4 ms·

Yes. It's a small country. France is a small country too.

stcredzero 17y ago
Hmm, out of all the countries in the world, how many are "non-small?" - US - Brazil - China - Canada - Australia - India - Russia But that's a pretty dumb way to look at things. Population density and frequency of travel to population centers is a much better way. If California is like a "Small Country" then by your logic, European style rail should work just fine there. The same goes even more for many eastern states. They have higher population densities and much smaller land areas.
- erlanger 17y ago
  No, land mass means a lot. A dense population is well-suited for mass transpo as the primary option. A relatively sparse country cannot pull this off. Pull out your globe...here are other actual, large countries: * Ukraine * Congo (DRC) * Argentina * Mexico * Chile * Turkey * Iran * Colombia As you can see, in addition to those you listed, there many. Korea's freaking tiny. It's not an insult, it's a geographical fact. Also, by their very nature, there can only be so many large countries, so I don't know what you were getting at in the first place.
  - stcredzero 17y ago
    Poor reading comprehension. The significant part is at the end. As for my straw man, thanks for completing the list. Seems the majority of countries out there are "tiny."
    - erlanger 17y ago
      Well, yes. there's only so much land to go around, and the majority is taken up by these countries (left out desert countries like Sudan, Algeria, etc. because they have little risk of over-expansion). North America is only three countries but is the third-largest and the fourth most populous continent. Three countries alone make up nearly all of Asia, the largest and by far the most populous.
      - stcredzero 17y ago
        So? This is the second notice: that the most salient part of my post, is that it's more relevant to consider relative distances and population densities. The US taken as a whole seems forbidding to rail. Specific regions of the US can appear quite hospitable. Gerrymandering left as an exercise and opportunity to display academic integrity.

Hmm, out of all the countries in the world, how many are "non-small?" - US - Brazil - China - Canada - Australia - India - Russia But that's a pretty dumb way to look at things. Population density and frequency of travel to population centers is a much better way. If California is like a "Small Country" then by your logic, European style rail should work just fine there. The same goes even more for many eastern states. They have higher population densities and much smaller land areas.

erlanger 17y ago
No, land mass means a lot. A dense population is well-suited for mass transpo as the primary option. A relatively sparse country cannot pull this off. Pull out your globe...here are other actual, large countries: * Ukraine * Congo (DRC) * Argentina * Mexico * Chile * Turkey * Iran * Colombia As you can see, in addition to those you listed, there many. Korea's freaking tiny. It's not an insult, it's a geographical fact. Also, by their very nature, there can only be so many large countries, so I don't know what you were getting at in the first place.
- stcredzero 17y ago
  Poor reading comprehension. The significant part is at the end. As for my straw man, thanks for completing the list. Seems the majority of countries out there are "tiny."
  - erlanger 17y ago
    Well, yes. there's only so much land to go around, and the majority is taken up by these countries (left out desert countries like Sudan, Algeria, etc. because they have little risk of over-expansion). North America is only three countries but is the third-largest and the fourth most populous continent. Three countries alone make up nearly all of Asia, the largest and by far the most populous.
    - stcredzero 17y ago
      So? This is the second notice: that the most salient part of my post, is that it's more relevant to consider relative distances and population densities. The US taken as a whole seems forbidding to rail. Specific regions of the US can appear quite hospitable. Gerrymandering left as an exercise and opportunity to display academic integrity.