Chapter 4: Megalopolis

Megalopolis is unique to the east coast and is characteristic of large, spanning cities and metropoli. Seattle, Washington is not considered to be part of a megalopolis. It is a growing metropolis, however.

The textbook explains, "Megalopolis formed along the northeastern coast of the United States by the gradual coalescence of large, independent metropolitan areas such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. As these cities grew, the effects of their growth spilled over to surrounding, smaller places...The primary theme of Megalopolis is its urbanness. In varying degrees, urban activities like municipal utilities and fire and police protection provide for the millions who live there. And urban forms -- manifested by dense patterns of streets and buildings, industrial centers, retail and wholesale clusters, and governmental complexes -- are far away" (64). This description explains what megalopolis looks like. It also includes green areas like parks. The huge stretch of metropolitan areas is an important feature. These cities have coalesced with one another and are located near important water routes.

In addition to all these characteristics, people who live in this region are also highly educated, work primarily in white-collar occupations, and live near transportation and communication sites (66). In this way, Seattle is very similar to this region because many people in Seattle are educated and are employed in the services sector. However, Seattle does not have the population or too many large metropolitan cities nearby that would coalesce into a megalopolis, at least not anytime in the near future. This is a possibility in the future that would accommodate large cities like Portland and stretch all the way down to northern California and cities like San Francisco. There are still many cities in between, however, that need to grown its services, and its urbanness, in order for this to happen. The water routes are available, but transportation lines/sites, as well as communication and other services and white-collar occupations would have to expand as well.

I would argue that Seattle, Washington has the potential to become a megalopolis in the next few decades with the growing companies that can stretch down Oregon and California. Seattle houses the biggest personal computer software company, Microsoft, as well as Starbucks, Nordstrom, and other big companies.