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Why does Lexington have a population density of only 953/sq mi? A lot of smaller, similar sized, or even more spread out cities have higher population density... Urbana-Champaign, IL, Sioux Falls, SD, Birmingham, AL, Mesa, AZ
I've lived here and traveled a lot... Other people don't seem twice as crammed as we are...
Because Lexington, like other cities in the south & midwest, have decided they want a lot of land that they dont need with giant yards that have expensive upkeep & a 2 car garage prominently displayed on the front of their cookie cutter home in the suburbs that say "Hey everyone. Look at me. I have TWO cars!"
That logic is the reason why sprawl is so outta control in cities, its a big reason why we dont walk anymore, its a big reason why our public transportation system sucks compared to other countries, its a big reason why so many Americans are overweight, its a big reason why no one knows their neighbors & arent as social, its a big reason why our roads stay gridlocked, etc. I could go on & on.
It effects people in more ways than they may realize.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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That number includes all the land area of Fayette County since Lex has a merged county/ city government. The density inside the urban growth boundary is much higher. An urban growth boundary and gov's of cities that include large amounts of surrounding land is something very common in Europe, Asia, and Canada but rare in the USA. Chongqing China has nearly as many sq miles in its city limits as all of Kentucky (31,000 sq miles)!!
Last edited by censusdata; 02-09-2010 at 02:16 PM..
Why does Lexington have a population density of only 953/sq mi? A lot of smaller, similar sized, or even more spread out cities have higher population density... Urbana-Champaign, IL, Sioux Falls, SD, Birmingham, AL, Mesa, AZ
I've lived here and traveled a lot... Other people don't seem twice as crammed as we are...
Because all of Fayette County is considered "Lexington." As Censusdata explained.
I can't argue with that...my wife and I cannot wait to move because of the unbelievable snobbery here.
I have thought about why this place is so snooty and may have an answer. Most people don't think very highly of KY, but there are a lot of students who come from other parts of the country to attend UK. I also believe that there are quite a few graduates who for some reason decide to stay. The college graduate rate in KY alone is something like 30% so these people who graduate truly believe they are above the rest of the KY 'rednecks' Also, Lexington and Louisville receive the majority of the state funding because of their universities, while areas like Hazard are absolutely dirt poor. This provides for the snooty attitude that so many residents refer to when discussing Lexington. Also, the fact that KY is traditionally a fairly poor region and the select few in Lexington/Louisville have multi-million dollars horse farms, doesn't help. Just my 2 cents.
I can't argue with that...my wife and I cannot wait to move because of the unbelievable snobbery here.
I have thought about why this place is so snooty and may have an answer. Most people don't think very highly of KY, but there are a lot of students who come from other parts of the country to attend UK. I also believe that there are quite a few graduates who for some reason decide to stay. The college graduate rate in KY alone is something like 30% so these people who graduate truly believe they are above the rest of the KY 'rednecks' Also, Lexington and Louisville receive the majority of the state funding because of their universities, while areas like Hazard are absolutely dirt poor. This provides for the snooty attitude that so many residents refer to when discussing Lexington. Also, the fact that KY is traditionally a fairly poor region and the select few in Lexington/Louisville have multi-million dollars horse farms, doesn't help. Just my 2 cents.
I can certainly understand that seeing how horribly backward and ignorant Eastern Kentucky is. Look at how they support coal and cigarettes.
I can't argue with that...my wife and I cannot wait to move because of the unbelievable snobbery here.
I have thought about why this place is so snooty and may have an answer. Most people don't think very highly of KY, but there are a lot of students who come from other parts of the country to attend UK. I also believe that there are quite a few graduates who for some reason decide to stay. The college graduate rate in KY alone is something like 30% so these people who graduate truly believe they are above the rest of the KY 'rednecks' Also, Lexington and Louisville receive the majority of the state funding because of their universities, while areas like Hazard are absolutely dirt poor. This provides for the snooty attitude that so many residents refer to when discussing Lexington. Also, the fact that KY is traditionally a fairly poor region and the select few in Lexington/Louisville have multi-million dollars horse farms, doesn't help. Just my 2 cents.
Wrong. Lexington, and especially, Louisville export way more money to rural areas than they receive back. As I last recall, for ever dollar in taxes that a Louisvillian pays, the state only gives back 60 cents to the city!!
If Lexington just included the urbanized areas of the county the population density would be a little over 2000 people per sq mile. I did a little math using the 9 zip codes roughly bounded by New Circle to the north, and Man O War to the South. Those zip codes are: 40502, 40503, 40505, 40507, 40508, 40509, 30513, 40514, 40517. The total population in 2008 was 196517 according to citydata.com with a total area of 97.4 sq miles. The average density over these zip codes was 2018. The most dense zip code was 40517 with 6094 people/sq mile and the least dense was 40509 with 481 people/sq mile.
That compares to (Leaving out Nashville, Indy, and Louisville b/c of combined city/county):
Memphis: 2327
Huntsville: 963
Chattanooga: 1264
Knoxville: 1876
Evansville: 2987
Dayton: 2852
Akron: 3497
Cincinnati: 4273
Boston: 12,813
Baltimore: 7889
Toledo: 3767
Cleveland: 6166
Last edited by Hey_Hey; 02-23-2010 at 11:38 PM..
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