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THe only large gap is between Dallas and Waco (99 miles) and Dallas and Houston (245 miles) which will never get filled anyway. So in essence, if you're asking which will be filled first, it's easily the Piedmont. I'll take the Triangle though. If they get HSR, the gaps really won't matter.
THe only large gap is between Dallas and Waco (99 miles) and Dallas and Houston (245 miles) which will never get filled anyway. So in essence, if you're asking which will be filled first, it's easily the Piedmont. I'll take the Triangle though. If they get HSR, the gaps really won't matter.
Waco to Dallas is really 90 miles. Houston is really the only city that is seperate from the others. While it's closer to San Antonio and Austin than Dallas is; it's location is more eastern and away from the 35 corridor.
There are large gaps between San Antonio and Houston. Downtown to downtown is about 190 miles but once you pass Seguin, there may be about 120 miles of gaps because development picks up again around Sealy on toward Katy and into Houston.
Piedmont Atlantic would "fill" up faster than the Texas Triangle would due to distance and proximity of each city. However, I will say that I don't see Birmingham-Atlanta corridor along I-20 filling up anytime soon. The terrain, smaller towns, etc., as well as the growth patterns in each respective metro area will keep them from "filling" up.
I can see the Atlanta/Upstate SC/Charlotte/Triad/Triangle corridor along I-85 filling up a lot faster. I have driven these two routes (I-85 and I-20) a lot, and I can see the differences between the two and how they have grown. There is still a gap between Metro Atlanta and Clemson/Anderson/Greenville/Spartanburg though, sort of like the gap between say, Boston/Worcester and Hartford along I-84, only with a much smaller population and a longer distance. The growth along I-85 has been nothing short of amazing. I swear I-85 has been under construction and reconstruction since I was in middle school, LOL. That's a reflection of the phenominal growth between the two.
I serioulsly doubt that the gap between Dallas and Houston would fill up anytime soon. The I-35 corridor on the other hand, I could see it being similar to the I-85 Corridor in terms of development, distance between cities, etc. As for High-Speed Rail between the Texas Triangle cities, I think the two major airlines headquartered in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area would fight tooth and nail to keep that from occurring. I'm guessing the airline hq'd in Houston has other things to worry about right now, like buying snowshoes and jackets.
I serioulsly doubt that the gap between Dallas and Houston would fill up anytime soon. The I-35 corridor on the other hand, I could see it being similar to the I-85 Corridor in terms of development, distance between cities, etc. As for High-Speed Rail between the Texas Triangle cities, I think the two major airlines headquartered in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area would fight tooth and nail to keep that from occurring. I'm guessing the airline hq'd in Houston has other things to worry about right now, like buying snowshoes and jackets.
I've read that Southwest stopped the initial HSR line 20-30 years ago but now they are on board with it.
Piedmont, EASILY. only because there's more proximity between those cities
yes, the texas triangle cities are more major and populous, but they're far too spaced out. not to mention the triangle is filled in by nothing but small towns and open land
to me, a megalopolis should be a chain of a handful of cities within relatively short distance from each other
The Piedmont has more chance of becoming a megalopolis because the cities are daisy chained closer together. This is already happening among Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro and Winston Salem. Each year it gets harder and harder to find yourself in no-man's land as development spills to the edges along I-40/I-85. It's sort of following the path of Florida along I-95. a bigger gap exists between Greensboro and Charlotte but I can see that changing over time as well. From there southward, I don't have enough experience to comment.
I was thinking the same thing, and they really are. From Charlotte to ATL is 4hrs, ATL to Birmingham isn't very far, from Charlotte to Birmingham is like 5hrs(maybe more) from Charlotte to Petersburg VA is a long time also. And the areas in-between these cities are just as rural as the areas between the TX Triangle cities.
Actually Birmingham to Atlanta is 1.5 hours. Atlanta to Charlotte is a little less than 3 hours. Charlotte to Winston-Salem is 1 hour, and another 20 minutes to Greensboro...and Greensboro to Raleigh is 1.5 hours. So driving the entire length of the Piedmont Crescent, from Raleigh to Birmingham, is a little over 7 hours.
Triangle!!! DESPITE the distance b/t all the cities, they complement each other very well I think. Hopefully, sooner rather than later, high speed rail will be established b/t the Triangle cities and distance won't be a concern. In addition, there are two cities of note in the middle of the Triangle. Waco and Bryan/College Station. They're relatively small but in the future I can see them being important hubs for travel across the Triangle.
There is also Killeen/Temple/Belton area between Austin and Waco.
Last edited by BillyH; 05-20-2010 at 01:06 PM..
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