Is it A/C that starts pulling the line south or was it the population explosion in Southern California during the baby boom era post WW2? Or perhaps those two are somewhat intertwined?
As well as the entirety of the LA metro area that’s more than a mile from the coast. Otherwise, it would be similar to west Texas. Tons of oil, nobody willing to live there longer than absolutely necessary.
LA is way more livable including the valleys than any part of Texas. Today many folks have AC but it wasn’t always necessary and it wasn’t decisive like the south and Texas. Water and cars are a larger factor in the growth of inland Los Angeles.
Nobody was moving south until AC and the shitloads of money the federal government spent moving the South away from being an agrarian backwater with a serious hookworm problem
It's also already pretty close to Texas, so not being pulled as dramatically anymore. Florida's growth is probably also starting to pull things east a bit.
It’s going to be interesting to see what happens now with even more extreme heat. As someone who works outside it’s not fun to have employers expect the same productivity now that every summer is almost record heat nearly every day.
I don't even labor outside, but after 30+ years of suffering in the heat and humidity (including a few cases of heatstroke) I moved WAY up north where we already had over a foot of snow before Thanksgiving.
The trade of "mowing your grass weekly in 90+ degree heat and oppressive humidity all summer" for "bundling up and walking behind a machine that yeets snow 50+ feet" -- totally worth it.
In the 1890’s it was at a little spot that today is just inside the security fence near the “park at watch” spot at CVG airport (Cincinnati Northern Kentucky).
And power grids. Texas already can’t sustain its sudden population growth with frequent blackouts in the winter and summer. Not going to get easier when they start building data centers out there to siphon off the power needed for those things.
That's a negligible distance, though, the west coast accounts for much more of the change over multiple decades than Alaska and Hawaii did as a one-time thing due to their distance.
If you look at what's happening in the desert this isn't so surprising. I was out in Utah visiting family for thanksgiving a few years ago and they lived in a neighborhood that was currently under construction in the middle of the desert. You look in one direction and it's endless suburban houses but if you turn around it's desert for miles. I imagine this isn't a singular instance and that there's more housing developments out in the desert like this where the land is extremely cheap. Kind of sad if you ask me.
Fun Fact: This is why FedEx chose Memphis, Tennessee to be their hub of operations. It's very close to the average population center of the US. St. Louis is a bit closer, but they also get a lot more snow than Memphis which would have caused occasional seasonal delays.
I wonder if the very slight northern bump (on the full map) in 1870 reflected the southern population killed due to war. It went back to straight west in 1880.
It’s been 5 years since then. Given that the vacant lot next to my house is still vacant because it’s so overpriced we can’t buy it, I’d say that the future is here, sir.
It’s really dramatic when you look at the entire scope since the 18th century. Basically due west until air conditioning starts pitching it south in the 50s.
Is it A/C that starts pulling the line south or was it the population explosion in Southern California during the baby boom era post WW2? Or perhaps those two are somewhat intertwined?
Both.
A/C is definitely the reason for Las Vegas and Phoenix too
And Florida
As well as the entirety of the LA metro area that’s more than a mile from the coast. Otherwise, it would be similar to west Texas. Tons of oil, nobody willing to live there longer than absolutely necessary.
LA is way more livable including the valleys than any part of Texas. Today many folks have AC but it wasn’t always necessary and it wasn’t decisive like the south and Texas. Water and cars are a larger factor in the growth of inland Los Angeles.
AC, Hoover Dam, and especially for Vegas
the mafiamaking a gambling destination close enough to LA.Nobody was moving south until AC and the shitloads of money the federal government spent moving the South away from being an agrarian backwater with a serious hookworm problem
Wow, so it moved 12 miles from 2010 to 2020. That's the smallest movement ever!
The next smallest was 13 miles from 1910 to 1920, exactly 100 years earlier!
Northern depopulation has somewhat reversed.
It's also already pretty close to Texas, so not being pulled as dramatically anymore. Florida's growth is probably also starting to pull things east a bit.
Indiana = America becomes a great power.
Illinois = Golden years, global superpower.
Missouri = Terminal decline.
Oklahoma = hold my beer
It’s going to be interesting to see what happens now with even more extreme heat. As someone who works outside it’s not fun to have employers expect the same productivity now that every summer is almost record heat nearly every day.
I don't even labor outside, but after 30+ years of suffering in the heat and humidity (including a few cases of heatstroke) I moved WAY up north where we already had over a foot of snow before Thanksgiving.
The trade of "mowing your grass weekly in 90+ degree heat and oppressive humidity all summer" for "bundling up and walking behind a machine that yeets snow 50+ feet" -- totally worth it.
Westward push for a long time then the southward drift kicks in once growth patterns change
In the 1890’s it was at a little spot that today is just inside the security fence near the “park at watch” spot at CVG airport (Cincinnati Northern Kentucky).
This is excellent information to know that will never come up in a conversation in my life.
You get a lot of say in what conversations come up in your life though...
It's been slowly drdririftiing soututh for dececades.
You want to try that again?
just like your fingers
Okay so I’m slightly confused. Are there more people on the east or west side of the country in 1950 vs 2020?
There are still more people in the East, but the growing proportion in the West and South every decade are pulling the dot West and South
Ah thank you! I thought that’s what it meant but I wasn’t sure
Seems like it is slowing down and may take a different direction in coming decades
If the population center ends up in Branson, MO I will be deeply disappointed.
That’s when the country reaches a singularity.
North.
Once parts of the South and Southwest see 30+ days of 115* plus temperatures in the next decades.
It’s a lot harder to survive in areas that are 120* as compared to places that are -20*.
Not to mention the water issue.
And power grids. Texas already can’t sustain its sudden population growth with frequent blackouts in the winter and summer. Not going to get easier when they start building data centers out there to siphon off the power needed for those things.
Yeah, no kidding. My area (MO) has rolling blackouts when TX can’t handle their own needs.
Arizona and Texas have already been experiencing extreme weather events for several years and it hasn't slowed down their growth at all yet.
Does this include Alaska and Hawaii?
I would be curious if it also includes people in territories
Alaska and Hawaii are nothing, negligible impact. Together they make up 1/160th of the US
They are both really far west though. It's definitely noticeable on this vectorization.
It was equivalent to about a fifth of the total distance the center moved between 1950 and 1960, per Wikipedia.
That's a negligible distance, though, the west coast accounts for much more of the change over multiple decades than Alaska and Hawaii did as a one-time thing due to their distance.
It’s basically following Rt66
Im surprised its still going west. A whole lot of desert out there, and I feel like the coast has been full for a few decades now
If you look at what's happening in the desert this isn't so surprising. I was out in Utah visiting family for thanksgiving a few years ago and they lived in a neighborhood that was currently under construction in the middle of the desert. You look in one direction and it's endless suburban houses but if you turn around it's desert for miles. I imagine this isn't a singular instance and that there's more housing developments out in the desert like this where the land is extremely cheap. Kind of sad if you ask me.
The Colorado’s about to run dry. I mean, it has been for decades, but the water IS going to run out and then people will be fleeing. Back to Missouri.
Sounds like paradise to me. I love the desert and I love cookie cutter suburbia.
these housing developments are destroying the local ecosystem and attempting to replace it with their own. you won't have the desert for very long
Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the country now, and growing.
Fun Fact: This is why FedEx chose Memphis, Tennessee to be their hub of operations. It's very close to the average population center of the US. St. Louis is a bit closer, but they also get a lot more snow than Memphis which would have caused occasional seasonal delays.
I knew I moved to the middle of nowhere when I moved to Springfield, MO.
Everyone knows Branson, MO is the cultural center of the United States. Almost there!
I wonder if the very slight northern bump (on the full map) in 1870 reflected the southern population killed due to war. It went back to straight west in 1880.
Stop at the zoo while you're in Springfield!
I wonder when will be the first census that the center does not move west.
It’s been 5 years since then. Given that the vacant lot next to my house is still vacant because it’s so overpriced we can’t buy it, I’d say that the future is here, sir.
One of those utterly useless facts that I live for.
Interesting. Used to live in Springfield, it’s not a bad little city.
This also means that the center of the Population US will be Bass Pro Shops. (Springfield MO is their home and main HQ)
Springfield? Uh- is Matt Groening some sort of prophet?
What does this mean? How is a major population center in BFE Missouri?
Major? No. It’s a data point, not an actual population center.