Map of where nobody lives in USA

[n2doc]

?fit=625%2C9999

We've seen the map of where everyone lives. Now here's the reverse of that by Nik Freeman: where nobody lives in the United States.

A Block is the smallest area unit used by the U.S. Census Bureau for tabulating statistics. As of the 2010 census, the United States consists of 11,078,300 Census Blocks. Of them, 4,871,270 blocks totaling 4.61 million square kilometers were reported to have no population living inside them. Despite having a population of more than 310 million people, 47 percent of the USA remains unoccupied.

See also Stephen Von Worley's map from a couple years ago, which shows blocks in the US with only one person per square mile.

links at link
http://flowingdata.com/2014/04/18/where-nobody-lives/

[Wounded Bear]

1. Nobody goes there any more...

It's always too crowded.

[postulater]

10. Well, if nobody wants to go there, how are you gonna stop them?

[Wounded Bear]

11. If I could, I would...but I can't, so I won't.

[Jgarrick]

2. One of the *many* reasons to live in the Mountain West!

[Benton D Struckcheon]

3. But we can't let in any more immigrants cuz we're all full up! n/t

[Swede Atlanta]

15. That certainly isn't the case but.....

I was raised in the intermountain west. It was a great place to grow up...small town, great public schools, never locked a car or house door, etc.

But there are large parts of the country from the Mississippi and Missouri west to the Pacific that are not attractive to most people. It isn't they are uninhabitable but they are not preferable. It may be the weather - cold winters, etc. or it may be the environment (e.g. high desert that is dry and brown), etc.

I knew I couldn't stay in my hometown because there were no job opportunities and I didn't want to live in a place where the temperatures in January were routinely -35 F at night and maybe -10 F during the day with winds that blew 50+ MPH STEADY.

So we cannot look at the continent as a place where we have all these "holes" where we could let in all these additional people We have to look at where they will want to live, where they can make a living and third the impact their presence will have on our ability to feed them, clothe them, etc.

I am not anti-immigrant but the conclusion that we can let in many more immigrants because we have physical space on the continent is not based on a reasoned assessment.

[bhikkhu]

29. Water is the biggest issue in the places where people don't live

In most of them, there's simply no good access to water. Its very hard to live in a place that doesn't have water. Where I live (Eastern Oregon) its primarily "high desert". The water that we do have is over-subscribed, and every year is a struggle when there are drought conditions (which is about half of the time). Even in good years it can be a struggle between the needs of communities and the needs of farmers and ranchers, and then the need to let some water our of the reservoirs to flow downstream for the fish and so forth.

[stevenleser]

4. I remember when Chris Matthews remarked at "all of the red on the screen" in election 2000 and I

shouted back at the screen "that's places where NO ONE LIVES!!!!!11!1!"

A lot of that green in the map above is Republican red territory. If not red states, red districts.

[Arugula Latte]

23. Acreage is more important than people, according to Republicans.

[IronLionZion]

25. Rural states have more representation per capita than more densely populated states. nt

[IronLionZion]

26. One of the most important psychological victories for the Democratic party

is flipping some of these large land area states like Colorado, Nevada, Virginia, Ohio, PA, Florida, etc. in the presidential election. It is a morale booster for us and demoralizes the other side when looking at the map.

[Skip Intro]

5. Wonder how much of it is habitable?

[KittyWampus]

6. is habitable/was habitable. Nobody lives on top of oil fields.

[flamin lib]

7. Depends on what ya mean by habitable.

Most of west Texas can only suport one lizard to 40 acres . . .

[bvar22]

13. Where I live is very "habitable".

Plenty of clean water.
We drink, bathe, and irrigate from a Mountain Spring,
the same water the costs $1.00/gallon in the supermarkets.
Long growing season,
mild Winters,
plenty of Hardwood to heat with in the Summers,
no nearby agri-businesses, Cities, or other sources of industrial pollution,
no oil or fracking,
just good fertile earth and National Forests,
low CoL,
low property taxes,
very low population density.

The Asparagus is just now coming in,
and the strawberries will be a few weeks later.

But Shhhh.
Don't want the Yuppies to find out.

[roody]

18. What about the ticks and chiggers?

[bvar22]

21. Yep. Got those,

....but if you're careful, you can avoid them.

Mow the grass short around the house and other areas where one will be working.
Let your chickens Free Range on the mowed grass.

Put down carpet scraps or blankets before sliding under you car to work on the underside,
or any other reason you may have for laying in the grass.

If you have to work in the brush or timber,
duct tape your jeans to the top of your boots,
and IMMEDIATELY hot shower ASAP.
Segregate any clothing worn (Universal Precautions)
until they can be washed in bleach.
Never EVER wear the same clothes the next day.

I had one tick and two chigger bites last year,
my wife had zero,
and we are out gardening and and working on the place all the time.
We DID have a bigger problem before we got the chickens,
and learned what to do to limit these pests.

Because we live an a bald ridge, mosquitoes are near non-existent,
though in the lower lying areas, mosquitoes are a nuisance.

[cherokeeprogressive]

35. It's ALL habitable...

Nuclear powered desalination plants on the coasts... pipelines to wherever the hell you want to put the water... put the nuclear waste on a magnetic rail gun on it's way to the Sun (Sol) and be done with it.

Problem solved.

[blkmusclmachine]

8. Coyotes and tumbleweeds don't count.

[TBF]

9. "Look - storage for toxic waste!" -

you know who is thinking that.

[joeybee12]

12. Odds are they shouldn't...no reason to develop most of the land...

I wonder if this excludes land that is techincally not occupied, but is used, like by miners and loggers.

[JI7]

14. anyone know about that northeast area bordering canada

[PotatoChip]

16. Timberlands (nt)

[geckosfeet]

20. Long cold winters. Plenty of firewood tho.

[PotatoChip]

22. Yes, this is true. This winter was/is particularly bad.

But our summers are wonderful.

A well known saying among grumpy, old time Mainers regarding 'flatlander' summer visitors is as follows: "If you cant stand Maine wintahs, you don't deserve her summahs".

[DiverDave]

33. "If you cant stand Maine wintahs, you don't deserve her summahs"

Classic.

[localroger]

17. Nearly all swamps, floodplains, deserts, and mountains

The fine dusting in the central US is due to megafarms. It's interesting that you can pick out the outlines of some of the midwest states because of the way their tax structures affect farm land usage.

Western Maine is the largest area that's mostly actual forest land where people might actually want to live if there were services and roads.

[Fumesucker]

19. Interesting how it coincides with a light pollution map

[LadyHawkAZ]

34. My sister tells me the fireflies in her area of KY are dying out

they used to be everywhere, now she says it's so unusual to see them that she will stop to watch when they do appear. Light pollution

[oneofthe99]

24. How much of that is national parks , state parks and lakes?

I see they included the Great lakes but no other large lakes.

We know the federal government is the largest land owner in the country and I for one
would like to keep it that way. I like that you can hike for days without seeing a house
in some areas of the country.

[ErikJ]

27. What are those living in Nevada, prospectors?

No towns or cities in central Nevada. Lone prospectors or gas stations?

[XemaSab]

38. Ranchers and pros?

[Historic NY]

28. Can you get there from here??

How do you know if your there?

[AnalystInParadise]

30. Being a retired military vet

it is interesting that I can see the Army bases. I can see Fort Hood and its spot in Central Texas, I can see White Sands and Fort Bliss in West Texas/New Mexico, there are also dark patches for Fort Polk, LA, Fort Stewart GA, and Fort Bragg, NC.......Interesting

[Generic Brad]

31. Do you have a map of where the sun doesn't shine?

I can think of a lot of people I would like to stick there.

Never mind. I just saw the light pollution map. It is all clear to me now.

[rrneck]

32. And some folks say he's up there still...

[Tuesday Afternoon]

36. Jeremiah Johnson.

[rrneck]

37. One of my favorite movies of all time.

"You skin that one pilgrim. I'll find you another."

[Tuesday Afternoon]

39. Sure, sure, I got a fine horse under me!

it is a damn fine movie. one of my favorites, too

Del Gue: Which way you headed, Jeremiah?
Jeremiah Johnson: Canada, maybe. I hear there is land there a man has never seen.
Del Gue: Well, keep your nose in the wind, and your eyes along the skyline.
Jeremiah Johnson: I will do that, Del Gue.