Notes for Chapter 5 Social Studies – pages 70-83
Population Density and Life in the Northeast
~megalopolis: a string of towns and cities where many people live
~Northeast megalopolis sometimes called “Boswash” and contains Boston, New York City,
Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. and all towns in between
~Population density measures how many people live in a given amount of land, usually one
square mile. In other words, population density lets us know how crowded an area is.
~Urban areas are densely populated (crowded) and have over 1,000 people per square mile.
Example: cities
~Suburban areas are not as crowded, but are usually close to cities. Example: Doylestown
~Rural areas are not crowded and have fewer than 1,000 people per square mile.
Example: the countryside
~population density maps show the population density of an area (see page 73 for an example)
-positives and negatives about living in urban, suburban, or rural areas
Housing
~Urban: apartment buildings, skyscrapers, lots of neighbors, close to shops and
restaurants, neighbors can be noisy
~Rural: houses, yards for children to play, able to make noise without bothering
neighbors, have to maintain and take care of yard, home, and lawn
Employment
~Urban: many opportunities for jobs in offices, restaurants, stores, hotels, newspapers,
television studios, hospitals, tourism, such as writers, photographers, designers, actors,
musicians, artists, doctors, nurses, tour guides, hotel workers, taxicab drivers, etc.
~Rural: farming, stores, service, fewer businesses so fewer opportunities for jobs
Transportation
~Urban: difficult to get around, traffic caused by cars, buses, trucks, and taxis, few
places to park car, parking garages are expensive, best ways to get around are walking
and subways
~Rural: need a car because of how wide open it is, little or no traffic, free parking, safe
country roads, no public bus or taxi service
Environment
~Urban: pollution is a big problem (land, air, water), lots of trash, smoke and smog from
cars and factories, dirty water from sewers
~Rural: fewer people so air and water are usually clean
Recreation
~Urban: many fun things to do such as professional sports, zoos, amusement parks,
landmarks, museums, theaters, circus, etc.
~Rural: outdoor activities such as hiking, fishing, skiing, ice skating, biking, etc.
~Reading Further – Inventions from the Northeast
~1879: Thomas Edison – light bulb
~1882: Thomas Edison – electric power plant
~two inventions in the 1850s made skyscrapers possible:
~Henry Bessemer invented a way to make strong and lightweight steel
~Elisha Otis invented a way to make elevators safe
~1880s: Granville Woods invented a way to power trolleys with electricity, which
eventually led to underground subways in some cities
~early 1900s: cars