The TRIATA Megalopolis
What I-85 represents to the Southeastern US
"BosWash" is a name coined by futurist Herman Kahn in 1967. This describes a megalopolis extending from Boston, MA to Washington, DC. Today we use the more widely known BosNYWash that includes New York first appearing in 1971.
As a strategic thinker that lives across timelines, I've proposed and continue to see evidence the Southeastern US is also becoming a megalopolis filling in along Interstate 85 (I-85) - and I call this TRIATA.
TRIATA is a compression of Triangle/Atlanta/Alabama.
The TRIATA corridor becoming a vibrant megalopolis starts with the rich business heritage of Richmond, VA and ends in Montgomery, AL - the path of I-85.
Along the way I-85 touches the tech powerhouse and great universities that is the Research Triangle Park region (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill with Duke University, NC State, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)...
...continue to the Triad including Greensboro that hosts both tech and aerospace companies and its own cluster of universities...
...Charlotte which is a banking and finance hot-spot...
...Greenville-Spartanburg that hosts a lot of automotive and assembly companies...
...Atlanta with its diverse portfolio of enterprise headquarters and the busiest airport in the world...
...and ending in Montgomery with its world-class concentration of automotive and vehicle production.
This is just over 600 miles or 1000 kilometers of Interstate roadway that opened in August 1958, and 1/3 of I-85 is in North Carolina (where I live, just saying')... and about the same road-length as BosNYWash.
Related: Submit to you Silicon Valley is now less of a place and more of an idea. A region where you can do something new, get financing for it, fast-fail if needed and move on to the next thing. Silicon Valley represents a dense network of interconnected people, ideas, and resources.
The TRIATA region needs to become a vibrant idea - a stretch of road where attractive and memorable things get done.
Our Triangulate! gatherings in RTP have focused on regional reputation and messaging with co-leader and my Content Evolution colleague Chandra Storrusten. Who we are. What we offer, Why us.
We've identified the need for full-spectrum capital formation for our region, including attracting and retaining talent. Focus on the "missing middle" of investment after angel investing and before going public or a c-round - and the deep talent needed at these stages to spur successful growth.
For instance, just in North Carolina, connecting the ideas and tech in the RTP region with the financial prowess of Charlotte will create economic miracles in the future. This connected coherence is not here yet. Have every reason to believe it will cohere in my lifetime.
Also believe every city and region in the TRIATA corridor needs a core idea that functions as an invitation as it all comes together. The "why us?" and "try us" invitation.
Looking forward to seeing and hearing the invitations that get created. Invitations that will differentiate and at the same time create connective tissue all along the I-85 and TRIATA corridor...
...to become a regional US and global economic powerhouse.
About the author
Kevin Clark is the founder and President of Content Evolution, a federation of innovators that listen with voice-of-people research, lead with organization design and future-facing frameworks, express intention with enduring brand strategies, and make these strategies dimensional in the marketplace with client/customer experience and engagement design. He is the coauthor with Kyle Shannon of Collective Intelligence in the Age of AI available now - https://a.co/d/4KuiGyc - and serves on several boards both fiduciary and advisory.