Turns out you can learn a lot about a state by ignoring everything in it except the roads.
Information design firm Fathom stripped all names, rivers, lakes, mountains, cities, subways, and everything not-an-avenue-for-vehicular-transport from maps of the 50 states. The result is a staggering and surprisingly attractive testament to the extent to which we have reshaped the American landscape, and the places where it has shaped us.
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Grist HQ’s own Evergreen State shows a bizarre patchwork: A dense wedge of roads marks out Seattle and its neighboring cities along the I-5 corridor, while vast blots mark where national parks and forests have managed to keep us at bay.
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Talk about reversing cause and effect…
Populations density (and roads) are on the accessible coast and rivers – due to geography.
The big blank wedge is probably a mountain range – due to geography.