• Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      26 days ago

      Because they’re always there, haven’t you gone to the edge of your county and looked at the lines? My favorites are the ones that run right through man made stuff like streets and farms.

      • TriflingToad@lemmy.world
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        26 days ago

        this is how I thought longitude and latitude worked when I was little. The boat captains would just go over it like a bump on the road

        • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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          26 days ago

          I wish the world worked the way we thought it did as kids. It would be so much more interesting.

      • AA5B@lemmy.world
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        26 days ago

        It can be tough replacing your roof if you’re on one of the lines. They can sue you if the roofers don’t get it right

    • halferect@lemmy.world
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      26 days ago

      I messed around with listening and decoding NOAA satellites at home and depending on the satellite they decode with the states outlined like this. It’s a fun hobby that uses one of those digital antennas,some copper wire and some open source programs.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
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      26 days ago

      In terms of the visual beauty of it, I agree. But the grid does help people familiar with the U.S. orient themselves.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
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          26 days ago

          Believe it or not, you can’t tell whether you’re in Kentucky or Tennessee by looking at those big-ass lakes, what with them being nowhere near them.

          I don’t think you have a real picture of the enormous size of the U.S.

          • MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml
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            26 days ago

            I mean, US is roughly a trapezoid, lakes on top, mountain range left and right side… Anyway, it hinders the purpose of seeing the fall colours.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
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              26 days ago

              “Roughly a trapezoid” that averages 1650 miles/2660 km across from north to south.

              Edit: I just looked it up, the northernmost point is Angle Inlet, MN. The southernmost point is Key West, FL. Both are on the map. If you drove nonstop from one to the other, it would take you 36 hours.

    • QuarterSwede@lemmy.world
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      27 days ago

      Same in Colorado where we usually only get Green and Yellow (aspens). This year red is vibrant. I miss that having grown up in Virginia with its gorgeous fall colors.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
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      27 days ago

      They’re always beautiful here in Indiana, but they sure seem more vibrant this year.

      I just hope that’s not some sign of something bad. It seems like every time something seems good like this it’s because of climate change or something.

  • j4k3@lemmy.world
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    27 days ago

    How many of y’all are tracking counties lived in?

    I got 2 on my bingo card, but current is not pictured.

  • SecretSauces@lemmy.world
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    26 days ago

    It’s interesting to me how you can tell red states from blue states based on how their counties are divided. Up north is nice, squared, organized. But once you get into Arkansas, Tennessee, West Virginia, the county lines drastically change to a chaotic, gerrymandered mess.

    • tonyn@lemmy.ml
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      26 days ago

      It’s not the politics, its. the geography. The counties that seem chaotic make perfect sense on the ground where the lines follow natural features in the land such as rivers and mountains.

      • tehmics@lemmy.world
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        26 days ago

        Yeah you can even follow the lines along the Appalachian, the very subject of this post. The blue north east is also very chaotic. The square boxes are mostly the midwest with very featureless flat geography, and those sparse country states tend to trend red.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
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      26 days ago

      I’m afraid it’s not that simple. I’m up north in Indiana. It’s very much a red state. South of us is Kentucky, which is mostly red, but it’s governor is a Democrat. East of us is Ohio, which is sort of a mix, but Republicans mostly control it. West of us is Illinois, which is really only a blue state because of Chicago. Most of the rest of it is red. Finally, north of us is Michigan, which is a blue state but also full of crazy right-wing militias, a group of whom got caught with a plot to kidnap the governor. Not sure if they have been convicted yet.

      • SecretSauces@lemmy.world
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        26 days ago

        Hmm… Then maybe I’m full of shit.

        I wonder why there’s such a drastic change between those states then. And it seems like there’s a clear line where it falls apart, so I chalked it up to party influence.

        • AA5B@lemmy.world
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          26 days ago

          It’s like the Midwest where the land is flat and everything was planned out on a map ahead of time, is laid out in a grid.

          However anywhere with mountains, meandering rivers, earlier settlement before map planning, is laid out by settlement patterns strongly influenced by natural features

    • ViperActual@sh.itjust.works
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      26 days ago

      I’m surprised no one has brought it up so far. This is from way back when the US was still expanding east to west. Land Ordinance of 1785

      It was literally just a means of dividing up the land to make it easier to manage. This is why much of the plains states follow such rectangular county/state lines between water geography.

      Edit: States that had their counties/borders established before this act will have more organic geography following boundaries. Counties/States settled after 1785 will display this grid-like pattern.