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It certainly is for a wide swath of the nation, and the Airport stats and a quick glance at a map prove it.
It is much more of a crossroads of the nation than Seattle could ever dream to be, as a matter of fact. By a long shot.
Airport stats do not a crossroads make. Otherwise NYC is a crossroads. While it is an important entry point, a crossroads it is not.
Defining a crossroads as where different routes cross, I think Chicago is an obvious one; it has always been the meeting point between east and west, particularly in the railroad industry. St. Louis is second in that regard, though long eclipsed by its big brother. I would argue Memphis and Detroit are two under the radar meeting points as well; Memphis is where Western South (Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma) meets old South (Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama, and beyond). Detroit is a fairly important midway point for NYC-Chicago traffic that cuts through southern Ontario, which back in the heyday of rail much did. It is the primary meeting point between Canada and the US as well.
Airport stats do not a crossroads make. Otherwise NYC is a crossroads. While it is an important entry point, a crossroads it is not.
Defining a crossroads as where different routes cross, I think Chicago is an obvious one; it has always been the meeting point between east and west, particularly in the railroad industry. St. Louis is second in that regard, though long eclipsed by its big brother. I would argue Memphis and Detroit are two under the radar meeting points as well; Memphis is where Western South (Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma) meets old South (Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama, and beyond). Detroit is a fairly important midway point for NYC-Chicago traffic that cuts through southern Ontario, which back in the heyday of rail much did. It is the primary meeting point between Canada and the US as well.
Rail today basically only carries freight, especially in the center of the country. Air travel with the massive numbers of people moved daily trumps all of the above.
Because of this Chicago, Detroit & Atlanta are all very important. St. Louis & Memphis, not as much as they used to be at all sadly.
Rail today basically only carries freight, especially in the center of the country. Air travel with the massive numbers of people moved daily trumps all of the above.
Because of this Chicago, Detroit & Atlanta are all very important. St. Louis & Memphis, not as much as they used to be at all sadly.
First off, we're talking historically as much as in the present, so rail travel is still relevant to this discussion.
Second, freight traffic is a huge economic driver and enabler, so freight rail crossroads like Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis, Memphis, etc still have importance.
I was struggling to pick OKC or KC. I ultimately picked KC. Kansas City has more interstates that cross it, more accessibility via those interstates to surrounding cities, and is indeed the closest major city to the geographic center of the lower 48.
It certainly is for a wide swath of the nation, and the Airport stats and a quick glance at a map prove it.
It is much more of a crossroads of the nation than Seattle could ever dream to be, as a matter of fact. By a long shot.
I never alleged anything about Seattle, you brought it up. And Atlanta has a heavily used airport but how does that make a city the crossroads of America? Air traffic is just one facet.
I was struggling to pick OKC or KC. I ultimately picked KC. Kansas City has more interstates that cross it, more accessibility via those interstates to surrounding cities, and is indeed the closest major city to the geographic center of the lower 48.
Not to mention if you drive 6-8 hours in any direction you can be in the Upper Midwest, the Great Lakes, the Deep South, and the West
Chicago is by far #1 in my book. Nobody else comes close. It's huge with rail, freeways, and airports, and has a major role as transfer point for US-US routes of all three. Northern cross-country routes have to veer over to Chicago because of the lake.
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