Abstract
Megalopolis, America's "main street", stretches in the shaded area shown on the map. Here, over 40 million people, one-fifth the population, live in 1.4% of the nation's area. In 1980, scarcely a dozen years away, 60 million people will live in this area between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains.
Half of the country's financial activity, 30% of its manufacturing, 36% of its wholesale sales, and 27% of income-tax payments take place in this population belt.
White strip shows the cities now served by the Pennsylvania and New Haven railroads, between which there have been merger talks. The Penn sylvania's roadbed covers the 226 miles from Washington to New York; the New Haven links New York to Boston, 229 miles away.
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