Piedmont Atlantic MegaRegion - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion (PAM) is the name given to an area of the Southeastern United States

Southeastern United States

The Southeastern United States, colloquially referred to as the Southeast, is the eastern portion of the Southern United States. It is one of the most populous regions in the United States of America....

that includes the Atlanta, Charlotte

Charlotte, North Carolina

Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...

, Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

, Birmingham

Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

, Upstate South Carolina, Piedmont Triad

Piedmont Triad

The Piedmont Triad, or Triad, is a north-central region of the U.S. state of North Carolina that consists of the area within and surrounding the three major cities of Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point. This close group or "triad" of cities lies in the Piedmont geographical region of the...

, and Raleigh-Durham metropolitan areas. The megaregion generally follows the Interstate 85

Interstate 85

Interstate 85 is a major interstate highway in the Southeastern United States. Its current southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 65 in Montgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus interchanges with Interstate 95 in Petersburg, Virginia, near Richmond...

/20

Interstate 20

Interstate 20 is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I‑20 runs 1,535 miles from near Kent, Texas, at Interstate 10 to Florence, South Carolina, at Interstate 95...

corridor. According to Georgia Tech, PAM represents over 12 percent of the total United States population and covers over 243000 square miles (629,367.1 km²) of land.

PAM is just one emergent megalopolis

Megalopolis (city type)

A megalopolis is typically defined as a chain of roughly adjacent metropolitan areas. The term was used by Oswald Spengler in his 1918 book, The Decline of the West, and Lewis Mumford in his 1938 book, The Culture of Cities, which described it as the first stage in urban overdevelopment and...

(also known as a megaregion) of eight such regions in the continental United States, so-called because half the nation's population growth and two-thirds of its economic growth is expected to occur within those regions over the next four decades.

Studies by two U.S. universities – Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech – identify The I-85 Corridor

I-85 Corridor

The I-85 Corridor is a multi-state region that follows Interstate 85 across the Southeastern United States. It stretches from Montgomery, Alabama to Petersburg, Virginia...

in the Southeastern United States

Southeastern United States

area as an "emergent" megalopolis including the primary cities of Birmingham

Birmingham, Alabama

, Atlanta, Greenville

Greenville, South Carolina

-Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...

, Spartanburg

Spartanburg, South Carolina

thgSpartanburg is the largest city in and the county seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. It is the second-largest city of the three primary cities in the Upstate region of South Carolina, and is located northwest of Columbia, west of Charlotte, and about northeast of...

, Charlotte

Charlotte, North Carolina

, Winston-Salem

Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...

, Greensboro

Greensboro, North Carolina

Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...

, Durham

Durham, North Carolina

Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...

and Raleigh

Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...

with Charlotte being the largest city and Atlanta being the largest metropolitan area. Both studies refer to the area as the Piedmont

Piedmont (United States)

The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division...

megalopolis.

The Georgia Tech survey defines the region narrowly, focusing on the urban and suburban counties between Birmingham and Raleigh, and the rural counties that explicitly link those urban and suburban counties.

The Virginia Tech study proposes a broader definition, which would also include Columbus

Columbus, Georgia

Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 189,885. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, which, in 2009, had an estimated population of 292,795...

, Macon

Macon, Georgia

Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...

, Huntsville

Huntsville, Alabama

Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....

, Augusta

Augusta, Georgia

Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...

, Columbia

Columbia, South Carolina

Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...

, Knoxville

Knoxville, Tennessee

Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...

, Chattanooga

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...

, the Tri-Cities

Tri-Cities, Tennessee

In Tennessee and Virginia the name "Tri-Cities" refers to the region comprising the cities of Kingsport, Johnson City and Bristol and the surrounding smaller towns and communities in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia...

, Asheville

Asheville, North Carolina

Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the 11th largest city in North Carolina. The City is home to the United States National Climatic Data Center , which is the world's largest active...

and a number of smaller cities. The western extent of this definition is deeply disconnected from the remainder of the region by the Appalachian Mountains

Appalachian Mountains

The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...

range, and is economically not well-integrated into the greater region. Other locales mentioned in the Virginia Tech study remain disconnected from the region's core, separated by dozens of miles of deeply rural areas.

Both reports highlight the "emergent" nature of this possible megalopolis, noting comparatively low urban densities, but also noting a pattern in growth (in the individual, component urban areas) towards each other. , this region (as defined in the Virginia Tech study) has a population of 19 million.

The Piedmont Atlantic central Metropolitan Areas are located on the southern Piedmont

Piedmont (United States)

region which gives the Megaregion its name. The Piedmont is located between the Appalachian Mountains

Appalachian Mountains

and the Atlantic coastal plain. The surface relief of the Piedmont is characterized by relatively low, rolling hills with heights above sea level between 200 feet (50 m) and 800 feet to (rarely) 1,000 feet (250 m to 300 m).

The region has a diverse economy ranging in many different industries. Henry W. Grady

Henry W. Grady

Henry Woodfin Grady was a journalist and orator who helped reintegrate the states of the former Confederacy into the Union after the American Civil War....

of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution coined the term New South

New South

New South, New South Democracy or New South Creed is a phrase that has been used intermittently since the American Civil War to describe the American South, after 1877. The term "New South" is used in contrast to the Old South of the plantation system of the antebellum period.The term has been used...

to describe the American South, in whole or in part. The term "New South" is used in contrast to the Old South's plantation system of the antebellum period, to a new Industrial region. Since then Atlanta has grown from a small railway town into a major business, convention and transportation hub. Atlanta is now considered a "Beta+ World City" According to GaWC 2008 at Loughborough University

Loughborough University

Loughborough University is a research based campus university located in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, in the East Midlands of England...

by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network. Charlotte in the Piedmont Crescent

Piedmont Crescent

The Piedmont Crescent, also known as the Piedmont Urban Crescent, is a large, polycentric urbanized region in the U.S. state of North Carolina that forms the northern section of the rapidly developing I-85 Corridor megalopolis in the southeastern United States...

has grown to become a major U.S. financial center, and the nation's 2nd largest financial center by assets. Birmingham boom after the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

as a major industrial center in the Southern United States, the city's economy has diversified into banking, insurance, medicine, publishing, and biotechnology. The region of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill is known as the Research Triangle, named for the Research Triangle Park

Research Triangle Park

The Research Triangle Park is a research park in the United States. It is located near Durham, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill, in the Research Triangle region of North Carolina...

, which is the largest research park

Research park

A Research park is a research facility that is often linked with a major research university. Throughout North America, there are more than 170 research parks. They exist to create linkages between the university, industry and the community...

in the United States and one of its most prominent high-tech research and development centers. Upstate South Carolina, a region including Greenville

Greenville, South Carolina

, Spartanburg

Spartanburg, South Carolina

and Anderson

Anderson, South Carolina

Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Anderson County, South Carolina, United States. The population was estimated at 26,242 in 2006, and the city was the center of an urbanized area of 70,530...

has been given foreign investment and has become the fastest growing region in the U.S. state of South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

Rank	\|Metropolitan Area	Anchor City	Population	State(s)
1	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville	Atlanta	5,729,304	GA Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788... / AL Alabama Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
2	Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury Charlotte metropolitan area The Charlotte metropolitan area is a metropolitan area/region of North and South Carolina within and surrounding the city of Charlotte...	Charlotte CHARLOTTE - CHARLOTTE :CHARLOTTE is an American blues-based hard rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1986. Currently, they are signed to indie label, Eonian Records, under which they released their debut cd, Medusa Groove, in 2010. Notable Charlotte songs include 'Siren', 'Little Devils',...	2,636,730	NC North Carolina North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
3	Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill	Raleigh Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...	1,742,816	NC North Carolina North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
4	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Columbia Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area The Nashville metropolitan area is a metropolitan area centered on Nashville, Tennessee, in the United States. It includes 13 counties in Middle Tennessee....	Nashville	1,632,671	TN Tennessee Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
5	Greensboro--Winston-Salem--High Point Piedmont Triad The Piedmont Triad, or Triad, is a north-central region of the U.S. state of North Carolina that consists of the area within and surrounding the three major cities of Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point. This close group or "triad" of cities lies in the Piedmont geographical region of the...	Greensboro	1,552,495	NC North Carolina North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
6	Memphis Memphis Metropolitan Area The Memphis Metropolitan Statistical Area, TN-MS-AR , more commonly known as The Mid-South, is the 41st largest among similarly designated areas in the United States. The metropolitan area covers eight counties in three states – Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas...	Memphis Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....	1,285,732	TN Tennessee Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area... / MS Mississippi Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi... / AR Arkansas Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
7	Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson	Greenville Greenville, South Carolina -Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...	1,241,618	SC South Carolina South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
8	Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman	Birmingham Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...	1,212,848	AL Alabama Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
9	Knoxville Knoxville Metropolitan Area Knoxville Metropolitan Area is the third largest Metropolitan Statistical Area in Tennessee. It consists of Knoxville, Tennessee as its central city and the following counties:AndersonBlountKnoxLoudon*Union...	Knoxville	1,041,955	TN Tennessee Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
10	Columbia-Newberry Columbia, South Carolina metropolitan area As defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and used by the U.S. Census Bureau for statistical purposes only, the Columbia Metropolitan Statistical Area, is an area consisting of six counties in central South Carolina, anchored by the city of Columbia. As of the 2000 census, the MSA had...	Columbia Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...	765,886	SC South Carolina South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
11	Chattanooga–Cleveland–Athens	Chattanooga	683,095	TN Tennessee Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area... / GA Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
12	Augusta	Augusta Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...	534,218	GA Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788... / SC South Carolina South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
13	Huntsville–Decatur	Huntsville Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....	510,088	AL Alabama Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
14	Kingsport-Johnson City-Bristol Tri-Cities, Tennessee In Tennessee and Virginia the name "Tri-Cities" refers to the region comprising the cities of Kingsport, Johnson City and Bristol and the surrounding smaller towns and communities in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia...	Kingsport Kingsport Kingsport may refer to:* Kingsport, Tennessee, a city in the US state of Tennessee* Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA MSA, a US Metropolitan Statistical Area* Kingsport Mets, a minor league baseball team based in Kingsport, Tennessee...	500,538	TN Tennessee Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area... /VA Virginia The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
15	Columbus–Auburn–Opelika Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area The Columbus, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of four counties in Georgia and one county in Alabama, anchored by the city of Columbus...	Columbus Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 189,885. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, which, in 2009, had an estimated population of 292,795...	442,953	GA Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788... / AL Alabama Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

Transportation

Interstate I-85

Interstate 85

and I-20 are the main corridors, and the major Interstates that are intersected are : I-95, I-40, I-73, I-74, I-77, I-26

Interstate 26

Interstate 26 is a nominally east–west main route of the Interstate Highway System in the Southeastern United States. I-26 runs from the junction of U.S. Route 11W and U.S. Route 23 in Kingsport, Tennessee, generally southeastward to U.S. Route 17 in Charleston, South Carolina...

, I-75, and I-65. The gateways cities Port of Savannah

Port of Savannah

The Port of Savannah is a major U.S. seaport located at Savannah, Georgia. Its extensive facilities for oceangoing vessels line both sides of the Savannah River approximately from the Atlantic Ocean...

, Port of Charleston

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

, and Port of Wilmington

Wilmington, North Carolina

Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...

all serve as seaports for the Piedmont Atlantic Region. Within the PAM there are 6 international airports, 9 when including those located in the aforementioned gateway cities.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport , known locally as Atlanta Airport, Hartsfield Airport, and Hartsfield–Jackson, is located seven miles south of the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States...

is the busiest airport in the region and in the world. Charlotte/Douglas International Airport

Charlotte/Douglas International Airport

Charlotte Douglas International Airport is a joint civil-military public international airport located in Charlotte, North Carolina. Established in 1935 as Charlotte Municipal Airport, in 1954 the airport was renamed Douglas Municipal Airport after former Charlotte mayor Ben Elbert Douglas, Sr...

is the second busiest airport in the region and is the seventh busiest airport in the world. Other major airports in the region include: Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport

Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport

Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport , also known as GSP International Airport or Roger Milliken Field, is a public airport located in unincorporated Greenville and Spartanburg counties in South Carolina, United States, 3 miles south of central Greer; the airport serves Greenville and...

, McGhee Tyson Airport

McGhee Tyson Airport

-Top Destinations:-Accidents and incidents:* On 06 August, 1962, an American Airlines Lockheed L-188 Electra veered off the runway on landing, striking the raised edge of an under-construction taxiway with the landing gear, causing it to collapse...

, Piedmont Triad International Airport

Piedmont Triad International Airport

Piedmont Triad International Airport is an airport just west of Greensboro, serving Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem as well as the entire Piedmont Triad Region in North Carolina. The airport has 3 runways; the third opened January 27, 2010 for traffic. The airport is located just off...

, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport and Raleigh-Durham International Airport

Raleigh-Durham International Airport

Raleigh-Durham International Airport is a public international airport located 4.5 miles northeast of the town of Morrisville in suburban Wake County, North Carolina, United States. The airport covers and operates three runways, providing direct service to 40 domestic and international...

. International Airports within gateway cities include Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport

Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport

"Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport , formerly Savannah International Airport, Travis Field and Chatham Field, is a joint civil-military airport located northwest of Savannah, Georgia just off Interstate 95, between Savannah and the city of Pooler, Georgia...

, Nashville International Airport

Nashville International Airport

Nashville International Airport is a joint civil-military airport in southeastern Nashville, Tennessee. The IATA Airport Code BNA is derived from the early name of the facility—Berry Field, NAshville. Berry Field was the name of the airport until 1988, when the name was changed to reflect...

and Memphis International Airport

Memphis International Airport

Memphis International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located three miles south of the central business district of Memphis, a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States....

, which is the world's busiest airport by most cargo traffic by weight annually.

Megaregion as a unit

The Piedmont Atlantic is the fastest growing mega-region in the United States. The mega-region is facing challenges with its growing population, increased traffic congestion, and inadequate infrastructure. Mayors, businesses, and academic professionals have organized the Piedmont Alliance for Quality Growth to help address these problems with sustainable solutions. With the goal of focusing on the growth of the Megaregion, they have called for less competition between cities and metropolitan areas in the same region, and a stronger and more cohesive ability to work together to compete on the global scale. The major issues that the PAM has to solve include conflicts over shared natural resources such as water and problems transportation infrastructure such as road upkeep and the railways linking cities. Many of the issues cities or metropolitan areas face cannot be solved by action on a local scale. A Megaregion as a unit working together is an advantage in economics and quality of life with in the region.

Culture of Piedmont Atlantic

The culture of the PAM is a subset of the culture

Culture of the Southern United States

The Culture of the Southern United States, or Southern Culture, is a subculture of the United States that is perhaps America's most distinct, in the minds both of its residents and of those in other parts of the country...

of the greater Southern United States. It is mainly a combination of the cultures of Georgia

Culture of Georgia (U.S. state)

The Culture of Georgia is a subculture of the Southern United States that has come from blending heavy amounts of rural Scots-Irish culture with the culture of African slaves and Native Americans...

and North Carolina

Culture of North Carolina

The Culture of North Carolina is a subculture in the United States. As a coastal state, North Carolina culture has been greatly influenced by the southeastern united states and early settlers from England.- Food :...

, as these two states have the greatest populations by far of the five states that make up the region, and contain most of the region's major cities.

National Professional Sports teams

Atlanta Beat
Atlanta Braves
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
Atlanta Dream
Atlanta Dream
The Atlanta Dream is a professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the 2008 WNBA season began. The team is owned by Dream Too LLC, which is composed of two Atlanta...
Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association .-The first years:...
Carolina Hurricanes
Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League , and play their home games at the 18,680-seat RBC Center...
Carolina Panthers
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...
Charlotte Bobcats
Charlotte Bobcats
The Charlotte Bobcats is a professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association. The Bobcats were established in 2004 as an expansion team, two seasons after Charlotte's previous NBA...
Memphis Grizzlies
Memphis Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies are a professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. The team is part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . Along with the Toronto Raptors, the Grizzlies were established in 1995 as part of the NBA's...
Nashville Predators
Nashville Predators
The Nashville Predators are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
Tennessee Titans
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...

Attractions

The geography of the region is diverse and lends itself to a variety of outdoor recreational activities, ranging from hiking along the Appalachian Trail

Appalachian Trail

The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply the AT, is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. It is approximately long...

in the mountains to relaxing on the coastal beaches.

Many of the cities within the region have extensively developed tourism infrastructure. Most notably, as the largest city in the region, Atlanta has a number of attractions centered around the Centennial Olympic Park

Centennial Olympic Park

Centennial Olympic Park is a 21 acre public park located in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA that is owned and operated by the Georgia World Congress Center Authority. The park was built by the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games as part of the infrastructure improvements for the Centennial...

, which was built as part of the infrastructure

Infrastructure

Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...

improvements for the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics

1996 Summer Olympics

The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....

. Nearby attractions in Atlanta include the CNN Center

CNN Center

The CNN Center is the world headquarters of the Cable News Network . The main newsrooms and studios for several of CNN's news channels are located in the building...

, Georgia Aquarium

Georgia Aquarium

The Georgia Aquarium, located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, at Pemberton Place, is the world's largest aquarium with more than of marine and fresh water housing more than 120,000 animals of 500 different species...

(the world's largest indoor aquarium), and the new World of Coca-Cola

World of Coca-Cola

The World of Coca-Cola is a permanent exhibition featuring the history of The Coca-Cola Company and its well-known advertising as well as a host of entertainment areas and attractions...

. Other Atlanta area attractions include Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site and Stone Mountain

Stone Mountain

Stone Mountain is a quartz monzonite dome monadnock in Stone Mountain, Georgia, United States. At its summit, the elevation is 1,686 feet amsl and 825 feet above the surrounding area. Stone Mountain granite extends underground at its longest point into Gwinnett County...

Park.

Other cities in the mega-region also offer tourism opportunities. Birmingham, for example, is home to several museums; the largest is the Birmingham Museum of Art

Birmingham Museum of Art

Founded in 1951, the Birmingham Museum of Art in Birmingham, Alabama today has one of the finest collections in the Southeast US, with more than 24,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, and decorative arts representing a numerous diverse cultures, including Asian, European, American,...

, which is also the largest municipal art museum in the Southeast. The area's history museums includes Birmingham Civil Rights Institute

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is a large interpretive museum and research center in Birmingham, Alabama that depicts the struggles of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s...

, which houses a detailed and emotionally-charged narrative exhibit putting Birmingham's history into the context of the U. S. Civil Rights Movement. Greenville, S.C., offers Falls Park on the Reedy

Falls Park on the Reedy

Falls Park on the Reedy is a park adjacent to downtown Greenville, South Carolina in the historic West End district. The park was founded in 1967 when the Carolina Foothills Garden Club reclaimed of land that had been previously used for textile mills...

, a 32-acre (130,000 m2) park adjacent to downtown in the historic West End district. Further north, Charlotte, N.C. hosts the NASCAR Hall of Fame

NASCAR Hall of Fame

The NASCAR Hall of Fame honors drivers who have shown exceptional skill at NASCAR driving, all-time great crew chiefs and owners, and other major contributors to competition within the sanctioning body. NASCAR committed itself to building a Hall of Fame and on March 6, 2006, the city of Charlotte,...

and will soon add the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art

Bechtler Museum of Modern Art

The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art in Charlotte, North Carolina is a 36,500 sq. ft. museum space dedicated to the exhibition of mid-20th-century modern art...

, part of the new Wells Fargo Cultural Campus.

Education

The area is home to a number of colleges and universities, including:

Agnes Scott College
Agnes Scott College
Agnes Scott College is a private undergraduate college in the United States. Agnes Scott's campus lies in downtown Decatur, Georgia, nestled inside the perimeter of the bustling metro-Atlanta area....
Alabama State University
Alabama State University
Alabama State University, founded 1867, is a historically black university located in Montgomery, Alabama. ASU is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund.- History :...
Anderson University
Anderson University (South Carolina)
Anderson University is a private comprehensive university located in Anderson, South Carolina, offering bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in approximately 60 areas of study. Anderson is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention and is accredited as a Level V institution by the...
Auburn University
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
Belmont Abbey College
Belmont Abbey College
Belmont Abbey College is a private liberal-arts Catholic college located in Belmont, North Carolina, USA west of Uptown Charlotte. It was founded in 1876 by the Benedictine monks of Belmont Abbey...
Bob Jones University
Bob Jones University
Bob Jones University is a private, for-profit, non-denominational Protestant university in Greenville, South Carolina.The university was founded in 1927 by Bob Jones, Sr. , an evangelist and contemporary of Billy Sunday...
Catawba College
Catawba College
Catawba College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in Salisbury, North Carolina, USA. Founded in 1851 by the North Carolina Classis of the Reformed Church in Newton, the college adopted its name from its county of origin, Catawba County, before moving to its current home of Salisbury...
Clark Atlanta University
Clark Atlanta University
Clark Atlanta University is a private, historically black university in Atlanta, Georgia. It was formed in 1988 with the consolidation of Clark College and Atlanta University...
Clayton State University
Clayton State University
Clayton State University is a public university in Morrow, Georgia, with 6,785 students. Clayton State University is a part of the University System of Georgia....
Clemson University
Clemson University
Clemson University is an American public, coeducational, land-grant, sea-grant, research university located in Clemson, South Carolina, United States....
Converse College
Converse College
Converse College is a liberal arts women's college in Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA. It was established by a group of Spartanburg citizens and named after Dexter Edgar Converse.-History:...
Davidson College
Davidson College
Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. The college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently ranked in the top ten liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News and World Report magazine, although it has recently dropped to 11th in U.S. News...
Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
Elon University
Elon University
Elon University is a private liberal arts university in Elon, North Carolina, United States. Formerly known as Elon College, it became Elon University on June 1, 2001. The campus is a botanical garden and features oak trees, brick sidewalks, fountains, and lakes...
Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
Furman University
Furman University
Furman University is a selective, private, coeducational, liberal arts college in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Furman is one of the oldest, and more selective private institutions in South Carolina...
Georgia Gwinnett College
Georgia State University
Georgia State University
Georgia State University is a research university in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Founded in 1913, it serves about 30,000 students and is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities...
Georgia Tech
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
Greensboro College
Greensboro College
Greensboro College is a four-year, independent, coeducational liberal-arts college, also offering four master's degrees, located in Greensboro, North Carolina, and affiliated with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1838...
Greenville Technical College
Greenville Technical College
Greenville Technical College is a technical college located in South Carolina. Founded in 1960, it began operation in September 1962.-Campuses:Greenville Tech currently has six locations in Greenville County:...
Guilford College
Guilford College
Guilford College, founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society of Friends , is an independent college whose stated mission is to: provide a transformative, practical and excellent liberal arts education that produces critical thinkers in an inclusive, diverse environment, guided by Quaker...
High Point University
High Point University
High Point University is a private liberal arts university in High Point, North Carolina, USA, affiliated with the United Methodist Church.- Beginnings :...
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw State University, also referred to as KSU, Kennesaw, or Kennesaw State, is a public, coeducational, comprehensive university that is part of the University System of Georgia. The university's main campus is located in Kennesaw, Georgia, United States, approximately north of Atlanta...
Limestone College
Limestone College
Limestone College is a private four-year, coeducational liberal-arts college located in Gaffney, South Carolina. Limestone College is a Christian non-denominational college. Its programs lead to the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Social Work, Associate of Arts or Associate of...
Middle Tennessee State University
Middle Tennessee State University
Middle Tennessee State University, commonly abbreviated as MTSU, is a public university located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States....
Morehouse College
Morehouse College
Morehouse College is a private, all-male, liberal arts, historically black college located in Atlanta, Georgia. Along with Hampden-Sydney College and Wabash College, Morehouse is one of three remaining traditional men's colleges in the United States....
North Carolina A&T State University
North Carolina Central University
North Carolina Central University
North Carolina Central University is a public historically black university in the University of North Carolina system, located in Durham, North Carolina, offering programs at the baccalaureate, master’s, professional and doctoral levels....

North Carolina State University

North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...

Oglethorpe University

Oglethorpe University is a private liberal arts college in Brookhaven, Georgia, an inner suburb of Atlanta. It was chartered in 1835 and named after James Edward Oglethorpe, the state's founder.-History:...

Peace College

William Peace University is a small liberal arts college located in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. It is affiliated with the Presbyterian church.-History:...

Saint Augustine's College

Salem College

Salem College is a liberal arts women's college in Winston-Salem, North Carolina founded in 1772. Originally established as a primary school, it later became an academy and finally a college. It is the oldest female educational establishment that is still a women's college...

Savannah College of Art and Design

SCAD, the Savannah College of Art and Design, is a private, accredited and degree-granting university with locations in Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia, Hong Kong, and Lacoste, France.-History:...

Shaw University

Shaw University, founded as Raleigh Institute, is a private liberal arts institution and historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1865, it is the oldest HBCU in the Southern United States....

Southern Polytechnic State University

Southern Polytechnic State University is a public, co-educational state university located in Marietta, Georgia, USA just northwest of Atlanta...

Spartanburg Community College

Spartanburg Community College , is a public, suburban, two-year comprehensive, open-admission institution of higher education serving the citizens of Spartanburg, Cherokee, and Union counties in Upstate South Carolina...

Spelman College

Spelman College is a four-year liberal arts women's college located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The college is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman was the first historically black female...

Tuskegee University

Tuskegee University is a private, historically black university located in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund...

University of Alabama

The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....

University of Alabama at Birmingham

The University of Alabama at Birmingham is a public university in Birmingham in the U.S. state of Alabama. Developing from an extension center established in 1936, the institution became an autonomous institution in 1969 and is today one of three institutions in the University of Alabama System...

University of Alabama in Huntsville

The University of Alabama in Huntsville is a state-supported, public, coeducational research university, located in Huntsville, Alabama, United States, is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, master's and doctoral degrees, and is organized in five...

University of Georgia

The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte , also known as UNC Charlotte or simply Charlotte, is a public research university located in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States...

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro , also known as UNC Greensboro, is a public university in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States and is a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina system. The university offers more than 100 undergraduate, 61 master's and 26...

University of North Carolina School of the Arts

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts , formerly the North Carolina School of the Arts, is a public coeducational arts conservatory in Winston-Salem, North Carolina that grants high school, undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is one of the seventeen constituent campuses of the...

USC Upstate

University of South Carolina Upstate

The University of South Carolina Upstate is a public university located in Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States. Formerly known as the University of South Carolina Spartanburg, the school changed its name in the summer of 2004...

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

Wake Forest University

Wake Forest University is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, is...

Wilkes Community College

Wilkes Community College , a member of the North Carolina Community College system, is a public, two-year, open-door institution serving the people of Wilkes, Ashe and Alleghany counties and beyond. The college is located in the city of Wilkesboro, North Carolina in the foothills of the Blue Ridge...

Winston-Salem State University

Winston-Salem State University , a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina, is a historically black public research university located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. It is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund.Winston-Salem State has been...

Wofford College