A Nation of Cities

1. A Nation of Cities

2. Location: The Growth of Cities • Largely a nation of city dwellers • 260 metropolitan areas • a major cities and its surrounding area • The value of a city’s location is determined by changes in its economy, transportation, and popular preferences.

3. Movement: The Impact of Transportation • Around 50 years after the Revolutionary War, most cities functioned as ports of trade between the U.S. and Europe • EX. New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston

4. Canals- helped transport goods using rivers - Governor Dewitt Clinton had the Erie Canal constructed - it connected Lake Erie to the Hudson River - by the end of the 1800s canals linked the cities of the West and North

5. Railroads • 1st successful railroads were built in 1830 • 1862 Congress initiated a plan to link the East and West coasts by rail - the line was laid on the 42nd parallel from Omaha to Sacramento • After the Civil War railroad became the most important form of transportation • Chicago and New York became major cities

6. Automobiles • We produced 8 million cars each year during the 1950s • Interstate Highway Act caused a system of roads and highways to be built across the nation • Suburbs • Residential areas on the outskirts of a city

7. Urban Areas • Hierarchy • The rank of urban areas according to the their function • Hinterlands • Areas which large cites/metropolises serve • EX. Economic and agricultural centers