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Germany has a good railway system that connects many (most? all?) small villages with nearby towns with nearby cities. More importantly, its rural population de

Germany has a good railway system that connects many (most? all?) small villages with nearby towns with nearby cities. More importantly, its rural population density is an order of magnitude greater than the US, at 237/km^2 vs 35/km^2 (source: https://tradingeconomics.com/germany/rural-population-percent-of-total-population-wb-data.html https://tradingeconomics.com/germany/rural-population-percen..., https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/rural-population-percent-of-total-population-wb-data.html https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/rural-population-...). The biggest misconception that I’ve found my friends from other developed countries have about the US is that we are comparable to other developed countries; we aren’t; we’re more comparable to a continent, and more of a second-world country than a first-world one. Moreover, the US system of government was designed to tilt the scales a bit in favor of rural areas than cities (that was maybe a fair trade-off a couple centuries ago). Combine that structural power dynamic with decades of rural depopulation as smart kids from small towns pursue opportunity in cities (I’m one) and it goes a long way towards explaining why we seem so crazy with our elected officials.

LeanderK 8y ago
I agree that the population density is a big factor, i wanted to express that with "not-too-small-towns". I don't see how tech-jobs can move into the completely rural areas. But there are still areas left above the critical population mass.
adrianN 8y ago
IMHO average population density is an almost meaningless number, because population density is not even close to a distribution where the mean is informative. I'm not sure whether it's the case in the US, but it's perfectly possible to have a tiny average population density and yet areas where small and medium towns are not too far apart from each other. You don't have to have rail service connection a tiny town in Arkansas to New York, it's sufficient if there is a train to the next city with its own cinema.
- 80386 8y ago
  National population density in the US is misleading. Population density drops off sharply between the Rockies and somewhere around Iowa. East Coast states that we think of as mostly rural, like Virginia and Pennsylvania, have population densities that are squarely within the European range: 110 people/sq km in Pennyslvania vs. 106 in Hungary; 81 in Virginia vs. 82 in Romania. On the other hand, Utah (14) is less dense than Saudi Arabia (16) - both places are mostly desert. Arkansas has a population density of 22 people/sq km, close to Sweden - but Arkansas is probably much less urbanized.

LeanderK 8y ago

I agree that the population density is a big factor, i wanted to express that with "not-too-small-towns". I don't see how tech-jobs can move into the completely rural areas. But there are still areas left above the critical population mass.

adrianN 8y ago

IMHO average population density is an almost meaningless number, because population density is not even close to a distribution where the mean is informative. I'm not sure whether it's the case in the US, but it's perfectly possible to have a tiny average population density and yet areas where small and medium towns are not too far apart from each other. You don't have to have rail service connection a tiny town in Arkansas to New York, it's sufficient if there is a train to the next city with its own cinema.

80386 8y ago
National population density in the US is misleading. Population density drops off sharply between the Rockies and somewhere around Iowa. East Coast states that we think of as mostly rural, like Virginia and Pennsylvania, have population densities that are squarely within the European range: 110 people/sq km in Pennyslvania vs. 106 in Hungary; 81 in Virginia vs. 82 in Romania. On the other hand, Utah (14) is less dense than Saudi Arabia (16) - both places are mostly desert. Arkansas has a population density of 22 people/sq km, close to Sweden - but Arkansas is probably much less urbanized.