BosWash

[baws-wosh, -wawsh, bos-]

BosWash (also referred to as BoWash, BosNYwash, the Northeast Corridor, the BosWash Corridor, or simply the Northeast megalopolis) is a group of metropolitan areas in the northeastern United States, extending from Boston, Massachusetts, to Washington, D.C., including Manchester, New Hampshire; Worcester, Massachusetts; Springfield, Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island; Hartford, New Haven and Stamford, Connecticut; New York City; Camden, Jersey City and Newark, New Jersey; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Wilmington, Delaware; and Baltimore, Maryland. The geographic trend was first identified in French geographer Jean Gottmann's book Megalopolis: The Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the United States (1961).

Taking into account the adjacent localities as well as the main cities, the area stretching from Lewiston, Maine to Fredericksburg, Virginia is essentially a contiguously inhabited corridor that is home to more than 55 million people (based on 2006 population estimates). Were this region a separate country, it would be the 24th most-populous in the world, almost that of the United Kingdom or Italy.

According to Gottmann, BosWash "provides the whole of America with so many essential services, of the sort a community used to obtain in its 'downtown' section, that it may well deserve the nickname of Main Street of the nation." He identified two other megalopolises in the U.S. – ChiPitts and SanSan – but these terms did not achieve wide use.

In an attempt to update Gottmann's work with current trends, Virginia Tech's Metropolitan Institute outlined a "Northeast" megapolitan area extending beyond Boston and Washington, past Portland, Maine and Richmond, Virginia, and describes it as one of ten such areas in the United States.

Extent

BosWash extends from extreme southern Maine and New Hampshire south to Northern Virginia, and incorporates a large portion of suburban Washington, D.C. (including Alexandria and Arlington).

Demographics

It has a population of 55 million, or 18 percent of the population of the United States (living on only 3% of the nation's land) and about 0.8 percent of the world population. The region has three global cities (New York City, Washington, and Boston), two developing global cities (Philadelphia and Baltimore), and four of the world's 70 largest metropolitan areas (New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore-Washington). Over the next generation, the region will add 18 million new residents.

Economy

The region accounts for 20% of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. Were the region a separate country, it would rank either as the 4th (nominal) or 5th (purchasing power parity) largest economy in the world. The region is home to the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, the White House and United States Capitol, the UN Headquarters, the headquarters of ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, the New York Times Company, and The Washington Post. The headquarters of many major financial companies – such as State Street, Citigroup, and Fidelity – are located within the region, which is home to 54 of the Fortune Global 500 companies. The region is also the center of the global hedge fund industry, with 47.9% of $2.48 trillion of hedge fund assets being managed in its cities and suburbs.

Education

Six of the eight Ivy League Universities are located in the region: Brown University, Columbia University, Harvard University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania and Yale University. Also present are the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Johns Hopkins University, as well as numerous elite liberal arts schools such as Swarthmore College.

Cornell University and Dartmouth College, the other two Ivy League schools, are located just outside the region.

Transportation

Amtrak's fastest train, the Acela Express, runs on the Northeast Corridor, an electrified rail line extending the length of the BosWash area. Interstate 95 is a major transportation route within the BosWash area.

List of major cities from north to south

The major cities in the BosWash megalopolis include the following (listed by state north to south, alphabetically within each state, largest cities in bold):

Maine - Augusta, Bangor, Portland
New Hampshire - Concord, Manchester, Nashua
Massachusetts - Boston, Cambridge, Fall River, Lowell, New Bedford, Springfield, Worcester
Rhode Island - Central Falls, Cranston, East Providence, Newport, Pawtucket, Providence, Warwick, Woonsocket
Connecticut - Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, Stamford, Waterbury, New London, West Haven
New York - New York City, White Plains, Yonkers
New Jersey - Atlantic City, Camden, Elizabeth, Jersey City, Newark, New Brunswick, Paterson, Trenton, Vineland
Pennsylvania - Allentown, Harrisburg, Bethlehem, Philadelphia, Reading
Delaware - Dover, Wilmington
Maryland - Annapolis, Baltimore, Frederick, Rockville
District of Columbia - Washington
Virginia - Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Fredericksburg, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Richmond, Virginia Beach

Several smaller metropolitan areas near the southwestern end of the corridor, including Harrisburg, Lancaster, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and York, Pennsylvania and Frederick and Hagerstown, Maryland are also sometimes considered part of the region, though opinions vary from geographer to geographer as to which cities are included or excluded.

Population statistics

Combined Statistical Area (CSA)	State(s)	Estimate 2006	Census 2000	Growth 1990s
New York-Newark-Bridgeport	NY-NJ-CT-PA	21,976,224	21,361,797	8.4%
Washington-Baltimore-N. Virginia	DC-MD-VA-WV	8,211,213	7,572,647	13.1%
Boston-Worcester-Manchester	MA-NH-RI	7,465,634	7,298,695	6.9%
Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland	PA-NJ-DE-MD	6,382,714	6,207,223	4.7%
Combined		44,035,785	42,440,362

Included or neighboring MSAs not in a CSA

Rank (US)	Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)	State (s)	Estimate 2006/7/1
33	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News	VA	1,649,457
43	Richmond	VA	1,194,008
44	Hartford-W. Hartford-E. Hartford	CT	1,188,841
59	Albany-Schenectady-Troy	NY	845,269
62	Allentown - Bethlehem - Easton	PA-NJ	803,844
70	Springfield	MA	686,174
86	Scranton--Wilkes-Barre	PA	550,841
91	Harrisburg - Carlisle	PA	525,380
96	Portland-S. Portland-Biddeford	ME	510,791
99	Lancaster	PA	513,667
117	York-Hanover	PA	401,613
121	Reading	PA	416,322
164	Atlantic City	NJ	271,620
166	Norwich-New London	CT	263,293
169	Hagerstown-Martinsburg	MD-WV	257,619
183	Barnstable	MA	224,816
216	Charlottesville	VA	190,278
254	Bangor	ME	147,180
268	Dover	DE	147,601
275	Pittsfield	MA	131,117
288	Lebanon	PA	126,883
302	Winchester	VA-WV	121,190
311	Harrisonburg	VA	113,449
327	Lewiston-Auburn	ME	107,552
	Ocean City	NJ	97,724
	Combined non-CSA MSAs		11,154,833
	Combined CSAs and MSAs		55,190,618

Notes

References

Gottmann, Jean (1961), Megalopolis: the Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the United States. ISBN 0-527-02819-3
Gottmann, Jean (1987), Megalopolis Revisited — 25 Years Later. ISBN 0-913749-04-4
Swatridge, L.A. (1971), The Bosnywash megalopolis: A region of great cities. ISBN 0-07-092795-2