Author Topic: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them  (Read 8896 times)

Will

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thepokercab

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #1 on: July 21, 2014, 12:28:08 PM »
Yup-  Maricopa County, AZ #4. 

Oh- summer sucks here. 

Albert

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #2 on: July 21, 2014, 01:21:45 PM »
Top 10 most populous countries (China, India, USA, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Russia and Japan) constitute close to 60% of World population.

Doomspark

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #3 on: July 21, 2014, 01:33:30 PM »
Polk Co, Florida - but I think we're on the list only because we have overflow from Orlando and Tampa

solon

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #4 on: July 21, 2014, 01:42:52 PM »
Yeah, there are strong pockets of population all over the country. Thankfully, I'm not in any of them!

teen persuasion

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #5 on: July 21, 2014, 02:07:09 PM »
Not currently, but not far from the county I grew up in, which is on the list.  DH's childhood county is also on the list; the kids attend(ed) college there, too.

hybrid

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #6 on: July 21, 2014, 02:30:48 PM »
Neat map. Virginia has a large population heavily concentrated in three areas (Richmond, Hampton Roads, and DC Suburbs) but since we have independent cities we don't make this list. I always find it interesting how Richmond is ranked, because the greater Richmond area is more than a million strong but the city itself is just above 200,000. 

Cherry Lane

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #7 on: July 21, 2014, 05:07:27 PM »
Neat map. Virginia has a large population heavily concentrated in three areas (Richmond, Hampton Roads, and DC Suburbs) but since we have independent cities we don't make this list.

Fairfax County, VA is on the list. 

I, too, live in an independent city, not a county, but the counties* on either side of me are on the list, so .... sort of.


* since when is the District of Columbia a county?
« Last Edit: July 22, 2014, 10:15:03 AM by Cherry Lane »

PeachFuzzInVA

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #8 on: July 21, 2014, 05:19:28 PM »
Neat map. Virginia has a large population heavily concentrated in three areas (Richmond, Hampton Roads, and DC Suburbs) but since we have independent cities we don't make this list. I always find it interesting how Richmond is ranked, because the greater Richmond area is more than a million strong but the city itself is just above 200,000.

I think we're in that "just right" spot as far as population goes. Driving through nearly anywhere in the Hampton Roads or NoVa areas nearly drives me beyond the point of sanity. I don't understand how anybody could enjoy living in those areas with all that traffic. Midlothian and Broad Street are bad enough and they pale in comparison.

Cherry Lane

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #9 on: July 21, 2014, 05:21:38 PM »
Driving through nearly anywhere in the Hampton Roads or NoVa areas nearly drives me beyond the point of sanity.

Solution:  don't drive.

PeachFuzzInVA

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #10 on: July 21, 2014, 05:55:59 PM »
Driving through nearly anywhere in the Hampton Roads or NoVa areas nearly drives me beyond the point of sanity.

Solution:  don't drive.

That would be a long walk from Chesterfield! I try not to drive up there unless I absolutely have to.

randymarsh

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #11 on: July 21, 2014, 06:43:27 PM »
I guess I never paid attention before but I noticed that the midwest and southern states have many more counties than the west. Any historians know of a reason for that? I would have assumed CA had way more counties than OH's 88, but that's clearly not the case.

sekritdino

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #12 on: July 21, 2014, 08:27:33 PM »
Yup! I live in King County, WA (Seattle) and my boyfriend lives in Cook County, IL (Chicago).

oldladystache

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #13 on: July 21, 2014, 08:39:34 PM »
I didn't look at the map but I'm pretty sure Los Angeles County is one of them. So yes.

Psychstache

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #14 on: July 21, 2014, 09:33:00 PM »
I've only lived in 4 different counties, and they are all on this list, and 3 are in the top 20. Clearly a city boy here.

simonsez

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #15 on: July 22, 2014, 06:47:44 AM »
I'm not in one of the 146.  Are you?

http://www.businessinsider.com/half-of-the-united-states-lives-in-these-counties-2013-9
Nope.  Just curious, are you an I on the Myers-Briggs? 

Neat map. Virginia has a large population heavily concentrated in three areas (Richmond, Hampton Roads, and DC Suburbs) but since we have independent cities we don't make this list.

Fairfax, VA is on the list. 

I, too, live in an independent city, not a county, but the counties* on either side of me are on the list, so .... sort of.


* since when is the District of Columbia a county?
Fairfax County (1.1mil+) ≠ City of Fairfax (20000+).  If we included all the adjacent 'counties' of the 146, then many more would see where they live on the list but that is a different statement.  I live in the DC metro area yet am not in one of the 146 (City of Alexandria).

County equivalents are probably being used so all counties, parishes (LA), boroughs (AK), independent cities, consolidated cities, and any other admin or statistical area similar to a county would be included.  Washington DC is a county equivalent for comparison purposes.

Russ

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #16 on: July 22, 2014, 07:47:33 AM »
'sup Dane County

lived in 4 of these so far, and was surprised that what I thought would be the fifth (Lexington / Fayette Co., KY) wasn't on there. Counties in Kentucky are pretty small though so I guess it makes sense.

ketchup

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #17 on: July 22, 2014, 07:51:07 AM »
No, but I'm right on the edge of one, work in a different one, own a rental in one, and grew up in one.

Will

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #18 on: July 22, 2014, 08:09:08 AM »
I'm not in one of the 146.  Are you?

http://www.businessinsider.com/half-of-the-united-states-lives-in-these-counties-2013-9
Nope.  Just curious, are you an I on the Myers-Briggs? 


Looking at the Myers-Briggs indicator, I could see myself on both sides of each one, so I wouldn't say that I am an I or an E necessarily.  Of the 5 counties I've lived in, I have spent all but 5 years in one of the 146 or just a county over from one (I'm kind of surprised that my current county isn't on the list; we have to be pretty close).

Jack

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #19 on: July 22, 2014, 08:14:22 AM »
I guess I never paid attention before but I noticed that the midwest and southern states have many more counties than the west. Any historians know of a reason for that? I would have assumed CA had way more counties than OH's 88, but that's clearly not the case.

It has a lot to do with the era in which they were settled, and also with physical geography.  The West was settled much later than the rest of the country mostly in the early 20th century.  In the other states local governments could not be reached and truly local without them being smaller in the age before cars.  For example in my state of Kansas where we have 105 counties many with only a few thousand residents, state law from the early days of the state prescribes minimum and maximum geographic sizes of counties. From my reading,  they were set up in such a manner so a person on horseback could reach the county seat to conduct necessary business by riding no for no more than one day.  For states that were populated later telephones and automobiles extended out the range greatly so the need for small geographic counties was reduced.

By the way, I do not reside in any of the 146 largest counties.

Georgia has more counties than any other state in the Union, and there's a movement to create more by splitting Fulton (the most populous county) in half! Why? Because the rich white people in the northern part resent having their tax dollars subsidize the poor black people in the southern part. In other words, being within a reasonable travel time of the county seat is not the only factor.

The Atlanta metro area has 5+ million residents, but the City of Atlanta only has 0.5 million. Metro Atlanta includes 10 to 22 counties (depending on how you define it) and probably 50+ municipalities... which goes a long way to explain why things like roads and transit suck so bad here: there's too many jurisdictions and not enough cooperation.

hybrid

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #20 on: July 22, 2014, 08:40:38 AM »
Driving through nearly anywhere in the Hampton Roads or NoVa areas nearly drives me beyond the point of sanity.

Solution:  don't drive.

That would be a long walk from Chesterfield! I try not to drive up there unless I absolutely have to.

Cherry Lane must be confusing Richmond with Portland or NYC.... If you want to go to Trader Joe's or Whole Foods or the Apple Store you are going to Glen Allen, a good 12-15 miles from Richmond and no easy way to bike there. It's a 30 minute drive by highway from my house on the Richmond border of Chesterfield. You can live in Richmond without a car, but it's tough. Suburban sprawl is the rule around here, not building dense and tall like in NY.

simonsez

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #21 on: July 22, 2014, 09:08:06 AM »
Georgia has more counties than any other state in the Union
Except Texas, which has 95 more counties than Georgia, 254-159.

Cherry Lane

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #22 on: July 22, 2014, 10:09:17 AM »
Driving through nearly anywhere in the Hampton Roads or NoVa areas nearly drives me beyond the point of sanity.

Solution:  don't drive.

That would be a long walk from Chesterfield! I try not to drive up there unless I absolutely have to.

Cherry Lane must be confusing Richmond with Portland or NYC.... If you want to go to Trader Joe's or Whole Foods or the Apple Store you are going to Glen Allen, a good 12-15 miles from Richmond and no easy way to bike there. It's a 30 minute drive by highway from my house on the Richmond border of Chesterfield. You can live in Richmond without a car, but it's tough. Suburban sprawl is the rule around here, not building dense and tall like in NY.

Wasn't referring to Richmond, actually, but NoVa.  I don't complain about traffic (much) here in NoVa because I don't generally drive in it.

On the other hand, I should add I completely agree with Nic's comment about Hampton Roads.  Traffic there is terrible and there doesn't seem to be an alternative.

Cherry Lane

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #23 on: July 22, 2014, 10:14:34 AM »
Neat map. Virginia has a large population heavily concentrated in three areas (Richmond, Hampton Roads, and DC Suburbs) but since we have independent cities we don't make this list.

Fairfax, VA is on the list. 

I, too, live in an independent city, not a county, but the counties* on either side of me are on the list, so .... sort of.


* since when is the District of Columbia a county?
Fairfax County (1.1mil+) ≠ City of Fairfax (20000+).  If we included all the adjacent 'counties' of the 146, then many more would see where they live on the list but that is a different statement.  I live in the DC metro area yet am not in one of the 146 (City of Alexandria).

County equivalents are probably being used so all counties, parishes (LA), boroughs (AK), independent cities, consolidated cities, and any other admin or statistical area similar to a county would be included.  Washington DC is a county equivalent for comparison purposes.

Oops, I left out the 'County' in Fairfax County, above.  I'll go fix that.  Yes, I'm aware that the city and the county are different.  I was just pointing out to hybrid that one locale in VA did make the list. 

I do see now that Baltimore City is also on the list, so you are correct about the use of county equivalents.

MoneyCat

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #24 on: July 22, 2014, 01:47:39 PM »
I live in Middlesex County, NJ which is on the list.  It makes sense that it would be on the list because it is an awesome place to live, so, of course people want to live here.  The nice thing is that we bought our house right after the real estate crash, so we got it for pretty cheap (for the region) and since the real estate market has rebounded, we are doing very well.  The downside is that property taxes are high because so many people live here, but wages are also high which makes it really cheap to visit other places.

HawkeyeNFO

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #25 on: July 25, 2014, 08:35:15 AM »
Driving through nearly anywhere in the Hampton Roads or NoVa areas nearly drives me beyond the point of sanity.

Solution:  don't drive.

That would be a long walk from Chesterfield! I try not to drive up there unless I absolutely have to.

Cherry Lane must be confusing Richmond with Portland or NYC.... If you want to go to Trader Joe's or Whole Foods or the Apple Store you are going to Glen Allen, a good 12-15 miles from Richmond and no easy way to bike there. It's a 30 minute drive by highway from my house on the Richmond border of Chesterfield. You can live in Richmond without a car, but it's tough. Suburban sprawl is the rule around here, not building dense and tall like in NY.

Wasn't referring to Richmond, actually, but NoVa.  I don't complain about traffic (much) here in NoVa because I don't generally drive in it.

On the other hand, I should add I completely agree with Nic's comment about Hampton Roads.  Traffic there is terrible and there doesn't seem to be an alternative.

Not all of NOVA has the bad traffic.  My area (McLean/North Arlington/Falls Church) has surprisingly easy traffic to negotiate, even during the rush hours.  The trick is to avoid I-66, and not venture outside of the Beltway unless absolutely necessary.  Problem is that the housing is expensive.

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #26 on: July 25, 2014, 10:07:25 AM »
I guess I never paid attention before but I noticed that the midwest and southern states have many more counties than the west.

It makes this Risk map a bit crazy to play.

Apparently I do live in one of the 146 largest counties, which is pretty surprising since every city in that county is firmly suburban.

arebelspy

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #27 on: August 14, 2014, 09:31:01 AM »
Yup-  Maricopa County, AZ #4. 

Oh- summer sucks here.

Yup, Clark County, NV, #12.  Summer is fun here, too.  :)
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soccerluvof4

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #28 on: August 14, 2014, 09:57:03 AM »
Only 2 in our state and I live dead center between the two of them.

Phil_Moore

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Re: 3000 counties, and half the US lives in 146 of them
« Reply #29 on: August 14, 2014, 10:24:32 AM »
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« Last Edit: August 23, 2017, 03:44:50 PM by fungalist »