 The region also features "a dense concentration" of hospitals and over 29 universities and liberal arts colleges, including a large number of the United States' most prestigious higher-education institutions.The Knowledge Corridor includes surrounding cities such as Northampton and Amherst in the north, and New Britain and Middletown in the south.Hartford and Springfield's urban cores lie only apart; however, their efforts to cooperate have long been hampered by state border issues, beginning with a lawsuit in 1638.