's going to be a lot of future discussion on the region, perhaps enough traffic to warrant a new discussion sub-forum.
I have a couple other, semi-related thoughts to add to the thread:
1) Those of you who live in the eastern WV panhandle (or more appropriately, the four state area) and follow minor league baseball probably already know the owners of the Hagerstown Suns have been pushing to move the team or have the city of Hagerstown to build a new stadium to replace the charming but outdated Hagerstown Municipal Stadium. The first place that was suggested as a new location for the team was Winchester, VA. I am reasonably sure Winchester was targeted because it is the second-largest city/town in that PA-MD-WV-VA I-81 valley corridor, and would have kept the team in the same region, which I think was an important consideration to the team owners. However, the city of Winchester, like the city of Hagerstown, did not want to build a new stadium, so the team has considered other options. (The owners have since looked to move the team to Fredericksburg, VA, but to my knowledge that effort has also fallen through.) I suspect they don't want to look at Martinsburg because it is distinctly smaller than Hagerstown and somewhat smaller than Winchester (and also seems to be not quite as well off as either of those two places, particularly Winchester), but perhaps they won't rule the eastern WV panhandle out as a location.
There is still a debate to this day whether or not the Hagerstown Suns were actually serious in relocating to Winchester. Remembering the television coverage from TV3 Winchester WHSV ( RIP ) I had the vibe that the Winchester City Council had really wanted to build the stadium but were just to scared to do it for the fear at "upsetting" the old timers who still live there, old timers who tend to be "strange" when it comes to certain kinds of growth. Another Walmart, Target or a McDonalds..sure but a waterpark ? A downtown convention center ?? Commuter flights out of Winchester Regional Airport ?? A minor league baseball stadium ?? NO WAY !! Many years ago when it was announced that the downtown George Washington Hotel was going to reopen some of those folks were so against it they went as far as writing letters to the paper saying the idea was "stupid" and why should they reopen when Winchester already has a Days Inn, Econo Lodge, an old Best Western and an aging Holiday Inn that has since been replaced. Even though the GW has been a success I guess old habits die hard. I belong to the Winchester Facebook page and despite the current success of downtown Winchester I still sometimes see postings from those who "suggest" that Winchester should kick out those great restaurants and try to get JC Penney to relocate to downtown. Heck I am shocked they don't suggest that Winchester should bring back Howard Johnsons.
I have a couple other, semi-related thoughts to add to the thread:
1) Those of you who live in the eastern WV panhandle (or more appropriately, the four state area) and follow minor league baseball probably already know the owners of the Hagerstown Suns have been pushing to move the team or have the city of Hagerstown to build a new stadium to replace the charming but outdated Hagerstown Municipal Stadium. The first place that was suggested as a new location for the team was Winchester, VA. I am reasonably sure Winchester was targeted because it is the second-largest city/town in that PA-MD-WV-VA I-81 valley corridor, and would have kept the team in the same region, which I think was an important consideration to the team owners. However, the city of Winchester, like the city of Hagerstown, did not want to build a new stadium, so the team has considered other options. (The owners have since looked to move the team to Fredericksburg, VA, but to my knowledge that effort has also fallen through.) I suspect they don't want to look at Martinsburg because it is distinctly smaller than Hagerstown and somewhat smaller than Winchester (and also seems to be not quite as well off as either of those two places, particularly Winchester), but perhaps they won't rule the eastern WV panhandle out as a location.
2) When you come right down to it, the Megalopolis region on the East Coast is defined to a significant degree by its cross-state connections that don't follow political boundaries. South central Pennsylvania, where Harrisburg, Lancaster, and York are located, has a fairly close relationship in many ways with the Baltimore area and to a lesser degree the DC area (as well as the Philadelphia area). The Lehigh Valley (i.e. the Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton area in east central PA) has an increasingly close relationship with NYC/northern NJ (as well as Philadelphia). Both Philadelphia and New York often use the term "Tri-State Area" in the local media (for PA, NJ, and DE for Philly, and for NY, NJ, and CT for NYC; in Philadelphia's case even a small portion of NE Maryland is part of its region). The DC area is often called the DMV for the District, Maryland, and Virginia. Finally, the large East Coast cities have fairly close relationships with one another, even though they are all in different states.
Though the valley/I-81 corridor, four state region is at the edge of Megalopolis, it still exhibits those cross-state relationships that are common in the region, and like some of the other smaller but not insignificant urbanized areas away from the I-95 corridor, it also has close ties to the nearby, larger regions (particularly DC but also Baltimore and even south central PA to a lesser degree). Truthfully, my impression is that the eastern WV panhandle has closer relationships with various regions outside of West Virginia than it does with most of the rest of the state, and that probably creates some political tension in the state.
I agree. Particularily where it may cause some tension among the folks further west of us. We have DirecTV and most of the stations that we watch come out of Washington, DC. The Washington Post is one of the most frequent and accessible newspaper aside from The Martinsburg Journal and the Hagerstown Herald. Our commuter train - MARC, serves Martinsburg, Shepherdstown (Duffields station) and Harper's Ferry, WV. After that, the next stop is in Maryland - Brunswick, several stops to include Gaithersburg and Germantown, and Silver Spring, Maryland before coming into Union Station (Washington, DC).
For our family, many of the weekend visits include - Winchester, VA, and both Hagerstown and Frederick, Maryland areas. Sometimes we even travel further south down to places like Dulles Town Center and Reston areas and as far north as Chambersburg and Lancaster, PA. There have been times that we have traveled further but definitely as visits lasting more than just a day.
We don't really have a need to travel westbound on a weekend (Sat). At least for us that is the case - for now.
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) I had the vibe that the Winchester City Council had really wanted to build the stadium but were just to scared to do it for the fear at "upsetting" the old timers who still live there, old timers who tend to be "strange" when it comes to certain kinds of growth. Another Walmart, Target or a McDonalds..sure but a waterpark ? A downtown convention center ?? Commuter flights out of Winchester Regional Airport ?? A minor league baseball stadium ?? NO WAY !! Many years ago when it was announced that the downtown George Washington Hotel was going to reopen some of those folks were so against it they went as far as writing letters to the paper saying the idea was "stupid" and why should they reopen when Winchester already has a Days Inn, Econo Lodge, an old Best Western and an aging Holiday Inn that has since been replaced. Even though the GW has been a success I guess old habits die hard. I belong to the Winchester Facebook page and despite the current success of downtown Winchester I still sometimes see postings from those who "suggest" that Winchester should kick out those great restaurants and try to get JC Penney to relocate to downtown. Heck I am shocked they don't suggest that Winchester should bring back Howard Johnsons. 
