Maryland loses its fourth Fortune 500 Company in as many years

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Yesterday, Hartford, CT-based Aetna announced that it entered into a definitive agreement to buy Bethesda, MD-based Coventry Health Care for $5.7 billion in cash and stock, a move Aetna said would help it expand further into government-backed programs like Medicaid and Medicare. The deal is considered to be a reaction to the Supreme Court ruling upholding President Obama's comprehensive health care reforms and will help Aetna expand into government-based insurance. Unfortunately for Maryland, the deal also means that the state will lose yet another Fortune 500 company.  

The loss of Coventry will be the state's fourth F-500 company loss in four years, leaving Maryland with only three firms on the list of the 500 largest US companies (in terms of annual revenue). Admittedly, Maryland isn't really known for being a business-friendly state (particularly when it comes to large corporations) since its relatively high taxes and regulations, coupled with a liberal government in Annapolis, are often considered hostile to business. To make matters worse, unlike most other liberal states with stiff taxes/regulations, such as California, New Jersey, and Connecticut, Maryland has a large competitor nearby with just the opposite approach to big business. 

Terminology

For the purposes of this blog I've chosen a set of popular definitions for terms that are likely to appear frequently. Of course many of these definitions vary, but these are the most common and straightforward.

Regional Terms

Metro Area: Area consisting of a highly populated city core and its surrounding suburban (and exurban) counties. Included counties must be at most two counties removed from the principal city or have at least 100,000 residents.

Baltimore Metropolitan Area: Baltimore City (MD), Anne Arundel County (MD), Baltimore County (MD), Carroll County (MD), Harford County (MD), Howard County (MD), Queen Anne's County (MD)

Washington Metropolitan Area: Washington, D.C., Calvert County (MD), Charles County (MD), Frederick County (MD), Montgomery County (MD), Prince George's County (MD), Howard County (MD), Arlington County (VA), Fairfax County (VA), Loudoun County (VA), Prince William County (VA), Stafford County (VA), Alexandria and other independent cities in Northern Virginia

Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area: Baltimore Metro Area + Washington Metro Area

Mid-Atlantic: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C., [Northern Virginia]*, [West Virginia]*

New England: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut

Northeast: New England + Mid-Atlantic

*The state of Virginia is commonly defined as Southern, but for the purposes of this blog Northern Virginia will counted as part of the Mid-Atlantic, due to its economic and cultural ties to the Washington Metro Area. West Virginia is a very unique state located almost entirely in the rural geographic Appalachian region, but it shares many cultural traits with it's immediate Southern, Midwestern, and Northeastern neighbors. For the purposes of this blog it will be defined as Mid-Atlantic.

Locality Definitions

Major Town: 25,000-50,000 residents

Small City: 50,000-100,000

Mid-Sized City: 100,000-500,000 residents

Large City: 500,000+ residents

Low Density: <5,000 residents/sq. mi.

High Density: >5,000 residents/sq. mi.

Welcome

Updated 05/22/13

Welcome to Urban Mid-Atlantic, a blog created to discuss planned and existing transportation projects/infrastructure and high density urban (and suburban) in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. This blog is very experimental and I can’t predict how dedicated I'll be to it, especially considering that I'm not too fond of writing and busy schedule, but I’ll try to make it work.

About Me

I am currently a resident of Germantown, MD, and have spent the majority of my life in Maryland. I've always had a passion for moving vehicles; first it was trains, then planes, then eventually, cars. Hence, I am considerably knowledgeable about these modes of transportation as well as others, including industry, mechanical, and infrastructure information. Over the past 5 or so years I've also developed an appreciation for urban development, smart growth, and building architecture. 

I enjoy exploring urban areas and  cities in the Baltimore-Washington area and beyond. I’m also a political, geographical, and statistics junkie. I'm a big fan of Wikipedia and will admit its my number #1 source for general information. For statistical information I'll mostly use the Census Bureau website. I'm also a news junkie (mostly development, business, local, and political). As far as travel experience, I've visited every state between Massachusetts and Florida on the East Coast multiple times, as well as California.

Despite the name of this blog being "Urban Mid-Atlantic" the majority of the posts here will probably focus on urban/suburban Maryland and Washington D.C., particularly Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties. The Baltimore-Washington Area on a whole will receive significant coverage.