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It’s a statistical fact that both Amtrak and coach travelers basically stick to their side of NYC. Something close to 90% of the travel stays on its own side of NYC.
And NYC-DC gets nearly 2x the frequency of trains that Bos-NY gets.
Boston is certainly an outlier on the coast
While I agree Boston is in some ways an outlier, I think the same can be said of Washington. The former is the only powerhouse city within New England, and therefore is a hub for the entire region. DC, on the other hand, lays on the practical border of North and South, and its history, built form, etc. is very different from the other major three cities.
Boston and DC are about the same distance from NYC, which of course represents the crux of the megalopolis. I imagine travel between NYC and DC is more frequent for two reasons. One reason being that Boston is somewhat more contained within its own smaller region, the other being that NYC and DC are the two most powerful cities in our country, and it is logical that influential people would travel between the two. In my mind, it doesn't make either one more or less a part of the megalopolis. They both have the Northeast Corridor train service.
Quote:
Originally Posted by g500
Thanks, I rather like your word choice "ancillary". I use "orbiting", but ancillary is even better.
I suppose Portland, ME and possibly Richmond could also be ancillary given their relative proximities and connections to the opposite ends of the BosWash megalopolis. Specifically, Portland has regional ties to Boston (via New England) and Richmond ties somewhat to NOVA (via Virginia and the Greater Capital Region). The 2-hour stretch of I-95 between DC and Richmond is always very heavily congested, despite having no anchor city between the two. I know much of it is through-traffic, but there definitely must be commuter/local overlap.
Of course every American city is tied to NYC to varying degrees and depth, so there lies no support for my argument. Put another way, you can't use connections to NYC as an argument for being in the BosWash corridor since NYC connections are not exclusive to this region. Literally every part of the USA has some connection to NYC somehow.
Alternatively, you would be hard-pressed to correlate Portland with Baltimore, or Richmond with Philadelphia. After all, Philadelphia is as equidistant to Portland ME as it is to Erie (which is to say that is quite far-8 hours). And nobody would argue the Great Lakes Region is part of the BosWash corridor. So, I guess what I'm saying is that Portland and Richmond are mainly connected to the endpoints of BosWash, respectively.
Also, the word "Megalopolis" gives me major Sim City on Super Nintendo nostalgia. (:
As Duderino said, the whole urbanized Southeast Quadrant of Pennsylvania -- approximately everything within and Southeast of 78-81-83, is either within the heart of the megalopolis, or ancillary. It is pretty crazy what a high percentage of Pennsylvania's population lives within this quadrant, which represents three distinct regions: the Philadelphia metro, the Lehigh Valley, and South Central Pennsylvania.
Yeah, I think Portland and Richmond would count as "ancillary," and definitely the final points of cultural influence for the megalopolis. OMG, I have driven from Philadelphia to NC's triangle a few times, and I am always taken aback by how the traffic does not clear up on 95 after NOVA. It is terrible about the entire way until I switch to 85.
Last edited by Muinteoir; 07-23-2021 at 06:44 AM..
just googled a Cruller..lol they serve those at Kripsy Kreme and at Royal Farms, hardly a New England thing.
Crullers were probably popularized in the US as a Dutch/New York thing. It is not hard to imagine that at some point in the last 150-200 years a cruller or two made it into New England.
According to wikipedia: "Crullers are most commonly found in Canada, New England, the Mid-Atlantic and North Central states of the United States"
So they have indeed spread throughout the Northeast to adjacent regions.
I find it amusing that someone would be willing to die on a hill made up of the notion that grits are more of a New England thing than crullers.
Also, the crullers at Krispy Kreme are not even real crullers.
I know a few really good, old school bakeries in North Jersey where you'll find Crullers that melt in your mouth. Light as air. Outstanding. I used to get two black and two white. My younger, more robust years for sure lol.
Is the majority of I-95 south of DC and north of Boston developed land? Does it contain houses, warehouses, and other structures? Or is it mostly woods and fields?
Is the majority of I-95 south of DC and north of Boston developed land? Does it contain houses, warehouses, and other structures? Or is it mostly woods and fields?
The majority of land between DC and Boston on I-95 is woods and fields.
Crullers were probably popularized in the US as a Dutch/New York thing. It is not hard to imagine that at some point in the last 150-200 years a cruller or two made it into New England.
According to wikipedia: "Crullers are most commonly found in Canada, New England, the Mid-Atlantic and North Central states of the United States"
So they have indeed spread throughout the Northeast to adjacent regions.
I find it amusing that someone would be willing to die on a hill made up of the notion that grits are more of a New England thing than crullers.
Also, the crullers at Krispy Kreme are not even real crullers.
The hill is crullers arent exclusive to new England nor Are grits unheard of. I didn't think most people know what crullers, or what grits are it’s probably pretty close seeing as me, Shudra, and btownboss all know what grits are..:...it’s an over-exaggerated difference.
Arguing Eastern ma is different than North Jersey because of crullers is just a a misfire. Other examples exist.
The "fabled" Bos-Wash corridor is nothing more than an Acela route, and in the real-world (outside of C-D) has no real meaning or impact (it truly is a "fable"). Someone in a suburb outside of Boston has zero connection with someone in Arlington, VA.
These are different regions in different states with different cultures. They are simply stops on the Amtrak/Acela route, nothing more nothing less.
It would feel different and probably have more real-world meaning if it were located in an analogous region on the west coast (i.e. California) where you are essentially in one state/region with similar culture.
But as it is, this "fabled" region is simply the stops on an Amtrak route.
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