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The Great American West. The final frontier. When the United States became independent, there was a dream for expansion beyond the great shores of the Atlantic to the interior of the wild, United States. After the first half-century of the existence of the United States, there was a further dream to expand the United States from sea to shining sea. Before Anglo-American settlement, the whole Western United States had a population of less than 1 million people.
Despite the over 150 years of American development of the Western part of the United States, it still remains relatively untouched. In most parts of the West, within 1-2 hours outside of any given metropolitan area in any direction, you will find virgin wilderness. Small towns are few and far between here.
This thread will introduce the West as a whole, and the different subregions of the West.
Population as of 2008: 69,902,137 (23.2% of the US population)
Growth rate since 2000: 9.6% (33.8% of the US growth from 2000-2008)
Area: 1,871,740 square miles (49.3% of the United States)
1,196,942 square miles (without Alaska/Hawaii; 38.3% of the
Continental US)
Gross Regional Product: $3,385,217 (23.7% of the US economy)
Demographics: 54.9% Non-Hispanic White, 27.5% Hispanic, 9.1% Asian and Pacific Islander, 4.5% Black, 2.4% Two or More Races, 1.4% Native American.
-47.9% of all (identified) Native Americans live in the West
-47.0% of all US Asians and Pacific Islanders live in the West
-42.2% of all US Hispanics live in the West
-35.1% of all people identified as Two or More Races live in the West
-UNDERREPRESENTED IN THE WEST-
-19.3% of all US Non-Hispanic Whites live in the West
-8.7% of all US Blacks live in the West
Foreign Born: 19.6% foreign born as a whole, of which; 54.6% Latin America, 31.9% Asia, 8.5% Europe, 2.1% Canada, 1.9% Africa, 1.0% Oceania
-64.3% of all Oceania born live in the West
-43.3% of all Asian born live in the West
-37.3% of all Latin American born live in the West
-36.4% of all US foreign born live in the West
-34.1% of all Canadian born live in the West
-23.3% of all European born live in the West
-UNDERREPRESENTED IN THE WEST-
-18.1% of all African born live in the West
Top 10 MSA's/CSA's by population (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_United_States_primary_census_statistical_ areas):
- Los Angeles CSA (17,820,893)
- Bay Area CSA (7,427,757)
- Phoenix MSA (4,364,094)
- Puget Sound CSA (4,158,293)
- Denver CSA (3,110,436)
- San Diego MSA (3,053,793)
- Sacramento CSA (2,436,109)
- Portland MSA (2,241,841)
- Las Vegas CSA (1,947,068)
- Salt Lake City CSA (1,743,364)
Out of the 13 states in the West, 10 have had temperature differences higher than 169 degrees (meaning the difference between the high and low temperatures are more than 169 degrees). A further two more (AZ and WA) have differences of more than 165 degrees. Hawaii is the US state with the LEAST climate variety. What this means is that every single state in the West has extremely diverse climate zones AND large temperature swings (UNITED STATES EXTREME RECORD TEMPERATURES & RANGES)
Out of the 50 cities with the least climate variety, 49 are located in the West (with Brownsville, TX being the only city represented in the top 50) [Source: ]Weather Variety - Total Scores
Sunniest US cities (top 10; 9 are in the West, with El Paso, TX being the lone holdout [Western, but not for this thread]) 1. Yuma, Arizona 2. Las Vegas, Nevada 3. Phoenix, Arizona
4. Tucson, Arizona
5. El Paso, Texas
6. Flagstaff, Arizona
7. Fresno, California
8. Reno, Nevada
9. Sacramento, California 10. Albuquerque, N.M.
Cloudiest US cities (7/10 are in the West) 1. Astoria, Oregon
2. Quillayute, Washington
3. Olympia, Washington
4. Seattle, Washington
5. Portland, Oregon
6. Kalispell, Montana
7. Binghamton, New York
8. Beckley, West Virginia
9. Elkins, West Virginia
10. Eugene, Oregon
Most driest cities (9/10 are in the West with the last one being arguably in the West) 1. Yuma, Arizona
2. Las Vegas, Nevada
3. Bishop, California
4. Bakersfield, California 5. Phoenix, Arizona
6. Alamosa, Colorado
7. Reno, Nevada
8. Winslow, Arizona
9. El Paso, Texas
10. Winnemucca, Nevada
Wettest cities (4/10 are in the West) 1. Hilo, Hawaii 2. Quillayute, Washington 3. Astoria, Oregon
4. Blue Canyon, California 5. Mobile, Alabama
6. Tallahassee, Florida
7. Pensacola, Florida
8. New Orleans, Louisiana 9. W Palm Beach, Florida
10. Miami, Florida
Come explore the Western United States: Where there is something for everyone!
(Zones 11 and 10 are also deserts: the Columbian Plateau)
The Federal Government owns much of the land in the West, meaning that there is much open, untouched space here that is available for your enjoyment!
I'm proud to be a Westerner! What an awesome country we live in
Wow, Lifeshadower, that's quite a nice presentation! I am biased but believe the Western U.S. is the best region in the nation. Open space, towering mountains, desolate deserts, scenic coastline, fabulous climate and interesting and unique cities among so much more.
Location: Austin, TX/Chicago, IL/Houston, TX/Washington, DC
10,138 posts, read 16,032,687 times
Reputation: 4047
Quote:
Originally Posted by californio sur
Wow, Lifeshadower, that's quite a nice presentation! I am biased but believe the Western U.S. is the best region in the nation. Open space, towering mountains, desolate deserts, scenic coastline, fabulous climate and interesting and unique cities among so much more.
I agree with this. The whole thing, and I do not live there so I am not bias.
Well, I just wanted to show some pride for the region I come from. After all, City Data is full of Northeastern homers, Southern homers, Midwestern homers, but is woefully short on how many people rep the West as a whole. Hell, we even have posters who divide up their own STATES and represent that, never mind anything on a regional level.
Maybe its just how the Wild West works. Can't unite a bunch of people that all want different things. Considering that the US has only settled the West in the past 150 years, its pretty impressive how far we have come. It makes me proud to be an American
I also like how far apart the cities here are away from each other, since it really does every place to be as independent as possible. That's true Western ethos. However, I do wish that we all worked together for more common goals.
It's crazy to think that more than half of the West's population lives in California (36/69= 52% of the West's population), showing how sparsely populated most of the region is. After CA, the next populated states are WA and AZ at around 6.5 million each. Much wilderness is in the waiting.
I'll post pictures later, when I'm not so tired from hiking and playing tennis.
The Great American West. The final frontier. When the United States became independent, there was a dream for expansion beyond the great shores of the Atlantic to the interior of the wild, United States. After the first half-century of the existence of the United States, there was a further dream to expand the United States from sea to shining sea. Before Anglo-American settlement, the whole Western United States had a population of less than 1 million people.
Despite the over 150 years of American development of the Western part of the United States, it still remains relatively untouched. In most parts of the West, within 1-2 hours outside of any given metropolitan area in any direction, you will find virgin wilderness. Small towns are few and far between here.
This thread will introduce the West as a whole, and the different subregions of the West.
Population as of 2008: 69,902,137 (23.2% of the US population)
Growth rate since 2000: 9.6% (33.8% of the US growth from 2000-2008)
Area: 1,871,740 square miles (49.3% of the United States)
1,196,942 square miles (without Alaska/Hawaii; 38.3% of the
Continental US)
Gross Regional Product: $3,385,217 (23.7% of the US economy)
Demographics: 54.9% Non-Hispanic White, 27.5% Hispanic, 9.1% Asian and Pacific Islander, 4.5% Black, 2.4% Two or More Races, 1.4% Native American.
-47.9% of all (identified) Native Americans live in the West
-47.0% of all US Asians and Pacific Islanders live in the West
-42.2% of all US Hispanics live in the West
-35.1% of all people identified as Two or More Races live in the West
-UNDERREPRESENTED IN THE WEST-
-19.3% of all US Non-Hispanic Whites live in the West
-8.7% of all US Blacks live in the West
Foreign Born: 19.6% foreign born as a whole, of which; 54.6% Latin America, 31.9% Asia, 8.5% Europe, 2.1% Canada, 1.9% Africa, 1.0% Oceania
-64.3% of all Oceania born live in the West
-43.3% of all Asian born live in the West
-37.3% of all Latin American born live in the West
-36.4% of all US foreign born live in the West
-34.1% of all Canadian born live in the West
-23.3% of all European born live in the West
-UNDERREPRESENTED IN THE WEST-
-18.1% of all African born live in the West
Top 10 MSA's/CSA's by population (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_United_States_primary_census_statistical_ areas):
- Los Angeles CSA (17,820,893)
- Bay Area CSA (7,427,757)
- Phoenix MSA (4,364,094)
- Puget Sound CSA (4,158,293)
- Denver CSA (3,110,436)
- San Diego MSA (3,053,793)
- Sacramento CSA (2,436,109)
- Portland MSA (2,241,841)
- Las Vegas CSA (1,947,068)
- Salt Lake City CSA (1,743,364)
Out of the 13 states in the West, 10 have had temperature differences higher than 169 degrees (meaning the difference between the high and low temperatures are more than 169 degrees). A further two more (AZ and WA) have differences of more than 165 degrees. Hawaii is the US state with the LEAST climate variety. What this means is that every single state in the West has extremely diverse climate zones AND large temperature swings (UNITED STATES EXTREME RECORD TEMPERATURES & RANGES)
Out of the 50 cities with the least climate variety, 49 are located in the West (with Brownsville, TX being the only city represented in the top 50) [Source: ]Weather Variety - Total Scores
Sunniest US cities (top 10; 9 are in the West, with El Paso, TX being the lone holdout [Western, but not for this thread]) 1. Yuma, Arizona 2. Las Vegas, Nevada 3. Phoenix, Arizona 4. Tucson, Arizona 5. El Paso, Texas 6. Flagstaff, Arizona 7. Fresno, California 8. Reno, Nevada 9. Sacramento, California 10. Albuquerque, N.M.
Cloudiest US cities (7/10 are in the West) 1. Astoria, Oregon 2. Quillayute, Washington 3. Olympia, Washington 4. Seattle, Washington 5. Portland, Oregon 6. Kalispell, Montana 7. Binghamton, New York 8. Beckley, West Virginia 9. Elkins, West Virginia 10. Eugene, Oregon
Most driest cities (9/10 are in the West with the last one being arguably in the West) 1. Yuma, Arizona 2. Las Vegas, Nevada 3. Bishop, California 4. Bakersfield, California 5. Phoenix, Arizona 6. Alamosa, Colorado 7. Reno, Nevada 8. Winslow, Arizona 9. El Paso, Texas 10. Winnemucca, Nevada
Wettest cities (4/10 are in the West) 1. Hilo, Hawaii 2. Quillayute, Washington 3. Astoria, Oregon 4. Blue Canyon, California 5. Mobile, Alabama 6. Tallahassee, Florida 7. Pensacola, Florida 8. New Orleans, Louisiana 9. W Palm Beach, Florida 10. Miami, Florida
Come explore the Western United States: Where there is something for everyone!
(Zones 11 and 10 are also deserts: the Columbian Plateau)
The Federal Government owns much of the land in the West, meaning that there is much open, untouched space here that is available for your enjoyment!
I'm proud to be a Westerner! What an awesome country we live in
You do have a national treasure out there. I hope that those great areas of natural beauty stay undeveloped. I love it every time I visit the Western states
"[...]it still remains relatively untouched. In most parts of the West, within 1-2 hours outside of any given metropolitan area in any direction, you will find virgin wilderness."
If you consider heavily mined and logged mountains and plains that have absolutely nothing resembling the pre-settlement short grass prairie and are dotted with cowpies, fences, and bundles of rusting barbed wire to be virgin wilderness, then yeah.
There is a lot of wilderness (most of it recovering, not 'virgin'), but to imply that the west is largely untouched is ridiculous, especially the plains areas. Only the highest, steepest slopes have escaped human activity.
I think the idea comes from the uninformed eye that assumes that an area that is not built up is somehow 'untouched'. 70% of New York State is dense forest, rivers and lakes but no westerner considers New York State to be 70% wilderness.
That said, as a New Mexican, it is a beautiful land. Except when you step on a cowpie.
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Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What an awesome country we live in 
