For comparison, here in Brazil I lived most of my life in a town with ~35K residents and it was already considered a small rural town. Some of my family lives in a neighboring town with ~11K residents, and even in my hometown people joke about how small it is, and that there’s basically nothing going on there. 1288 of towns in Brazil have less than 5K residents, or about 23.1%, and there are no towns with less than 500 residents. Meanwhile in the US 76% of towns have less than 5K residents.
Again, it’s just kind of wild to me. I remember playing (reading?) the Echo VN and thinking “Man, a dying town with only 50 people? That doesn’t sound realistic,” but apparently that’s way more common than I thought.
My slightly educated guess would be that’s a consequence of America’s race westward in the 1800’s, only stopping long enough to annihilate the indigenous population and set up a rest stop for the next batch.
Railroads played big role. Trains needed more water or coal to run the engine. So every 15 to 20 miles or so, depending on terrain, a water depot was erected, and there a new town popped up. Some survived. Some didnt. Few are thriving. Just pull up a map and follow a rail line in the great plains region of the usa. Then just measure it out. Its impossible to miss once you notice it.
It’s more modern than that. I don’t have time to look for stats, but I believe there’s been general migration to cities for like half a century or more
Of course, but I’m talking about why all these little towns existed in the first place. It’s not like they were all bustling metropolises before everyone left. ;)
We also have “towns” that are insufficient in size and unlisted or are under another towns “address”. A town near me has less than 1000 people and that includes the towns under it that are 3-5mi apart.
One of my friends lives in what used to be considered a town. Currently it has a population of like 10 people 4 of which are their family and another is one of their roommates. It is now part of the nearest town about 20 miles away and makes for some logistical novelties like mail delivery and school bus routes
It’s kind of wild to me how many really small towns there are in the US. About 32% of towns in the U.S. have less than 500 residents.
For comparison, here in Brazil I lived most of my life in a town with ~35K residents and it was already considered a small rural town. Some of my family lives in a neighboring town with ~11K residents, and even in my hometown people joke about how small it is, and that there’s basically nothing going on there. 1288 of towns in Brazil have less than 5K residents, or about 23.1%, and there are no towns with less than 500 residents. Meanwhile in the US 76% of towns have less than 5K residents.
Again, it’s just kind of wild to me. I remember playing (reading?) the Echo VN and thinking “Man, a dying town with only 50 people? That doesn’t sound realistic,” but apparently that’s way more common than I thought.
My slightly educated guess would be that’s a consequence of America’s race westward in the 1800’s, only stopping long enough to annihilate the indigenous population and set up a rest stop for the next batch.
Railroads played big role. Trains needed more water or coal to run the engine. So every 15 to 20 miles or so, depending on terrain, a water depot was erected, and there a new town popped up. Some survived. Some didnt. Few are thriving. Just pull up a map and follow a rail line in the great plains region of the usa. Then just measure it out. Its impossible to miss once you notice it.
It’s more modern than that. I don’t have time to look for stats, but I believe there’s been general migration to cities for like half a century or more
Of course, but I’m talking about why all these little towns existed in the first place. It’s not like they were all bustling metropolises before everyone left. ;)
We also have “towns” that are insufficient in size and unlisted or are under another towns “address”. A town near me has less than 1000 people and that includes the towns under it that are 3-5mi apart.
One of my friends lives in what used to be considered a town. Currently it has a population of like 10 people 4 of which are their family and another is one of their roommates. It is now part of the nearest town about 20 miles away and makes for some logistical novelties like mail delivery and school bus routes