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Completely agree with this. Seattle is bigger than Denver, and feels like it with activity and vibrancy in the area. Portland and Vancouver are 2-3 hours away, and that's a super fast car ride--and a plane ride is what, 45 min max-ish?
Denver has Colorado Springs and Boulder within 1-2 hours, but those are smaller to mid sized cities. The Rockies make Denver feel far, far away. Add in the plains to the east, and there's a lot of nothing-ness, feeling.
It is a looong way to any other large metro areas driving from Denver--Albuquerque at about a million people metro is still 6 1/2 hours away by car--oof. That's isolation.
I've visited Denver twice in the past 5 years, and I love the city. I considered moving there in 2020. But I do have to say, Denver is a 3 million person metro in the middle of a land with nothing even close to that large population.
Denver is about 30 mins from Boulder, it's effectively a "suburb" of the city. Loveland might be the city you're thinking of an hour north.
Does the sea not induced the same feeling of emptiness as the plains?
Denver is about 30 mins from Boulder, it's effectively a "suburb" of the city. Loveland might be the city you're thinking of an hour north.
Does the sea not induced the same feeling of emptiness as the plains?
Seattle is 100 miles as the crow flies from the open sea, much further by road or water, tucked away inside Puget Sound. https://goo.gl/maps/awnoNgVsEDo3SqEU8
Seattle is 100 miles as the crow flies from the open sea, much further by road or water, tucked away inside Puget Sound. https://goo.gl/maps/awnoNgVsEDo3SqEU8
Seattle is 100 miles as the crow flies from the open sea, much further by road or water, tucked away inside Puget Sound. https://goo.gl/maps/awnoNgVsEDo3SqEU8
These views aren’t comparable at all. One is right in the middle of the city vs the other being way outside of it. I wouldn’t say being tucked away and blocked off from the rest of the country by wilderness is less isolating.
These views aren’t comparable at all. One is right in the middle of the city vs the other being way outside of it. I wouldn’t say being tucked away and blocked off from the rest of the country by wilderness is less isolating.
Its not the "middle" of the city, it is a couple of blocks from the edge of Seattle where it meets Puget Sound. The Denver picture, I realize now, is just outside the city limit. But really, once outside the Eastern city limit it looks pretty much the same for roughly the next 300-400 miles or so.
I just feel that the treeless flat open prairie and treeless foothills surrounding Denver make it feel more like an island than the interconnected green hilly peninsulas and actual islands of Washington state do for Seattle.
Last edited by RocketSci; 07-24-2022 at 02:44 PM..
Its not the "middle" of the city, it is a couple of blocks from the edge of Seattle where it meets Puget Sound. The Denver picture, I realize now, is just outside the city limit. But really, once outside the Eastern city limit it looks pretty much the same for roughly the next 300-400 miles or so.
I just feel that the treeless flat open prairie and treeless foothills surrounding Denver make it feel more like an island than the interconnected green hilly peninsulas and actual islands of Washington state do for Seattle.
Even in the view you posted of Seattle you can see that the city is blocked off from everything though. The plains are a more boring terrain for sure but is it really a more isolating feel than being surrounded by nothing but wilderness? Idk I guess I’m just not seeing how that’s supposed to feel more connected to other parts of the US. But I digress…
I didn't include San Diego (the missing corner of the US) simply because it's too close to LA and the LA metro alone has a bigger population than most states in the US, so while San Diego isn't close to a lot of other cities, the one it is very close to is so massive that it's hard to feel isolated.
Honestly, I felt very isolated in San Diego, which was the reason why I didn't like it there there very much. It has an ocean to its west, an international border to its south, and a mountain range to its east. And despite its proximity to Los Angeles, Camp Pendleton to the north is a major barrier to development, and a psychological barrier by extension.
Even in the view you posted of Seattle you can see that the city is blocked off from everything though. The plains are a more boring terrain for sure but is it really a more isolating feel than being surrounded by nothing but wilderness? Not seeing how that’s supposed to feel more connected to other parts of the US.
I suppose that comes down to personal experience and preferences. I just don't see Seattle as completely surrounded by wilderness.
One way to think about it is to consider the region between Vancouver BC and Everett Washington as analogous to the Front Range cities of Colorado, except that it is longer, broader, more populated with bigger cities, and spans two countries. In other words, less isolated.
And to address isolation in a larger travel sense, I get that airline cost, travel time, and connecting flights can make it more difficult to remain as connected with other places. That's true anywhere away from where your home base may be, more true if you live somewhere away from larger airports. It is longer and more expensive for me to travel to Seattle than to Denver from where I live today. But isolation to me is not just long distance isolation (which can happen everywhere) but local isolation (car driving distances). I weighed that higher than air travel, although it may play together if you are not near an airport.
Last edited by RocketSci; 07-24-2022 at 03:24 PM..
I suppose that comes down to personal experience and preferences. I just don't see Seattle as completely surrounded by wilderness.
One way to think about it is to consider the region between Vancouver BC and Everett Washington as analogous to the Front Range cities of Colorado, except that it is longer, broader, more populated with bigger cities, and spans two countries. In other words, less isolated.
And to address isolation in a larger travel sense, I get that airline cost, travel time, and connecting flights can make it more difficult to remain as connected with other places. That's true anywhere away from where your home base may be, more true if you live somewhere away from larger airports. It is longer and more expensive for me to travel to Seattle than to Denver from where I live today. But isolation to me is not just long distance isolation (which can happen everywhere) but local isolation (car driving distances). I weighed that higher than air travel, although it may play together if you are not near an airport.
In terms of being close to two major population centers. Seattle is less isolated and more connected to its sister cities of PDX and Vancouver BC, but in terms of being separated from the rest of North America and the lower 48, the Pacific Northwest as a whole is much more isolated due its location.
Depends on how you see it. With that being said. Seattle outside of the I-5 corridor (which is similar to the front range in some ways) for sure is surrounded by much more wilderness than Denver.
I suppose that comes down to personal experience and preferences. I just don't see Seattle as completely surrounded by wilderness.
One way to think about it is to consider the region between Vancouver BC and Everett Washington as analogous to the Front Range cities of Colorado, except that it is longer, broader, more populated with bigger cities, and spans two countries. In other words, less isolated.
And to address isolation in a larger travel sense, I get that airline cost, travel time, and connecting flights can make it more difficult to remain as connected with other places. That's true anywhere away from where your home base may be, more true if you live somewhere away from larger airports. It is longer and more expensive for me to travel to Seattle than to Denver from where I live today. But isolation to me is not just long distance isolation (which can happen everywhere) but local isolation (car driving distances). I weighed that higher than air travel, although it may play together if you are not near an airport.
I wouldn’t say Seattle is completely surrounded by Wilderness just like Denver isn’t completely surrounded by the Great Plains. Both have long stretches of development outside of the city.
It is worth nothing that the OP did specifically ask which of the 4 cities is more isolated from the rest of the US, not necessarily which has more large cities in the region. I said it earlier but if this was a thread about the most isolated major large city overall it would hands down be Denver. That’s just a fact. But as for being connected to the rest of the country? I really don’t see a case for Seattle at all actually.
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