Vibrant night view of Downtown Honolulu courtesy of planetware.com
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Chapter 18 - Hawaii
Hawaii is a tiny island state but looks no different than Downtown Seattle. It is amazing how much growth occurred since the annexation of the state in 1959.
Vibrant night view of Downtown Honolulu courtesy of planetware.com
Vibrant night view of Downtown Honolulu courtesy of planetware.com
Chapter 16 – The North Pacific Coast
We’ve talked so much of Seattle, which is in the North Pacific Coast, that maybe we should summarize what we have learned of this magnificent area. First, the physical geography of the Pacific Northwest is defined by rugged terrain and a wet climate with moderate seasonal temperatures. And of course since the region is basically the last destination in the U.S., it was explored and settled by Europeans and Americans later than other areas of North America.
The region doesn’t have many large cities, the largest are Vancouver, Portland and yup, you guessed it, Seattle. Seattle’s economy is dominated by healthcare and the biotechnology sectors. But who can forget COFFEE! Two large commercial firms dominate the region as well: Boeing and Microsoft.[1]
Spectacular view of Downtown Seattle courtesy of blogs.msdn.com
[1] Stephen S. Birdsall, Eugene J. Palka, Jon C. Malinowski, and Margo L. Price, Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada 7th Edition (Wiley, 2008), 322.
Chapter 15 – California
Both California and Washington share common misconceptions with the rest of the nation. Especially the state’s largest cities, Los Angeles and Seattle have their image misconstrued. Poor Seattle gets blamed for being to rainy, while Los Angeles gets all the glory of having the perfect weather and warm sandy beaches, well the sandy part is right, but the warm part? Not so much. As I have mentioned before, Seattle doesn’t get as much rain as other cities in the South and East Coasts.
Alas! I have found the culprit for these misconceptions, Hollywood! Who can forget Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle?
Chapter 14 – The Southwest Border Area: Tricultural Development
In the 1990s, the population of the Southwest Border state of Arizona grew by almost 40 percent. Arizona added almost 1,500,000 residents between 1990 and 2000; only four larger states—California, Texas, Florida, and Georgia—added more. All of the region’s states during this period grew at a rate well above the national average.[1]
This doesn’t mean that Washington, and more specifically Seattle didn’t grow. Since1990, Seattle grew by about 47,000 people, or 9 percent.[2] Well, it’s not a lot but at least it grew.
Photo of an Arizona mesa courtesy of roselawgroup.com
[1] Stephen S. Birdsall, Eugene J. Palka, Jon C. Malinowski, and Margo L. Price, Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada 7th Edition (Wiley, 2008), 287.
[2] “Seattle’s Population & Demographics,” last modified 2000, http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Research/Population_Demographics/Prior_Censuses/1900-2000_Population_Housing_Trends/DPDS_007028.asp
Chapter 13 – The Empty Interior
From extreme weather we move on to non-exciting weather, but the non-exciting weather gives way to many breathtaking views and beautiful national parks. The Empty Interior boasts many national parks; some of the more famous includes Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Glacier National Parks. There are three national parks in Washington state, Olympic, Rainier, and Cascades National Parks. Amazingly, they’re within a 150-mile radius from the Seattle metropolitan area, making that parks popular weekend getaways and relaxing summer vacations.[1]
Photo of Olympic National Park, WA courtesy of travel-visit-places.com
[1] Stephen S. Birdsall, Eugene J. Palka, Jon C. Malinowski, and Margo L. Price, Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada 7th Edition (Wiley, 2008), 259.
Chapter 12 – The Great Plains and Prairies
The Seattle area and the Great Plains region are very different in many aspects of their agriculture patterns, geography, and climate. In 2002, the average farm size in Eastern Montana was 2,000 acres or more, compared to Seattle area farms, which averaged less than 50 acres.[1]
When it comes to hail, the Great Plains beats the entire nation in average days with hail. Eastern Wyoming experiences six days of hail in an average year, as opposed to Seattle that only sees one day of hail in the year, if that.[2] As if that weren’t enough, central Oklahoma experiences an average of nine tornadoes in a year, Seattle, less than one, which basically means zero.[3]
Photo courtesy of tornado-facts.com
Friday, May 6, 2011
Chapter 11 – The Agricultural Core
The agricultural core of the United States includes the states of Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio. The area receives adequate rainfall with little annual variability, coupled with ample growing seasons, makes the region ideal for growing corn and other mid- latitude agricultural crops.[1]
Does this vast area even have anything in common with Seattle?
Yes! (Kinda) Seattle doesn’t have vast and sprawling corn fields, but it does have similarities in climate. Interestingly, both Seattle and St. Louis receive the exact same average of 37 inches in annual rainfall.[2]
Agriculture: Demands for greater efficiency and the economic benefits of large-scale agricultural operations have led to a decline in the number of small family farms in the agricultural core.[3] A very interesting entity has taken over Seattle called urban agriculture. Urban agriculture is used by people that have very small spaces and would like to plant many different varieties of vegetables and sometimes even raise chickens.[4]
[1] Stephen S. Birdsall, Eugene J. Palka, Jon C. Malinowski, and Margo L. Price, Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada 7th Edition (Wiley, 2008), 208.
[2] “St. Louis Weather,” accessed May 1, 2011. http://countrystudies.us/united-states/weather/missouri/st-louis.htm.
[3] Birdsall, Palka, Malinowski, and Price, Landscapes of the U.S. and Canada, 208.
[4] “Seattle’s New Urban-Ag Models,” last modified August 17, 2010. http://www.grist.org/article/food-seattles-new-urban-ag-models-are-sprouting-in-friendly-soil.
Chapter 10 – The Southern Coastlands: On the Subtropical Margin
The Southern Coastlands is an area that is not seen commonly in the United States. This area is humid and subtropical. The Gulf of Mexico has warm waters that give the region’s climate a balmy, maritime feel.[1]
So how does a pretty close to tropical area compare to the constantly overcast weather of Seattle?
Surprisingly, there are a few things that these two areas have in common such as the amount of annual precipitation, the importance of their seaports, and their large percentage of immigrant population.
Let’s begin with precipitation. Contrary to popular belief, Seattle gets less rain than the Southern Coastlands. The Coastlands receive about 50 inches of rainfall per year as opposed to Seattle that receives an average of 37 inches per year.[2] Even though the southern coastlands get more rain than the Seattle area, they both still get a considerable amount of precipitation.
Both areas have very large and important seaports that are an integral part of the U.S. economy.
Above image is of the Port of New Orleans, courtesy of shipdetective.com
The Port of Seattle supported nearly 200,000 jobs in the Puget Sound region in 2003. Similarly, the Port of New Orleans is responsible for approximately 160,498 jobs.[3]
Seattle’s port generated more than $12 billion in business revenue and $626 million in state and local taxes. According to a 2004 study, the Port of New Orleans generated $8 billion in earnings and $800 million in taxes statewide.[4]
Seattle’s port is the nation’s 6th busiest seaport, ranking among the top 50 ports globally. China is the port’s largest trading partner, followed by Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.[5] New Orleans’ port is known to be the world’s busiest waterway. More than 6,000 ocean vessels annually move through New Orleans on the Mississippi River.[6]
Above image is of the Port of Seattle, courtesy of prowsedge.com
Finally, we come to the racial diversity of both areas. For the Southern Coastlands we will look at Miami, Florida and compare to of course Seattle, Washington.
Within the Miami city limits, the population was approximately 362,470 in 2000. Sixty-five percent of those people were Latino and among those Latinos, about 35% were of Cuban descent.[7] Asians comprised less than 1% of the population, compared to Seattle, where 13% are of Asian descent and 70% are White. Latinos only comprise about 5% of Seattle’s population.[8]
Cuban-Americans in Miami, courtesy of nytimes.com
[1] Stephen S. Birdsall, Eugene J. Palka, Jon C. Malinowski, and Margo L. Price, Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada 7th Edition (Wiley, 2008), 190.
[2] “See Seattle Northwest Weather,” accessed May 1, 2011. http://www.see-seattle.com/weather.htm.
[3] “Port of Seattle Quick Facts,” accessed May 1, 2011. www.portseattle.org/downloads/about/Quick_Facts2008_1.pdf.
[4] “Port of New Orleans Facts,” accessed May 1, 2011. http://www.portno.com/pno_pages/about_overview.htm.
[5] “Port of Seattle Quick Facts.”
[6] “Port of New Orleans Facts.”
[7] “Ethnicity Statistics,” last modified 2000, http://www.ersys.com/usa/12/1245000/ethnic.htm.
[8] “Seattle Population and Demographics,” last modified 2000, http://seattle.areaconnect.com/statistics.htm.
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