Denver's Front Range Mega Region

[Dariusb]

I saw small article that described the Denver Front Range Mega Region as stretching from Cheyenne WY to Pueblo. Looking at a map Cheyenne seems to be a bit too far away to be included but maybe some of you who are more knowledgeable about it could clarify. Anyway, by looking at a map it looks like a lot of the towns between Denver and Fort Collins have either grown into each other or very close to each other. The areas between Denver and Colorado Springs and Colorado Springs and Pueblo look much less developed. Which do you think will grow and fill in first the area between Denver and Colorado Springs or between CS and Pueblo?

[Cirrus]

Megaregions don't have continuous development between all cities. Look at any list of megaregions and you will see gaps between the members.

Cheyenne to Pueblo is absolutely the right geography for the Front Range. That's the borders of places that function as metropolitan areas. Beyond them, it's rural.

The only hard question, IMO, is whether Laramie and Canon City belong. I'm inclined to say no.

[OhioGuy]

Originally Posted by Dariusb

I saw small article that described the Denver Front Range Mega Region as stretching from Cheyenne WY to Pueblo. Looking at a map Cheyenne seems to be a bit too far away to be included but maybe some of you who are more knowledgeable about it could clarify. Anyway, by looking at a map it looks like a lot of the towns between Denver and Fort Collins have either grown into each other or very close to each other. The areas between Denver and Colorado Springs and Colorado Springs and Pueblo look much less developed. Which do you think will grow and fill in first the area between Denver and Colorado Springs or between CS and Pueblo?

The area between Denver and Colorado Springs isn't flat but instead includes the foothills to the Rockies. There is a bit of an eastward extension from the Rockies through this area, which probably limits or at least has hampered the amount of growth that might otherwise occur if it was continuously flat between the two core cities.

[dave8721]

When I was a kid living in Cheyenne, we travelled to the Denver area for things like major events, the airport, even to buy a car once. Taking traffic into account its probably a shorter drive than West Palm Beach to Miami and I know people who make that daily commute.

[edale]

I guess it makes sense to group these cities into a 'mega region' given their relative isolation to other population centers. Grouping cities that are 2 hours away from each other in a place like Ohio would result in several 'mega regions'. Cincinnati alone is 2 hours or less from Louisville, Lexington, Indianapolis, Dayton, and Columbus. Cincy Mega Region!

[Buckeye Native 001]

Originally Posted by edale

Cincinnati alone is 2 hours or less from Louisville, Lexington, Indianapolis, Dayton, and Columbus. Cincy Mega Region!

Hell, up until recently, those cities all offered cheaper flights than at CVG. Way to stimulate the other Cincy Mega Region's economies, Cincinnati

[Dariusb]

Originally Posted by dave8721

When I was a kid living in Cheyenne, we travelled to the Denver area for things like major events, the airport, even to buy a car once. Taking traffic into account its probably a shorter drive than West Palm Beach to Miami and I know people who make that daily commute.

Did your family ever go to Fort Collins or Greeley if they didn't want to go into Denver?

[dave8721]

Originally Posted by Dariusb

Did your family ever go to Fort Collins or Greeley if they didn't want to go into Denver?

Yes trips into Fort Collins were more common. This was in the 1980s so everything was less built up than now.

[xzmattzx]

I've only been in that area once, but I specifically explored the northern half of that megaregion, from Denver to Cheyenne. Here are my thoughts, as an outsider:

~ Cheyenne is not linked to Denver and the surrounding area with continuous development, but it doesn't need to be. Just like there are gaps in development in eastern Connecticut between New York City and Boston, or a small gap development in northeast Maryland between New York City and Washington DC, so is the same here.
~ When I was in Fort Collins on a Saturday night, there were a lot of people from Wyoming driving around town. It seemed like people in Cheyenne
~ Longmont, Loveland, Greeley, and Fort Collins seems to be its own metro area, somewhat separate and independent from Denver and its suburbs. It's maybe similar to Trenton and Philadelphia, or Annapolis and Baltimore, and so on. I'm thinking Fort Collins is the centerpiece of the metro.
~ Cheyenne appears to be the end of the metro. I went east from Cheyenne into Nebraska, and you lose the loose connection to Denver by the time you get to Pine Bluffs. It's all small prairie towns by then. The Scottsbluff pull begins in that area.
~ I would think that Laramie is too far away to be included in this. It would take a lot of development and suburbanization in Wyoming for that to be feasible, but I don't see people fleeing Colorado like that. It's more likely for Fredericksburg to make the Bos-Wash Corridor extend halfway down Virginia before Laramie makes the Front Range Corridor head northwest.
~ I've never been to the other end of the megaregion, but I'm guessing we're even a longer way off from adding Trinidad and going into New Mexico.

All in all, the Front Range Corridor has some good cohesiveness, and while not a Bos-Wash Corridor, is pretty impressive. It does pretty well when compared to other megaregions like South Florida or the one across central North Carolina, in my opinion.

[MolsonExport]

I suppose all of the Eastern half of China is a Megaregion.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Native 001

Hell, up until recently, those cities all offered cheaper flights than at CVG. Way to stimulate the other Cincy Mega Region's economies, Cincinnati

hear, hear! cvg flights run weirdly expensive. why is that anyone know? taxed to death?? dayton is usually cheaper if you can get a flight there.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by Dariusb

I saw small article that described the Denver Front Range Mega Region as stretching from Cheyenne WY to Pueblo. Looking at a map Cheyenne seems to be a bit too far away to be included but maybe some of you who are more knowledgeable about it could clarify. Anyway, by looking at a map it looks like a lot of the towns between Denver and Fort Collins have either grown into each other or very close to each other. The areas between Denver and Colorado Springs and Colorado Springs and Pueblo look much less developed. Which do you think will grow and fill in first the area between Denver and Colorado Springs or between CS and Pueblo?

The Megaregions in the US are not fully formed outside of a few. The original books about it called them Emerging Mega-regions

The Northeast, Bay Area, Socal, and Southern Florida are the only areas you could say are fully "developed" per say, the others are sort of in a proto-state.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

I suppose all of the Eastern half of China is a Megaregion.

From an American perspective on density it might as well be. 1.3 billion people (Or more??) in an area equivalent to the eastern third of the USA seems downright absurdly packed.

Of course the USA is the least dense developed country on earth so our perspective is a little skewed.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Obadno

Of course the USA is the least dense developed country on earth so our perspective is a little skewed.

Check out the country to our north lol.

[mhays]

This feels like one big city plus some smallish extensions a little outside the CSA. Usually the mega region concept involves multiple big cities.

I've never understood the mega region concept much anyway. Yes there are significant ties between nearby cities, particularly if they're far from other population centers like Denver (or my Por-Sea-Van region). But the economic-synergy point seems thin. We compete against each other. Occasionally we do something important regionally.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Check out the country to our north lol.

Canadians live more densely than Americans. So do Russians, why speak when you are ignorant?

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Obadno

Canadians live more densely than Americans. So do Russians, why speak when you are ignorant?

Maybe you should write what you actually mean instead of saying things that are demonstrably false.

Originally Posted by Obadno

Of course the USA is the least dense developed country on earth so our perspective is a little skewed.

By what measure is the USA the least dense developed country on Earth? This statement makes absolutely no sense.

[MolsonExport]

Australia, Canada, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden all have lower population densities than the United States, and all are classified as fully developed economies.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

hear, hear! cvg flights run weirdly expensive. why is that anyone know? taxed to death?? dayton is usually cheaper if you can get a flight there.

Delta, mostly. I never thought I'd live to see the day when airlines like Southwest, Allegiant and Frontier would fly to CVG.

Hell, I was able to book a roundtrip from Flagstaff to CVG (stops in Denver, to keep this on-topic) on United for under $320 in November 2019. Five to ten years ago, that would've cost at least $500 to $600.

[mhays]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Maybe you should write what you actually mean instead of saying things that are demonstrably false.

By what measure is the USA the least dense developed country on Earth? This statement makes absolutely no sense.

I think it's pretty clear. The US' developed areas are less dense. I don't know if we're the very least, but we're certainly the least among major countries. Canadian cities are quite a bit denser on average.