Why 80% of Americans Live East of This Line

Select videos courtesy of Getty Images

Select videos courtesy of the AP Archive

Special thanks to MapTiler / OpenStreetMap Contributors and GEOlayers 3

[mikeb.]

As someone who has lived in the West, it's amazing to me to think that those in the East are just a short distance away from anything, meaning walk 20 minutes in any direction and you will find civilization. In the West the distances between the urban centers can be vast with literally nothing in between for hours.

[pebcak]

When Lincoln was established as the capital of Nebraska (and renamed to Lincoln), it was considered to be the furthest point west where people would want to settle, marking the boundary of the westward great American desert. They even specified the exact location of this boundary to be the intersection of O St and 14th St. To this day it still marks a divider of the east/west population, where half of the state's population lives across a line just east of Lincoln, in the far eastern part of the state. West of Lincoln still remains the West as it did in the late 1800's.

[Out_my_cotton_picking_mind]

I drove from NYC to San Francisco. It was amazing. The amount of uninhabited land was surprising and the U.S. highway system was impressive.

[Fesor__pro__]

As a truck driver, always waiting to pass that line, so I can enjoy the ride, everything east of that line is nightmare.

[DoodleDangWang]

I'd like to hear his VAAAASST inflection on something more mundane. "I walked into Starbucks and began to wait for an ENORMOUS length of time UNPRECEDENTED in ALL of modern human history. When I gazed at the MONUMENTAL menu variety I was ASTOUNDED at the plethora of choices with a STAGGERING 40 choices. Each item weighing in at a COLLASAL 2.5% of the TOTAL menu availability."

[coryphillips]

I lived in Indiana 25 years, and left to see America 4 years ago. Driving through Nebraska, Montana, Texas, New Mexico, California, Nevada...life changing. The enormity of these open spaces makes you feel somehow more human and much less important.

[mattr]

I just got back from NYC, it was my first time ever on the east coast as a native Californian. The places I saw, people I met, and food I ate were unlike anything back home. It's an experience that showed me that the US truly has many different cultures

[ludicrousmodel]

As a Canadian, I find this video very educational. I had no idea that the central states were so sparsely populated. It doesn't surprise me, as I went to Wyoming and Montana last summer and I was amazed by how rural it was.

[austinhannemann]

I once drove from Provo UT to Austin TX and can confirm there are very few towns in between and TONS of desert, crazy that Phoenix and Las Vegas exist in this desert

[AdricBraithwaite]

Yeah, when I moved from East coast to West coast (I drove), I was shocked by how different everything felt when I got to western Nebraska. I had always been used to having an exit with a rest stop, gas station, etc every 10 miles or so. Wyoming was especially frightening because you could go 90 or 100 miles without a single exit, and then if there was one, there was no guarantee it wouldn't be a dirt road or something. I filled up the tank whenever I could.
Stunningly beautiful though! First time I ever saw true wilderness as opposed to countryside. Then the sun set to a fiery red horizon and the stars and the milky way came out. Still remember it clearly.

[iceomistar]

Having grown up in New Zealand which is a small island nation, the size of a country like the USA is mind boggling for me.

[Nedlius]

As someone who lives in a small town in the Rocky Mountains far away from any major cities, this video was super interesting to watch. Especially the part where Mount Mitchell is mentioned and how it's only 6, 684 feet tall. I say *only* 6, 684 tall, because my town is more than 2, 000 feet higher than that in elevation. The world is a pretty crazy place.

[DrPondsPizza]

I worked in a small rural town in Idaho that fulfilled orders all across the US. Someone from New York city called in one day and asked if I was close to Bosie. I told him "No I'm on the east side of Idaho and Boise is on the west side." He responded "So what like 30 minutes?" I said "try 5 hours buddy."

[LamarrWilson]

This is one of the more amazing videos I’ve watched on YouTube. It’s extremely educational and i never realized a line divided the US like this!

[rajaramjyani]

I am living in West side of India (Rajasthan) . Hot desert, wind storms, no greenery without population. I can understand those 20% people of America. Love you all my American brothers.

[GB-ezge]

I'm from Boston and have ancestors in New England going back to the mid 1620s. One of them tried to make the trek to California but couldn't find a way past the big green line going from San Antonio to Winnipeg, so he came home to Narraganset Bay, broken and dismayed. That was before the airplane was invented, which allowed people to go over the green line.

[YourLoyalDeserter]

I drove from Arkansas to California and back recently, and it’s really amazing to watch the landscape change like this. You can feel the land getting more and more parched as you go until you hit the dramatic, dry expanse of the Mohave desert where there is basically no life. As cool as the west is, coming back into the dense forests of the eastern United States was really comforting. I think we’re programmed to recognize dry places as hostile to our existence.

[jacobhauenstein]

When I turned 18 I did a roadtrip from Vermont (North East, close to Maine, New Hampshire, New York) to Los Angeles. I think everyone should make a trip like this if you live in the United States. The appreciation it will give you for this countries structure, geography, and cultures is worth so much more than I thought. However large you imagine the distance to be, I can assure you it is larger.

[utahdan]

I live in Midwest. I traveled 48 states. My favorite part is West. Love long, lonely drives, it’s safe if it comes to people. Only animals can be a problem. The time behind the wheel allows you to look into yourself. Same with Northern Canada. So gorgeous to hike, drive.

[m.k.]

I lived on the East Coast for a few years. I was surprised that 90% of people I met had nver traveled west of the Mississippi. Also, they had no idea of how vast the western states are. I remember meeting a German immigrant who lived in Houston. He told me that he drove north for 9 hours are was "still in Texas". He told me that in Europe you can pass through 4 countries in 9 hours!

Eastern states are "nice" but the western vistas are spectacular and unique locations. The vast and rugged beauty of states like Utah, Arizona, etc.are beautiful beyond description. Locations like Bryce Canyon only exist in the American West. Nowhere else in the world.