U.S. government agencies have reached various definitions of the Delaware Valley and metropolitan Philadelphia. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines metropolitan statistical area (MSAs), which are regions with relatively high population densities at their cores and close economic ties throughout their respective areas. MSAs are further combined into combined statistical areas (CSAs), reflecting commuting patterns. Neither is a formal administrative division.
As of the 2020 U.S. census, the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area is the seventh-largest MSA in the nation with 6,245,051 people.[9] The MSA includes:
As of 2020, the Philadelphia–Reading–Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA is the nation's ninth-largest combined statistical area with a population of 7,379,700. Philadelphia-Reading-Camden Combined Statistical Area includes:
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington MSA (11 counties, as defined above)
In 1960, Cecil County, Maryland was added to what was now the Wilmington Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA). In 1980, Cumberland County, New Jersey was defined as the Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton SMSA.
In 1990, the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton SMSAs were merged with the Trenton SMSA to form the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the same time, Cape May County, New Jersey was added to the Atlantic City SMSA. The "Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton" became obsolete one census later when Trenton, New Jersey was moved to the New York-Newark-Bridgeport CSA. The Philadelphia-Wilmington-Vineland CSA included the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Camden MSA and the Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton MSA.[10]
In 2000, Kent County, Delaware was designated the Dover MSA, and Kent County and Atlantic City were added to the Philadelphia CSA in 2010. As a result of new 2010 definitions, based on a threshold of 15% labor interchange between MSAs, two additional MSAs were added, Ocean City, New Jersey and Reading, Pennsylvania. The CSA to which they belong is known as Philadelphia-Reading-Camden.[11]
Subregions
The Philadelphia-Reading-Camden combined statistical area includes sixteen counties in four states. The five Pennsylvania counties in the metropolitan statistical area are collectively known as Southeastern Pennsylvania.[12] In addition to Philadelphia, major municipalities in Southeastern Pennsylvania include the inner suburbs of Upper Darby Township and Bensalem Township. Berks County, which forms its own MSA and contains the CSA's second largest city, Reading, is occasionally not considered to be part of Southeastern Pennsylvania and is sometimes assigned to South Central Pennsylvania.
The two counties of Delaware in the CSA constitute a majority of Delaware's land mass and population. Wilmington is the most populous city in Delaware and the fifth-most populous municipality in the Delaware Valley. The lone Maryland county in the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden Combined Statistical Area is part of the region known as the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
The Delaware Valley has four distinct seasons with ample precipitation and is divided by the 0 °C (32 °F) January isotherm. Philadelphia and the New Jersey portion of the area, almost all of the Delaware and Maryland portions, most of Delaware County and lower Bucks County, lowland southern Chester County, and some southern and lowland areas of Montgomery County have a humid subtropical climate (Cfa according to the Köppen climate classification.) The remainder of the Delaware Valley has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa.) PRISM Climate Group at Oregon State University
Using the -3 °C January isotherm as a boundary, all of the Delaware Valley is humid subtropical. The hardiness zone in the region ranges from 6b in higher areas of Berks and northern Bucks Counties to 8a in Atlantic City and Cape May. [1]
Using the Trewartha climate classification system, which requires eight months to average at least 50 °F for the climate to be considered subtropical, the region only has seven such months, so the area considered Cfa by Köppen is oceanic (Do) in the Trewartha system.
The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) serves all of the counties of the Delaware Valley MSA except for the counties in the Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ Metropolitan Division. However, in addition to the Delaware Valley, DVRPC's jurisdiction includes Mercer County, New Jersey, which OMB classifies as the Trenton-Princeton, NJ MSA and part of the larger New York-Newark CSA.[32]
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, Forest Finns, Dutch, and Walloons and became the colony of New Sweden, though this was not officially recognized by the Dutch Empire which re-asserted control in 1655. The area was taken by the English in 1664.[33]
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. In the early 1700s, Huguenot refugees from France by way of Germany and then England began settling in the Delaware River Valley. Specifically, they left their mark in Hunterdon County, New Jersey (Frenchtown) and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.[34]
Many residents commute to jobs and travel in Philadelphia, Camden, Wilmington, and the surrounding suburbs with the help of expressways, trains, and buses. There are currently no transit connections to Reading, the second largest municipality in the region.
Wilmington/Newark Line connecting Philadelphia to the Wilmington, Delaware area (with limited weekday service to Newark, Delaware), via Chester City and Delaware County.
Warminster Line connecting Philadelphia with southeastern Montgomery County and Warminster in Bucks County.
West Trenton Line connecting Philadelphia north to the Trenton, New Jersey area, serving Montgomery and Bucks County, Pennsylvania, between Jenkintown and Yardley, Pennsylvania, with the final stop in Ewing, New Jersey.
Media/Wawa Line connecting Philadelphia to central Delaware County.
Paoli/Thorndale Line connecting Philadelphia with the affluent Main Line area and western Chester County near Coatesville.
Lansdale/Doylestown Line connecting Philadelphia with Lansdale in central Montgomery County and Doylestown in Bucks County.
Manayunk/Norristown Line connecting Philadelphia with Conshohocken and Norristown in Montgomery County.
Cynwyd Line connecting Philadelphia with Bala Cynwyd on the Philadelphia/Montgomery County line (limited weekday service)
Trenton Line connecting Philadelphia to Trenton, New Jersey, serving Bucks County.
Fox Chase Line connecting Central Philadelphia with the Fox Chase area in 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 U.S. (leasable sq. feet of retail space), and the Cherry Hill Mall in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, which was the first enclosed mall on the East Coast. In addition, the Christiana Mall in Newark, Delaware, is a popular destination due to its proximity to Interstate 95 and because of the availability of tax-free shopping in Delaware. 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.
Philadelphia is heavily Democratic, having voted for the Democratic candidate in every presidential election since 1936. The surrounding suburban counties are key political areas in Pennsylvania, which itself is an important swing state in federal politics.[40] South Jersey has consistently voted Democratic at the presidential level in recent years, although the region is slightly more Republican-leaning than North Jersey and has voted for Republicans at the state and local level.[41] New Castle County's Democratic lean and large share of Delaware's population has tended to make Delaware as a whole vote for Democrats, while the less populous Kent County is more competitive.[42] Recent well-known political figures from the Greater Philadelphia area include current U.S. President Joe Biden, former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and late former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter.
Berks, Carbon, Columbia, Lebanon, Luzerne, Montour, Northumberland, and Schuylkill
Additionally, the Delaware Valley is represented in the United States Senate by the eight Senators from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
^The OMB classifies Trenton and Mercer County as part of the NYC Metropolitan Area
^Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the highest and lowest temperature readings during an entire month or year) calculated based on data at said location from 1991 to 2020.
^Official temperature and precipitation measurements for Philadelphia were taken 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.[16] Snowfall and snow depth records date to 1 January 1884 and 1 October 1948, respectively.[17] In 2006, snowfall measurements were moved to National Park, New Jersey directly across the Delaware River from the airport.[18]
^Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the highest and lowest temperature readings during an entire month or year) calculated based on data at said location from 1991 to 2020.
^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.[22] 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.
^"Q2 2024". PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor. July 11, 2024. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
^Jon Hurdle (May 13, 2021). "Report details surge in warehouse construction…". NJ Spotlight News. Archived from the original on July 9, 2023. Retrieved January 3, 2023. In South Jersey, the area has become the "epicenter" of warehouse construction in the greater Philadelphia region..'Activity in the Southern New Jersey industrial market continues to amaze,' the report said.
^"Station: ATLANTIC CITY INTL AP, NJ". U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991–2020). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived from the original on June 8, 2024. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
^ abc"Station: Dover, DE". U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991-2020). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
Jean R. Soderlund, Lenape Country: Delaware Valley Society before William Penn. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014.
Mark L. Thompson, The Contest for the Delaware Valley: Allegiance, Identity, and Empire in the Seventeenth Century. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2013.
Core cities are metropolitan core cities of at least a million people. The other areas are urban areas of cities that have an urban area of 150,000+ or of a metropolitan area of at least 250,000+. Satellite cities are in italics.
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