Delaware Valley

Delaware Valley
MSA


Camden

Wilmington
Country United States
State  - Pennsylvania
 - New Jersey
 - Delaware
 - Maryland
Principal cities Philadelphia, Camden & Wilmington
CSA: Reading, Trenton,Atlantic City, Vineland, Hammonton, Dover
Area
 • Urban 5,131.7 km2 (1,981.4 sq mi)
 • Metro 13,256 km2 (5,118 sq mi)
Elevation 0 - 512 m (0 - 1,680 [1] ft)
Population (2013 est.)
 • Urban 5,441,567(5th)
 • MSA 6,034,678 (6th)
 • CSA 7,146,706(8th)
  MSA/CSA = 2013, Urban = 2010
Time zone EST (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EST (UTC-4)

Culturally, the Delaware Valley is taken by various commercial media and advertising venues to mean the Philadelphia metropolitan area, but geographically, geologically, and historically the term used to refer to the valley through which the Delaware River flows. In geology and geography, a strict sense of the term would incorporate the Delaware River's main drainage basin, so encompass major tributaries such as the Schuylkill River and Lehigh River and their valleys or sub-basins. These extensions also apply culturally with decreasing degree gradually decreased by proximal distance because the ease of land travel enables a great deal of daily interaction; for example, the large number of commuters which travel daily 45–90 minutes creates cultural blends and parallel values.

However, this article discusses the economic region centered on the cities on the tidal part of the Delaware Valley, including the metropolitan areas centered on Philadelphia; Reading, Pennsylvania; Camden, New Jersey; Trenton, New Jersey and Wilmington, Delaware. It is roughly the Philadelphia–Reading–Trenton-Camden–Wilmington, Pennsylvania–New Jersey–Delaware–Maryland (PA-NJ-DE-MD) Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The Delaware Valley as discussed here is composed of several counties in Eastern Pennsylvania and Western New Jersey, one county in northern Delaware and one county in northeastern Maryland. The area has a population of over 7.1 million (as of the 2010 Census Bureau count). Philadelphia, being the region's major commercial, cultural, and industrial center, maintains a rather large sphere of influence that affects the counties that immediately surround it. The majority of the region's populace resides in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.

As of March 2011, the Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metropolitan Statistical Area and its CSA is the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the United States[2][3][4] and is located towards the southern end of the Northeast megalopolis extending from Boston to Washington, D.C.

Based on commuter flows, the OMB also defines a wider labor market region that adds Berks County, Pennsylvania to the Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington CSA bringing the total metropolitan population to 6.53 million.

Philadelphia's media ranks fourth, behind New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago, in Nielsen Media Market size rankings.

Such educational institutions as Delaware Valley Regional High School in Alexandria Township and Delaware Valley College in Doylestown Township are such examples of regional naming. Likewise, Frenchtown's now defunct newspaper The Delaware Valley News is another example of the usage.

Counties making up the Delaware Valley

Map of the Delaware Valley region

Delaware

Maryland

New Jersey

See also: South Jersey

Pennsylvania

Principal cities

The following metropolitan areas (MSAs) are included in the Combined Statistical Area (CSA). The principal cities in each MSA are as follows:

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)[6]

Reading Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

Atlantic City-Hammonton, New Jersey Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)[7]

Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

Ocean City, New Jersey Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

Character

The Delaware Valley is home to extensive populations of Irish Americans, German Americans, Ukrainian Americans, Italian Americans, Polish Americans, African Americans (over 40% of the city of Philadelphia's residents are black), Asians such as Chinese, Indian, Korean and Vietnamese, Armenians, Arabs and Turks, Indians and Pakistanis, Israelis (while American Jews form a significant ethno-religious community), Hispanics. Within the Hispanic population, the vast majority are Puerto Ricans, though other groups include Dominicans and Mexicans.[8] There is a significant West Indian community. There is even a small Native American community known as Lenapehoking for Lenni-Lenape Indians of West Philadelphia.

Philadelphia's suburbs contain a high concentration of malls, the two largest of which have at least 5,000,000 square feet (460,000 m2) of office space, and at least 600,000 square feet (56,000 m2) of retail. These are the King of Prussia Mall in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, which is the largest in the United States (leasable sq. feet of retail space), and the Cherry Hill Mall in Cherry Hill Township, New Jersey, which was the first enclosed mall on the East Coast. Malls, office complexes, strip shopping plazas, expressways, and tract housing are common sights, and more and more continue to replace rolling countryside, farms, woods, and wetlands. However, due to strong opposition by residents and political officials, many acres of land have been preserved throughout the Delaware Valley. Older townships and large boroughs such as Cheltenham, Norristown, Jenkintown, Upper Darby and West Chester retain distinct community identities while engulfed in suburbia. The fastest-growing counties are Chester, Montgomery, Bucks, and Gloucester. Upper Darby, in Delaware County is the largest township in the United States. Sometimes Reading is included in the Delaware Valley Metro Area.

The region also has a large and growing ethnic population, thanks to job growth and proximity to major cities other than Philadelphia, such as New York City (90 miles or a 1.5 hour trip away) and Washington D.C (140 miles and about a 2.5 hour trip away).

Sticker by the Delaware Valley's Lenape Indians in 2008 claiming West Philadelphia is their home.
Bassett's Ice Cream at Reading Terminal

Climate

The Delaware Valley has four distinct seasons with ample precipitation and is divided by the 0 °C (32 °F) January isotherm. Most of Philadelphia and the NJ portion, almost all of the DE and MD portions, part of Delaware County, and extreme southern portions of Bucks and Chester Counties have a humid subtropical climate (Cfa.) The remainder of the Delaware Valley has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa.) Snow amounts may vary widely year-to-year and normally do vary widely within the Delaware Valley. The region has only two ski areas: Bear Creek Ski and Recreation Area in eastern Berks County and Spring Mountain in central Montgomery County.

Using the -3 °C January isotherm as a boundary, all of the Delaware Valley is humid subtropical except for portions of Berks County and higher areas of northern Chester County. The warm-summer humid continental climate (Dfb) only exists in higher areas of Berks where all monthly temperatures average below 22 °C.

Colonial history

The valley was the territory of the Susquehannock and Lenape, who are recalled in place names throughout the region. The region became part of the Dutch colony of New Netherland after the exploration of Delaware Bay in 1609. The Dutch called the Delaware River the Zuyd Rivier, or South River, and considered the lands along it banks and those of its bay to be the southern flank of its province of New Netherland. In 1638, it began to be settled by Swedes, Finns, Dutch, and Walloons and became the colony of New Sweden, though this was not officially recognized by the Dutch Empire who re-asserted control in 1655. The area was taken by the English in 1664.[20] The name Delaware comes from Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, who had arrived at Jamestown, Virginia in 1610, just as original settlers were about to abandon it, and thus maintaining the English foothold on the North American continent.

Transportation

Many residents commute to jobs in Philadelphia, Camden, and Wilmington with the help of expressways and trains. Commutes from one suburb to another are also common, as office parks have sprung up in new commercial centers such as King of Prussia, Fort Washington, Cherry Hill, and Plymouth Meeting.

Commuter rail

Philadelphia's 30th St. Station has SEPTA Regional Rail and Amtrak service

Major highways

Schuylkill Expressway

Pennsylvania

New Jersey

Delaware

Maryland

Delaware River Bridges

Ben Franklin Bridge

Airports

Philadelphia International Airport

Colleges and universities

University of Pennsylvania

Delaware

New Jersey

Pennsylvania

Culture

Sports teams

Further information: Sports in Philadelphia
Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies

Listing of the professional sports teams in the Delaware Valley

Media

Main article: Media in Philadelphia

The two main newspapers are The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News, owned by the Philadelphia Media Network. Local television channels include KYW-TV 3 (CBS), WPVI 6 (ABC), WCAU 10 (NBC), WHYY-TV 12 (PBS), WPHL-TV 17 (MyNetworkTV), WTXF 29 (FOX), WPSG 57 (CW), and WPPX 61 (Ion). Radio stations serving the area include: WRTI, WIOQ, WDAS (AM), and WIP (AM).

Area codes

Lexicon note

Some believe that the term "Delaware Valley" is not entirely a synonym for "Greater Philadelphia". "Greater Philadelphia" implies that the region is centered on the city in an economic and cultural context, while "Delaware Valley" is a more generic geographic term that does not imply that any part is of more consequence than any other. Several organizations, such as KYW Radio and the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, consciously use the term "Greater Philadelphia" to assert that Philadelphia is the center of the region, referring to the less urbanized areas as "Philadelphia's countryside".[22] Others note that the customary media usage of the term omits the majority of the length of the Delaware River's valley that is not in metropolitan Philadelphia.

WPVI-TV uses the slogan, "The Delaware Valley's leading news program" for their Action News broadcast, since that program has led the ratings for news programs in the Philadelphia market for over 30 years.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Official temperature and precipitation records for Philadelphia were kept at the Weather Bureau Office in downtown from January 1872 to 19 June 1940, and at Philadelphia Int'l from 20 June 1940 to the present.[9] Snowfall and snow depth records date to 1 January 1884 and 1 October 1948, respectively.[10] In 2006, snowfall measurements were moved to National Park, New Jersey directly across the Delaware River from the airport.[11]
  2. ↑ The official climatology station for Atlantic City was at the Weather Bureau Office downtown from January 1874 to 15 June 1958 and Atlantic City Int'l (ACY) in Egg Harbor Township since 16 June 1958.[14] ACY's location in the Pine Barrens and distance away from the coast and urban heat island of downtown Atlantic City largely account for its markedly colder temperatures at night as compared to downtown; for example, from 1959 to 2013, there were 50 days with a low of 0 °F (−18 °C) or lower, while in the same period, the corresponding number of days at downtown was 2. The National Weather Service ceased regular snowfall observations at downtown after the winter of 1958–59.

References

  1. ↑ "Blue Mountain-Berks County High Point, Pennsylvania". Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  2. ↑ Thomas, G. Scott (2011-03-07). "Houston 5th in metro population rankings, study shows".
  3. ↑ Metro area populations (as of March 7, 2011), Business First, March 22, 2011.
  4. ↑ Annual Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Area Estimates
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "OMB BULLETIN NO. 13-01" (PDF). Office of Management and Budget. February 28, 2013. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 OMB BULLETIN NO. 09-01
  7. ↑ http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/bulletins/2013/b13-01.pdf
  8. ↑ "Dominicans in the Delaware Valley". Medgar Evers College. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
  9. ↑ ThreadEx
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "NowData - NOAA Online Weather Data". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2011-12-14.
  11. ↑ Wood, Anthony R. "Snow total at airport gets a boost A new measuring station and technique likely contributed to two 8-inch-plus readings". Philly.com. The Inquirer. Retrieved 2014-06-10.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Station Name: PA PHILADELPHIA INTL AP". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2014-03-13.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "WMO Climate Normals for PHILADELPHIA/INT'L ARPT PA 1961–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
  14. ↑ Threadex
  15. ↑ "Station Name: NJ ATLANTIC CITY". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Station Name: NJ ATLANTIC CITY INTL AP". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
  17. ↑ Average weather for Doylestown Weather Channel Retrieved 2008-05-12
  18. ↑ "Climate Statistics for Reading, Pennsylvania". Retrieved March 10, 2012.
  19. ↑ "Station Name: DE DOVER". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
  20. ↑
  21. ↑ https://www.drjtbc.org/default.aspx?pageid=73
  22. ↑ Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation.

Further reading

External links

Coordinates: 39°52′37″N 75°19′23″W / 39.877°N 75.323°W