Every street in the United States.
All Streets consists of 240 million individual road segments. No other features — no outlines, cities, or types of terrain — are marked, yet canyons and mountains emerge as the roads course around them, and sparser webs of road mark less populated areas.
I love how you can see the shape of the Appalachians.
The Appalachians are really underestimated as a geographical feature. They’re nowhere near as intimidating as the Rockies, but until the mid-20th century they were still a massive obstacle to national transportation routes. The great ridges and valleys were far too steep to run rail or road up over, and cutting a hole or notch through them is STILL extremely expensive. So the populations of the Appalachians, from Arkansas up through rural Pennsylvania (where I grew up), have developed without a lot of outside interference…or outside assistance. We have traditions, accents, music and expectations of our own, often dating back from the times our families came to the US…and many families throughout the region are poor, have difficulty getting assistance, and have learned not to trust the government.
Now that new technologies and policies are opening up these areas to increased outside influence (some might say ‘interference’) from the rest of the country, the culture of this region where I grew up is changing rapidly.
ARGH TUMBLR WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM. I have tried reblogging this from my other Tumblr TWICE and it keeps dumping it back over there. TUMBLR’S NOT EVEN SUPPOSED TO LET YOU REBLOG TO THE SAME BLOG GRARGH.
ANYWAY. Cool maps. Personal history. Cultural commentary. *waves at it* Enjoy.