The Top 4 MEGAREGIONS Of The United States: How These Regions Dominate The Country

The United States is comprised of 50 full states and a handful of territories. But over the last few decades, a new concept has risen to explain regions that are interconnected despite state or even international borders: the megaregion. In today's video, we dissect exactly what a megaregion is, why it's important, and the top 4 megaregions in the United States: the Northeast Corridor, the Great Lakes, Southern California, and the Texas Triangle.

Eventually we'll hit the other 8 mega regions in the United States as well as other megaregions around the world so stay tuned for that!

[YouCanCallMeReTro]

For the northeast corridor the amtrak trains, as flawed as they are sometimes, are a godsend. Not only is it a comfortable and fun way to travel but it saves you the stress of driving/parking in the city. If I were to drive into Boston it would take about 2 hours, plus you would need to find and pay a hefty price for parking. With amtrak, I drive 20 minutes to my station to board a 1 hour and 10 minutes ride with free wifi, a relatively cozy chair, and a cafe car if you're hungry. The price of the ticket is cheaper than the price of parking alone, the comfort and stress-free experience of it is the cherry on top.

[nick]

Having been to all fifty states, the only mega region that actually legit feels like a mega region is the northeast corridor. The other ones just don't feel as continuously connected or large enough.

[kllrbee]

Nice that you mentioned the immense rail hub in Chicago. Im a locomotive engineer and rail is a huge industry here. Not to mention a big employer. Seems everyone knows someone here who works for the rail in some capacity. Another good vid. Thanks!

[mondroy]

If you mentioned Toronto in the Great Lakes región, you should’ve mentioned Tijuana in the California region. The cultural and economic connection is important

[SavannahBurris]

The northeast corridor of the country is just so densely populated compared to the rest of the country it’s crazy. The Baltimore metro area alone has 2mil+ people and getting Amtrak tickets anywhere in the area is stupid expensive. It’s great to live driving distance from so many cities here!

[DavidHamster]

Based on your criteria, Tijuana should have been included in the SoCal megaregion. There is a lot of cross-border cooperation, and thousands of families live on one side of the border, but work or go to school on the other side (in both directions).

[geoffseyon]

I think this was a really helpful video especially as I try to explain to new immigrants how North America really works. Looking forward to the next video where you hopefully address Silicon Valley and the SF Bay Area.

[gregorysouthworth]

Great job, Geoff! The growth of megaregions in the US has to be one of the most misunderstood (and politically ignored) occurrences in the 21st century. You seldom hear politicians address their existence and while many are still in their early stages of development, it wouldn't surprise me if several, if not all of them, will begin to rival the power of many states in the near future, especially as these areas begin to coordinate responses to various common needs. Another interesting outcome may be their role in re-awakening a new localism moving away from the states only. New institutions could arise to address many problems facing urban centers that state legislatures are ill-equipped to provide.

[MartinHoeckerMartinez]

Seems like a major oversight not to include Tijuana (1.9 million pop) and northern Baja California in the Southern California megaregion given that there are multiple major border crossings (San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, Tecate, Calexico and Calexico East) with one of them being the busiest US border crossing

[ChadTwiz-xlcc]

I would love to see more videos about mega regions around the world.

[RedroomStudios]

love this kind of stuff... I remember when I was younger and used to collect national geographic magazines, in one issue they had an article about the region from Boston to DC called "Megalopolis". and it included a detailed map of the region that I had hung on my wall for awhile.

[nathanbergfelt]

Would love to see the other megaregions you highlighted at the beginning of the video (Northwest, Bay-area, Gulf region, etc.)

[krisrizakis]

The Great Leakes Megaregion incorporates part of the Quebec-Windsor corridor in Canada. Considering a lot of the trade from the Great Lakes goes up the St-Lawrence through the Montreal area, you could argue for the inclusion of the whole Quebec-Windsor corridor into the Great Lakes Megaregion. Usually the reason the Quebec portion is excluded is the linguistic difference, but that has never stopped trade in the past.

[PresAlexWhit]

I would definitely be more interested in seeing an in depth video discussing and examining certain Mega regions and how integrated and connected the areas are to each other within one.

[dallinnielsen]

Am I the only one that thought it was out of pocket, or at least a bit odd, that he said one of the main things dallas was known for is the JFK assassination?

[jamescoulson]

Something I’d suggest is doing some more research from the Canadian sides of the mega regions as the cascade mega region goes up too Campbell river. And as far east as hope. But should include all the cities along the east coast of Vancouver island as well as Powell river and the Sunshine Coast. Same goes from the Great Lakes which should go all the way to Quebec City as they are all connected.

[mindofzay]

I live in Northern Indiana but never knew we were considered to be within a megaregion lol. But it makes sense because it feels like everything is so densely populated here even in the countryside compared to when I've been out to Kansas.

[LeGrandVelez]

Tijuana MX (population 2 million) should included in SoCal mega region. I was delineating the many ways San Diego & Tijuana are integrated, but lost my comment thread. Not willing to rewrite it all again, but if you research it, you will concur. Check it out.

[Peizxcv]

I feel outside of the northeast corridor, no other region in the US would fit the definition of mega region in the international sense. They are all too spread out with poor public transportation connecting them

[stephenmoerlein]

Interesting that St. Louis is included in the Great Lakes megaregion. Makes sense since this post-industrial river city has a lot in common with Chicago, including many years of inter-city economic competition and interaction.