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Georgia is only 30 percent rural. I guess some do not know what rural is.
Other interesting facts.
The state with the lowest percentage rural residents is
California less than 6%
West Virginia is another one with a high Rural population
I'm guessing you are using % of population living in an MSA as a measure. That's one way to do it, but the OP is asking about perception. MSAs are defined by county lines and often include large swaths of rural, lightly populated land. For example, much of the San Diego MSA is desert or undeveloped forest. The Duluth MSA in MN includes much of the Boundary Waters Canoe area, a vast roadless area comprised of pristine forests and lakes, but no human settlement. I'd wager anyone who found themselves in either of those areas would not think they were in an "urban" area. To me, it's what the area looks like that leads me to perceive it as urban, suburban or rural. I believe the NE has many more areas that look urban than the South does, MSAs notwithstanding.
In Pennsylvania, even the medium sized cities (Harrisburg, Lancaster, Reading, York) are dense. However, the boundaries for those cities have remained the same for decades. Annexation of surrounding suburban and rural areas into cities is virtually unheard of in Pennsylvania. However, some of the townships that surround the cities can be rather spread out.
What's interesting about West Virginia is that under the old definition, the state was 36.1% rural in 1990. Under the new definition, it was 46.9% urban, then 46.1% urban in 2000. (I saw a chart earlier in the discussion. Post # 34.) West Virginia has a lot of unincorporated dense neighborhoods outside of the city limits so I guess the new urban definition took that into account. It's hard to annex populated areas in West Virginia and most of the annexed areas are industrial parks and shopping centers, or other things related to industry and commerce.
Last edited by tallydude02; 12-20-2011 at 10:44 PM..
In Pennsylvania, even the medium sized cities (Harrisburg, Lancaster, Reading, York) are dense. However, the boundaries for those cities have remained the same for decades. Annexation of surrounding suburban and rural areas into cities is virtually unheard of in Pennsylvania. However, some of the townships that surround the cities can be rather spread out.
What's interesting about West Virginia is that under the old definition, the state was 36.1% rural in 1990. Under the new definition, it was 46.9% urban, then 46.1% urban in 2000. (I saw a chart earlier in the discussion. Post # 34.) West Virginia has a lot of unincorporated dense neighborhoods outside of the city limits so I guess the new urban definition took that into account. It's hard to annex populated areas in West Virginia and most of the annexed areas are industrial parks and shopping centers, or other things related to industry and commerce.
I've been in Harrisburg, and it didn't look any denser than what you'd find in southern cities.
Neither of the two poll choices. It may be because the 7 densest states (and 8 of the Top 10) are in the NE based on the 2010 US census while only 1 of the Top 10 (No. 8 Florida) is in the south:
The southern STATES are rural; that says nothing about the people.
The southern states are rural? Really?
So Florida is rural but Wisconsin is not?
So Georgia is rural, but Minnesota is not?
So North Carolina is rural, but Michigan is not?
So Texas is rural, but Maine is not?
So Tennessee is rural, but Vermont is not?
So Virginia is rural, but Indiana is not?
So Louisiana is rural, but Iowa is not?
So Georgia is rural, but Pennslvania is not?
What about the west that has so much uninhabited land?
What about much of the western midwest that is far more rural than the South, and the rest of the midwest, outside a few areas, which is typical of the South?
What about upper New England.
When it comes down to it, it seems like you're saying that the South is rural because it doesn't match up to the northeast Megalopolis, but couldn't you say the same for the rest of the country, including non-megalopolis northeast? It's also a bit of a crazy comparison. The megalopolis is a very small area. It's like taking the Piedmont Atlantic area of the South and using it as a measuring stick against the midwest, claiming that most of the midwest is rural, despite the fact that it has numerous populated areas.
bek farming for a long time was the only industry in the south.
also bek the south was so crushed economically thru reconstruction it took 100 years to develop anything but farming.
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