Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote:
> Does the right half of the US consist of mostly urban areas and the left
> half mostly of rural areas? If yes, then how did this situation form,
> historically speaking?

The European settlers and African slaves (whose combined descendants make up the
bulk of Americans) arrived on the east coast.  Expansion proceeded westward from
there.

Mountains and deserts are a big part of it, of course.  But there is a large
low-density stretch (from northwestern Texas through the Dakotas) that is
neither desert nor mountainous, so it must be that the eastern population just
hasn't expanded that far.

The west and the south are growing fast, however.  California is the most
populous state.  Texas overtook New York as the second most populous state
during the 1990s.  And Florida (on the east coast, but not one of the original
colonies) is poised to drop New York into 4th place within a few years.  Must be
the climate.  (But New York City alone still has more people than your entire
country.  Must be the climate.)

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