OGT Benchmark: Analyze the cultural, physical, economic, and

political characteristics that define regions and describe

reasons that regions change over time.

• Regions of the United States

• Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA’s)

• Urban and Suburban Regions

• Farmland and Wilderness Regions

• Centers of Industry and Technology

• The Rust Belt and the Sun Belt

I. Regions of the United States

• Geographers study how people live on and see the surface of the Earth

• Regions help them conduct that ongoing study• Regions based on…• a. landforms (mountains, plateaus)• b. relative location (Northeast, Southwest)• c. where people live (urban, rural)• d. topography (desert, wetlands)• e. economy (farming, industrial)• f. religion (Amish)• g. economic specialization (Corn Belt, Silicon Valley)

Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA’s)

1. consists of a central city with at least 50,000 people

2. the county it is located

3. the surrounding counties in which jobs or commercial activity are are linked significantly to the central city

4. there are 400 MSA’s in US

5. Some are big: New York City, Chicago

6. Some are small: Dayton, Erie

III. Urban and Suburban Regions

1. vast majority of people live in MSA2. Not always this way

a. 1870: 75% lived in ruralb. 1890: 65% lived in rural c. 1920: 51% lived in rural

Why? 1. jobs in cities2. better technology for farmers3. immigrants moved into cities

3. The move to suburbia

• 1. improved transportation

• 2. increased disease and crime in the city

• 3. GI Bill of Rights: paid for veterans to buy homes in the suburbs

• 4. Recently: people moving back to the city--revitalization of the cities

IV. Farmlands and Wilderness Regions

• 1. These areas have been decreasing

• 2. housing developments

• 3. legislation passed to save some of these areas

1. Example: Silicon Valley. Near Stanford University in Palo Alto, California

a. high-tech revolutionb. many people moved to this areac. 1976: Apple created the first computer chip and Intel created the first microprocessor

2. other examples: Seattle, Portland, Austin, Phoenix, and Boston

V. Centers of Industry and Technology

V. The Rust Belt

• 1. Midwest U.S.: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois

• 2. for many years, industrial hub of the U.S.• 3. steel mills, auto factories, heavy industry• 4. Economic problems changed things

– a. foreign competition– b. shift to service industry– c. aging factories– d. many moved out of this region– e. some cities revived recently: new businesses

• 1. South and West U.S.

• 2. Florida, Georgia, Carolinas, Arizona

• 3. many have moved here for work and because of the nice climate

• 4. these states more important, politically

VI. The Sun Belt

1. OGT Short Answer

• Why do geographers categorize places into regions? (2 pts.)

2. OGT Short Answer

• What has been the most significant population change in the U.S. since the late 1800’s? (2 pts)

3. OGT Short Answer

• What made the process of suburbanization possible in the United States? (2 pts)

4. OGT Short Answer

• What factors have influenced people to move back to cities? (2 pts)