1. The document discusses research on "megapolitan" and "macropolitan" areas in the United States conducted by Virginia Tech and other universities. 2. It defines different types of metropolitan areas including megapolitan, megaplex, and macropolitan based on population size and distance between major cities. 3. Maps and analyses are presented on emerging metropolitan regions like the Arizona Sun Corridor that cross traditional boundaries and consist of interconnected urban and suburban areas.

1. Megapolitan Areas: America’s New Metropolis April 13, 2006 Robert Lang, Arthur C. Nelson & Paul Knox Virginia Tech, Alexandria, VA John S. Hall Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

3. Megapolitans in The News USA Today July 2005

4. Megapolitans in The News Business 2.0 November 2005

5. Business 2.0 November 2005 Megapolitan Area Centerfold

6. Virginia Tech’s 2005 Megapolitan Geography

7. James Pickard’s 1970 “Urban Regions” Map

8. Pickard’s 2000 PopulationEstimates

11. Virginia Tech’s 2006 Metropolitan Hierarchy Megalopolis and Great Lakes Crescent, Sun Corridor and SoCal Two megapolitan areas that are proximate and occupy common cultural and physical environments and maintain dense business linkages Megaplex Piedmont, Great Lakes Crescent Three or more metropolitan areas with anchor principal cities over 150 miles apart that form an urban web over a broad area that is laced with Interstates Megapolitan Arizona Sun Corridor (Phoenix/Tucson), SanSac (San Francisco/ Sacramento) Two or more metropolitan areas with anchor principal cities between 75 and 150 miles apart that form an extended linear urban area along an Interstate Macropolitan Dallas/Ft. Worth, Washington/ Baltimore Two or more metropolitan areas that share overlapping suburbs but the main principal cities do not touch Metroplex Pittsburgh, Boise Current definition of the Census Bureau Metropolitan Examples Description Types

14. Preliminary Stretch Commuting Map

15. 20 th Century Metropolitan Form

16. 21 st Century Macropolitan Form

17. Virginia Dominion Corridor

18. SoCal Urban Realms

19. ArizonaSun Corridor

20. Sun Corridor Types of Urban Realms Mid Corridor Northwest Valley Santa Cruz Valley San Pedro Valley The most scattered and detached urban development in the region. Exurbs contain the most affordable housing. Emerging Exurbs East Valley West Valley Rapidly developing suburbs with mature older sections and booming edges. Maturing Suburbs Northeast Valley Foothills The most affluent realm containing upscale housing, retail, and office space. Favored Quarter Central Valley Tucson Valley Original core of metropolitan development. Cores are dense and often built out. Urban Core Realms Description Types

22. www.mi.vt.edu

23. From the Brookings Press