5 ms·

In the US it gets a little crazy: Land is separated out into square plots in quite a few places, especially the later-colonized west, think 'chessboard'. Compan

In the US it gets a little crazy: Land is separated out into square plots in quite a few places, especially the later-colonized west, think 'chessboard'. Companies buy all the white squares, leaving the black squares as public land. Which is now entirely inaccessible from anywhere except their private land. Lots of shady duderanch companies do this. There's an interesting legal dispute: Is crossing diagonally from one 'black square' to the next 'black square' tresspass? Technically unless you are infinitely tiny, your bulk does theoretically pass over white square.

walthamstow 4y ago
Something has always fascinated me about New World borders of different kinds being so square. Iowa is divided so neatly into 99 square counties (apart from the 99th, a rectangle with a funny story), Wyoming itself is literally a four-sided shape the size of Britain. This kind of thing is so mind-blowing to a European.
- 082349872349872 4y ago
  Yet somehow, despite the general tendency to squareness in political boundaries, electoral boundaries wind up with bizarre shapes...
  - paraselene_ 4y ago
    On that note, what's the squarest country in the world?
    - Fissionary 4y ago
      Egypt probably looks the closest to one. Switzerland gets a honorary mention - the country might not be, but the people are total squares.
      - another2another 4y ago
        Thats' a bit unfair. And back on topic, Switzerland's Wanderweg paths are numerous, very well signposted with bright yellow signs, and excellently maintained as well as clearly described in numerous guidebooks. Walking the countryside in Switzerland is a joy.
        082349872349872 4y ago
        cf https://map.schweizmobil.ch/?lang=en&layers=Wanderland%2CVeloland%2CMountainbikeland&season=summer&resolution=250&E=2658800&N=1190500&photos=yes&logo=yes&detours=yes&bgLayer=pk https://map.schweizmobil.ch/?lang=en&layers=Wanderland%2CVel... also https://www.schweizmobil.ch/en/hiking-in-switzerland/more-wl/hiking-trail-network-and-signalization.html https://www.schweizmobil.ch/en/hiking-in-switzerland/more-wl...
        jmkb 4y ago
        And Switzerland features the most drop-dead-gorgeous hiking maps of any land I've visited. It feels like each mountain was hand-drawn and shaded by someone who knows and loves it, and you can often ID them from the ground based on the pictures. But the artistic details are still subtle enough not to interfere with the roads, trails, POIs, and text.
        georgeoliver 4y ago
        > It feels like each mountain was hand-drawn They might be! https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/15/arts/alps-map-glacier-rock.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/15/arts/alps-map-glacier-roc...
    - elihu 4y ago
      I think Sudan, Egypt, and Libya would be contenders. I suppose there's probably a general principle at work that if your country's borders were decided not by geographical or cultural boundaries but rather by an occupying bureaucracy, then there's a high probability of squareness. Or if your territory is made up partially of land the ownership of which isn't a pressing concern for anyone because it doesn't support a population and has few resources. The western part of the boundary between U.S. and Canada is unusually straight, but I suppose that was an expedient agreement at a time when neither side wanted to go to war over it. Not that relations were totally peaceful or friendly.
    - FranchuFranchu 4y ago
      The mystery of the squarest country: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mrNEVUuZdk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mrNEVUuZdk
- walrus01 4y ago
  I think Europeans may not really get how big some of these places are until they experience it first hand - it can easily take 9 hours at freeway speed to drive from one corner of WA state to the other (Blaine to Walla Walla), and that's if you stick to the freeways and highest possible speed highways, keep cruise control on at 115-120 km/h wherever possible, and take an absolute bare minimum of stops for gas and restrooms only. On the other hand just the province of British Columbia is the size of a good chunk of all of western Europe added together, in square km, and can take a very long time to get from Vancouver to somewhere in the far north (or a far off coastal location by combination of roads and ferries), due to its many mountain ranges and thousands of km of coastline.
  - Gordonjcp 4y ago
    > I think Europeans may not really get how big some of these places are until they experience it first hand Conversely, I think most Americans don't get how big the UK is, or how much longer it will take to get around than you think. Look at a map of Scotland. If you start at Glasgow on the west coast about a third of the way up, and drive to Scrabster, the northern end of the A9, that will take you at least 9 hours too.
    - baggsie 4y ago
      And how dense England is - I'm from Leicester and one hours drive (give or take) I can reach Nottingham, Derby, Coventry, Birmingham, Sheffield, Northampton, Lincoln. Two and a half hours drive and it's London, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, Cambridge, Oxford....
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
    - alistairSH 4y ago
      And if you’re a tourist, add even more time because you’ll stop every 20 miles for a stunning view, castle, or picturesque village. ;) Driving time in Scotland is largely due to road size/design, not absolute distance. Once you get north of the Glasgow/Sterling/Edinburgh zone, you have a few “major” dual carriage ways and a lot of smaller roads. And the Highlands and Hebrides have single track, so if you’re going to a small coastal village or similar, you might be stopping every few miles to let somebody by in the other direction.
walrus01 4y ago
The US western state concept of township, range and section for land survey and land title ownership is interesting. Dry land wheat farmers in some parts of WA own entire "sections". You can see them from space east of Wenatchee. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_(United_States_land_surveying) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_(United_States_land_su...
- 082349872349872 4y ago
  I can't think of any examples where they'd show up in aerial photos, but the traces of original Spanish land grants in California are still clearly in the land registry, some still undivided.
- Per_Bothner 4y ago
  A section isn't large for a farming operation. It's only a square mile or 640 acres. Drive through the Central Valley of California and you'll pass through many much larger parcels. My husband and I own a section not far from Yosemite (as the crow flies). It's pretty rugged and remote - basically wilderness with a house and some cattle.
Glawen 4y ago
When a property is landlocked like this, you should have a right of way through other people land, isn't it the case?
- walrus01 4y ago
  Google "easement by necessity real estate law"
  - Glawen 4y ago
    Ok it is created by court :/ no way I would have found the us legal term without you. In France it is automatically created, and it lowers value of your land.
    - dsfyu404ed 4y ago
      State laws vary but in many cases the creation of a landlocked parcel implies the right of an easement.
implements 4y ago
There’s a (I think “Tom Scott”) video about how these squares are accessed at the touching corners using (believe it or not) the conceit of crossing through the air using a step-ladder.

walthamstow 4y ago

Something has always fascinated me about New World borders of different kinds being so square. Iowa is divided so neatly into 99 square counties (apart from the 99th, a rectangle with a funny story), Wyoming itself is literally a four-sided shape the size of Britain. This kind of thing is so mind-blowing to a European.

082349872349872 4y ago
Yet somehow, despite the general tendency to squareness in political boundaries, electoral boundaries wind up with bizarre shapes...
- paraselene_ 4y ago
  On that note, what's the squarest country in the world?
  - Fissionary 4y ago
    Egypt probably looks the closest to one. Switzerland gets a honorary mention - the country might not be, but the people are total squares.
    - another2another 4y ago
      Thats' a bit unfair. And back on topic, Switzerland's Wanderweg paths are numerous, very well signposted with bright yellow signs, and excellently maintained as well as clearly described in numerous guidebooks. Walking the countryside in Switzerland is a joy.
      - 082349872349872 4y ago
        cf https://map.schweizmobil.ch/?lang=en&layers=Wanderland%2CVeloland%2CMountainbikeland&season=summer&resolution=250&E=2658800&N=1190500&photos=yes&logo=yes&detours=yes&bgLayer=pk https://map.schweizmobil.ch/?lang=en&layers=Wanderland%2CVel... also https://www.schweizmobil.ch/en/hiking-in-switzerland/more-wl/hiking-trail-network-and-signalization.html https://www.schweizmobil.ch/en/hiking-in-switzerland/more-wl...
      - jmkb 4y ago
        And Switzerland features the most drop-dead-gorgeous hiking maps of any land I've visited. It feels like each mountain was hand-drawn and shaded by someone who knows and loves it, and you can often ID them from the ground based on the pictures. But the artistic details are still subtle enough not to interfere with the roads, trails, POIs, and text.
        georgeoliver 4y ago
        > It feels like each mountain was hand-drawn They might be! https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/15/arts/alps-map-glacier-rock.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/15/arts/alps-map-glacier-roc...
  - elihu 4y ago
    I think Sudan, Egypt, and Libya would be contenders. I suppose there's probably a general principle at work that if your country's borders were decided not by geographical or cultural boundaries but rather by an occupying bureaucracy, then there's a high probability of squareness. Or if your territory is made up partially of land the ownership of which isn't a pressing concern for anyone because it doesn't support a population and has few resources. The western part of the boundary between U.S. and Canada is unusually straight, but I suppose that was an expedient agreement at a time when neither side wanted to go to war over it. Not that relations were totally peaceful or friendly.
  - FranchuFranchu 4y ago
    The mystery of the squarest country: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mrNEVUuZdk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mrNEVUuZdk
walrus01 4y ago
I think Europeans may not really get how big some of these places are until they experience it first hand - it can easily take 9 hours at freeway speed to drive from one corner of WA state to the other (Blaine to Walla Walla), and that's if you stick to the freeways and highest possible speed highways, keep cruise control on at 115-120 km/h wherever possible, and take an absolute bare minimum of stops for gas and restrooms only. On the other hand just the province of British Columbia is the size of a good chunk of all of western Europe added together, in square km, and can take a very long time to get from Vancouver to somewhere in the far north (or a far off coastal location by combination of roads and ferries), due to its many mountain ranges and thousands of km of coastline.
- Gordonjcp 4y ago
  > I think Europeans may not really get how big some of these places are until they experience it first hand Conversely, I think most Americans don't get how big the UK is, or how much longer it will take to get around than you think. Look at a map of Scotland. If you start at Glasgow on the west coast about a third of the way up, and drive to Scrabster, the northern end of the A9, that will take you at least 9 hours too.
  - baggsie 4y ago
    And how dense England is - I'm from Leicester and one hours drive (give or take) I can reach Nottingham, Derby, Coventry, Birmingham, Sheffield, Northampton, Lincoln. Two and a half hours drive and it's London, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, Cambridge, Oxford....
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
  - alistairSH 4y ago
    And if you’re a tourist, add even more time because you’ll stop every 20 miles for a stunning view, castle, or picturesque village. ;) Driving time in Scotland is largely due to road size/design, not absolute distance. Once you get north of the Glasgow/Sterling/Edinburgh zone, you have a few “major” dual carriage ways and a lot of smaller roads. And the Highlands and Hebrides have single track, so if you’re going to a small coastal village or similar, you might be stopping every few miles to let somebody by in the other direction.

walrus01 4y ago

The US western state concept of township, range and section for land survey and land title ownership is interesting. Dry land wheat farmers in some parts of WA own entire "sections". You can see them from space east of Wenatchee. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_(United_States_land_surveying) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_(United_States_land_su...

082349872349872 4y ago
I can't think of any examples where they'd show up in aerial photos, but the traces of original Spanish land grants in California are still clearly in the land registry, some still undivided.
Per_Bothner 4y ago
A section isn't large for a farming operation. It's only a square mile or 640 acres. Drive through the Central Valley of California and you'll pass through many much larger parcels. My husband and I own a section not far from Yosemite (as the crow flies). It's pretty rugged and remote - basically wilderness with a house and some cattle.

Glawen 4y ago

When a property is landlocked like this, you should have a right of way through other people land, isn't it the case?

walrus01 4y ago
Google "easement by necessity real estate law"
- Glawen 4y ago
  Ok it is created by court :/ no way I would have found the us legal term without you. In France it is automatically created, and it lowers value of your land.
  - dsfyu404ed 4y ago
    State laws vary but in many cases the creation of a landlocked parcel implies the right of an easement.

implements 4y ago

There’s a (I think “Tom Scott”) video about how these squares are accessed at the touching corners using (believe it or not) the conceit of crossing through the air using a step-ladder.