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The Texas Triangle: A rising megaregion unlike all others (2021)
- RajT88 3y agoI never thought about it before - but seeing that chart of "Megaregions", almost none of my work travel within the US from the last 15 years has been outside of those regions.
- saghm 3y agoI feel like I'm missing some nuance, because it looks like it's basically just taking the largest population cities in the US and drawing circles around the ones near each other. "Most economic activity happens where the most people live" doesn't seem like a particularly novel insight.
- keiferski 3y agoYeah I question the usefulness of the concept if stretched too thin. It has Chicago and Pittsburgh in the same megaregion and yet I don’t think those two places interact much at all. I can buy SoCal, the Bay Area, and Boston-DC as megaregions though.
- ryandrake 3y agoI have a minor nitpick with the shapes. There is a lot of wide-open nothingness under these "mega" region shapes. Washington DC to Boston should be more of a long rectangle, as the rest of upstate PA and NY are basically empty woods. Most of the region south of Orlando are mangroves and swamp. The NorCal one should be a line from SF to San Jose. Although Sacramento is growing, it's quite distinct from the bay area, and there is a lot of nothingness between the two. And these are just the places I've lived and are familiar with. Wouldn't surprise me if the rest of that map is similar.
- NewJazz 3y agoShhh don't think this hard about it, the concept will fall apart and we won't be able to salivate over our lovely triangle!
- readthenotes1 3y agoAnd the new book!
- calstad 3y agohttps://xkcd.com/1138/ https://xkcd.com/1138/
- saghm 3y agoYep, this comic came to mind for me as well when I saw the map
- rflrob 3y agoThe claim, as I understand it, is that commerce within a megaregion is more tightly integrated than commerce between megaregions. If this is the case, there should be more trade between Baltimore and Boston than Baltimore and Raleigh (controlling for population/GDP/infrastructure, I suppose, and therein lies the rub), despite the fact the latter pair is closer.
- hn_throwaway_99 3y agoI don't really agree. First, having lived in a few of those "megaregions", I really agree with the author that they each have distinct and unique characters. I also see other nitpicks in some comments here about "there is a lot of wide-open spaces in those circles!" - that seems a bit silly to me given that many of those circles include wide expanses of ocean, and it seems clear to me that the author just means to highlight the related urban areas, not the emptiness in between. But more to your point, there are plenty of other sizable cities that are not part of the megaregions the author highlights, and I would agree that those cities are less dynamic and less engines of economic growth due to their isolation - places like Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, etc. The only difference I think is that it "feels" to me like there is an emerging megaregion on the eastern slope of the Front Range in Colorado, i.e. Ft. Collins-Boulder-Denver-Colorado Springs area.
- bluGill 3y agoThe real insight (which isn't much) is that people tend to do business with those who are closer to them. It isn't a surprise that if I need something at work now my boss might send me to the local war-mart or whatever. However that someone in Dallas is more likely to choose a supplier in Austin than one in Boston is interesting - once you leave Dallas does the extra distance to Boston mean anything? I can come up with all kinds of weird ideas.
- bluGill 3y agoThose regions cover the majority of US population, so that is statistically the likely situation. There are a few significant cities (St Louis, Minneapolis, Denver...) not in a mega region, but most of the big cities are in one and so odds are your business is mostly in a mega region for statistical reasons.
- flerchin 3y agoMegaregions as a concept seems to make sense. Even as a resident of the aforementioned triangle, I'm not sure that we have much evidence for Texas exceptionalism here.
- tantalor 3y agoThe article tries & fails to convey this megaregion is "distinctive". Main pieces of evidence it offers are, 1. Distinctive set of demographic and economic realities This is not a very compelling argument. Different places have different people. We should not be surprised by this observation. 2. Integrated economic system within a single state Same article also cites other one-state megaregions like Florida, Southern California, Nortern California.
- saghm 3y ago> Same article also cites other one-state megaregions like Florida, Southern California, Nortern California Yeah, this also seems pretty unsurprising. California, Texas, and Florida are the three largest states by population, and Texas and California are second and third by area respectively. Florida does seem like a bit of an outlier here due to being much smaller, but because of Florida's shape, the majority of the state doesn't border any other, so this seems more like a geographic property of the megaregion rather than a political one.
- NewJazz 3y agoDon't forget the triangle shape! Unleash the power of the pyramid! Much better than boring old oval megaregions.
- dylan604 3y agoDoes that make Waco the all seeing eye in the middle of the pyramid?
- 39896880 3y ago(2021). Maybe the book mentions it, but the article doesn’t cover the massive benefit of the Triangle’s proximity to Mexico. Mexico has a strong demographic profile and is a ready source of workers for manufacturing.
- matthewfcarlson 3y agoAs someone who recently moved to the Texas triangle, I’m baffled by the lack of good transportation options between the three cities. It’s a 3-4 hour drive and while there is a train, freight gets priority. So the train takes anywhere from 3-7 hours. You can fly but with security any sort of delay and it would faster to drive.
- laweijfmvo 3y agoother than maybe parts of the Northeast Corridor, do any of the othe "megaregions" solve that problem?
- ddoolin 3y agoPerhaps Central FL - Miami on the Brightline?
- basil-rash 3y agoLA/OxnardVentura/SanDiego is an easy train. As is Portland/Seattle.
- mulmen 3y agoDoes the Portland/Seattle train get priority over freight?
- NewJazz 3y agoProbably not, but light rail will get you around the Puget Sound pretty easy. https://www.soundtransit.org/get-to-know-us/maps https://www.soundtransit.org/get-to-know-us/maps
- mulmen 3y agoPuget Sound is an enormous geographic region. Light rail doesn’t even serve most of Seattle’s needs (yet). There’s currently one line to the airport. The largest residential neighborhoods in the city aren’t even close. It’s not viable for “getting around” outside of very narrow cases. It’s a backbone for a system that is still being built.
- ilaksh 3y agoNot sure if this is relevant or not, but the SpaceX "Starbase" is in deep south Texas, and so is the cross border region. I suspect that a comprehensive analysis would probably include the interface between the "Triangle" and the border region.
- spxneo 3y agoMegaregions is nothing new but lately seem to be a testing the waters for an independent Texas state. I feel like articles like this is mentally preparing the American public for a potential secession states forming post-election.
- comicjk 3y agoTexas is not going to secede. In the 2020 election, the vote was 52:46 between Trump and Biden, meaning almost half the state supported the overall national winner. Compare this to the actual secession crisis election in 1860, where the vote was 75:24 against the pro-Union candidate, with Lincoln not even on the ballot in the state.
- NewJazz 3y agoPlus seceding would probably hand control of the House over to Democrats. (Oh how the tables have toppled).
- gregw2 3y agoRather than succeeding, perhaps Texas could split into 5 and get 10 senators per their annexation agreement to join the US? : https://www.tsl.texas.gov/ref/abouttx/annexation/march1845.html https://www.tsl.texas.gov/ref/abouttx/annexation/march1845.h... "Third. New States, of convenient size, not exceeding four in number, in addition to said State of Texas, and having sufficient population, may hereafter, by the consent of said State, be formed out of the territory thereof, which shall be entitled to admission under the provisions of the federal constitution. " (This is Texas trivia for mutual amusement, not a serious suggestion.)
- bluGill 3y agoWhat was annexed and what is now Texas are not the same thing. Some of the area of the original Texas already is part of different states (no other state is a majority of old Texas though)
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- coloneltcb 3y agothis reads more like content marketing for a private college based in Texas than a substantive academic commentary. The author has several associations, but his official title on LinkedIn is: Director for Economic Growth at George W. Bush Institute https://www.linkedin.com/in/cullum-clark-09549159/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/cullum-clark-09549159/
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- aaroninsf 3y agoCaveat emptor. https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/02/university-texas-austin-firings-dei-ban/ https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/02/university-texas-aus... https://www.texastribune.org/2021/03/09/texas-legislature-abortion-criminalize-death-penalty/ https://www.texastribune.org/2021/03/09/texas-legislature-ab... Said it for years, thinking you're safe because you live in a comparatively liberal community or subculture within a state dominated by right wing zealots is foolish in the extreme. They "came" for "immigrants," trans kids, gay marriage, women's rights, etc., and they're going for more. I would never move there, I won't travel there, and my daughters sure as f--k won't apply to colleges there or take jobs there. Not until Abbot and Paxton and Cruz and their ilk are gone forever.
- readthenotes1 3y agoHalf of the people of Texas would say "Bless your heart, stay where you're happy" and the other half would say "Come on! We need more like you"
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 3y agoOne half should really reconsider who they vote for, then.
- streb-lo 3y agoSeems like a pretty vacuous article if “megaregions” are so poorly defined. Anyone who has ever driven between Spokane and Portland or Seattle knows it could hardly be considered “mega”.
- bombcar 3y agoSome of these megaregions really are "kind of one thing" like Southern California, others are pretty separated. Spokane is close to Seattle and Portland so there's traffic there, but I don't know they really operate as one "region".
- jandrewrogers 3y agoI think the consensus is that the Portland-Seattle-Vancouver corridor is the "real" megaregion of the PNW. That corridor has ~10 million people and a high per capita GDP, especially the middle part which kind of ties it together. If you were going to include Spokane, it isn't that much of a stretch to include Boise as well.
- streb-lo 3y agoYea, that makes sense. I think you can conceivably define a megaregion to include places like the PNW corridor, the bay area, research triangle, etc. I'm just a bit baffled how Spokane and the region between makes the cut. Seems like the author just wanted to draw a bigger circle.
- unwind 3y agoHow can they write an article about a triangle, list four relevant locations in it, while also not including a &^%€*#@ map that shows the thing they are talking about? Gaaah.
- killthebuddha 3y agoFWIW they provide this [1] map. Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio are roughly collinear. [1] https://kinder.rice.edu/sites/g/files/bxs4896/files/images/US%20megaregions_Texas%20Triangle.jpg https://kinder.rice.edu/sites/g/files/bxs4896/files/images/U...
- unwind 2y agoOkay, thanks. I guess I just didn't see it prominently enough (on Android/Crome) and was a bit triggered.
- woodruffw 3y agoQuestion for the HNers in the "Texas Triangle": does it "feel" like a megaregion? I've spent very little time in Texas (only a handful of trips), but my impression was that there's a very stark drop from moderate density urban cores, to sprawling suburbs, to virtually uninhabited interstitials around highways. In other words: it wouldn't occur to me (as a non-Texan) to even think of Austin and Dallas as belonging to the same "megaregion." This is in contrast with e.g. the "Northeast Corridor," where dense towns (sometimes denser than Texas's urban cores) line the roads and rail links between the major cities.
- bilbo0s 3y agoYour intuition is correct. My place is inside the 610 in Houston. More precisely Third Ward/Museum District. I think even most Texans wouldn't put Austin and Dallas in the same region. Dallas is radically different from Houston as well. That said, if you look at what they are calling mega-regions, I think there are many departures from what people in those areas would think. For instance, most people in North Carolina would think of the Triangle as its own thing and Atlanta as another, separate thing. Here, they are saying that Atlanta and the Triangle are the same. Maybe because of people connections? Not sure? But that would strike people in the Southeast as strangely as looping Austin-Dallas-Houston into the same thing strikes Texans. ETA: Actually, now that I've looked more closely at the map, I'm not sure it lines up at all with what most people would think? I notice in the Midwest region, Columbus and Dayton are on the map in spite of Chicago's rail links to St Louis, Urbana-Champaign, and perhaps the most baffling omission on the map, Minneapolis? They got some serious economic firepower up there in that metro, and more commercial links between them and Chicago than anyone else in the region. Maybe because Minneapolis is thought to be its own thing? Whereas they don't believe Dayton or Columbus are their own thing? It'd be interesting to read how these regions were determined? On the surface, yes, many of them seem a bit, off?
- dustincoates 3y agoI'm no longer there, but I grew up there, and I would say yes to an extent. Yes in that there's a large amount of movement within the area (e.g., grow up in Dallas, go to school at A&M, settle in San Antonio) and that you may have to go to one of the other cities now and then for something specialized (e.g., from Austin to Houston for a consulate or a highly specialized medical visit). There's also somewhat of a rivalry, I guess. But, still, there's not a "feeling" of connectedness, but is there between, say, Baltimore and Philadelphia? I can't really compare it to the Northeast Corridor, though. I lived in NYC, but not long enough to really have a connection much beyond the city.
- bmitc 3y ago"Pragmatic politics" is a complete joke when discussed in the context of Texas. Also, Austin is one of the most segregated metropolitan cities in the U.S. in all categories: politically, racially, and economically. It is also, no surprise, one of the grossest examples of gerrymandering.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]