This is true? - Geographic oddities that defy conventional wisdom

[cpzilliacus]

I'll grant you that that part of New Jersey is as close to wilderness as you can get along the I-95 corridor. There are some pretty undeveloped places in NH, VT, ME and eastern Upstate New York though and those places are still on the "east coast."

I respectfully disagree.

The most-desolate parts of the I-95 corridor are in South Carolina (between I-26 (Exit 86) and I-20 at Florence (Exit 160)), and in Maine (between Maine 43 at Old Town (Exit 197) and U.S. 1 at Houlton (Exit 302)).

I-95 between Old Town and Houlton was originally constructed as a Super-2 (with plenty of signs and pavement markings warning drivers to keep right and reminding them that they were on a two lane undivided highway, but I understand that there were plenty of head-on crashes anyway).

[national highway 1]

Broken Hill, New South Wales is closer to Adelaide, South Australia (517km/321mi) than it is to Sydney, its state's capital (1159km/720mi). Because Broken Hill's first direct rail link was only to Adelaide, it adopted Central Standard Time (UTC+9:30) like neighbouring South Australia, unlike the rest of New South Wales which uses Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10:00).

[wolfiefrick]

Chinese time zones confuzzle me. There's still only one time zone in China and it's based upon the time in Beijing. The people in western China see the sun rise around 10 am and it sets at 10 pm.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Same to me. In Kashgar (Western Xinjiang, in the far West of China) on Winter solstice the sun doesn't rise until 10 am. That in theory, in reality Xinjiang has adopted its unofficial time two hours behind Beijing, so the sun rises at 8 am (and sets at 6 pm instead of 8 pm).

[roadman65]

I'll grant you that that part of New Jersey is as close to wilderness as you can get along the I-95 corridor. There are some pretty undeveloped places in NH, VT, ME and eastern Upstate New York though and those places are still on the "east coast."

I respectfully disagree.

The most-desolate parts of the I-95 corridor are in South Carolina (between I-26 (Exit 86) and I-20 at Florence (Exit 160)), and in Maine (between Maine 43 at Old Town (Exit 197) and U.S. 1 at Houlton (Exit 302)).

I-95 between Old Town and Houlton was originally constructed as a Super-2 (with plenty of signs and pavement markings warning drivers to keep right and reminding them that they were on a two lane undivided highway, but I understand that there were plenty of head-on crashes anyway).

Actually desolate does not begin until after Ridgeland, SC and all the way to just outside of Jacksonville, FL. 

I-95 in rural Jasper County, SC, all of Georgia, and Nassau and part of Duval County in Florida is the most desolate drive of I-95 south of Kittery, ME.   North of Kittery, I cannot say as I never been on it except a small piece near Bangor, and I cannot remember what it looked like as I was fairly young.

[empirestate]

I'll grant you that that part of New Jersey is as close to wilderness as you can get along the I-95 corridor. There are some pretty undeveloped places in NH, VT, ME and eastern Upstate New York though and those places are still on the "east coast."

I respectfully disagree.

The most-desolate parts of the I-95 corridor are in South Carolina (between I-26 (Exit 86) and I-20 at Florence (Exit 160)), and in Maine (between Maine 43 at Old Town (Exit 197) and U.S. 1 at Houlton (Exit 302)).

I-95 between Old Town and Houlton was originally constructed as a Super-2 (with plenty of signs and pavement markings warning drivers to keep right and reminding them that they were on a two lane undivided highway, but I understand that there were plenty of head-on crashes anyway).

Actually desolate does not begin until after Ridgeland, SC and all the way to just outside of Jacksonville, FL. 

I-95 in rural Jasper County, SC, all of Georgia, and Nassau and part of Duval County in Florida is the most desolate drive of I-95 south of Kittery, ME.   North of Kittery, I cannot say as I never been on it except a small piece near Bangor, and I cannot remember what it looked like as I was fairly young.

There's a difference between being desolate and being close to wilderness. I've also heard that the NJ pine barrens are the least-developed part of the Northeast Corridor (which, also, is not the same as the East Coast). The question then becomes whether the desolate sections in the Carolinas and northern Maine are also close to undisturbed wilderness, or are they previously clear-cut stands of second-growth forest, very much the result of human intervention?


iPhone

[D-Dey65]

Same with NY state.  NY City is closer to Portland, ME, Montreal (by 1 mile), and Richmond, VA than Buffalo, and that's cutting through PA too.

Funny you should mention Richmond vs. Buffalo. Back in November 2014 when that blizzard hit Buffalo (Knife), I overheard my aunt talking to my uncle and she was worried that I was going to drive through Buffalo on the way home.

This woman has no sense of direction, and she knows it.

[Max Rockatansky]

By car it's about 832 miles from Pensacola, FL to Key West, FL which is slightly longer than the 820 miles it would take you to get to Columbus, OH.  That 832 miles isn't far off from the 878 miles it takes to cross I-10 through the entirety of Texas....odd indeed when you consider Florida doesn't seem that big and how much back tracking you really do.

[NE2]

OH MY GOD LOS ANGELES IS CLOSER TO TIJUANA THAN IT IS TO NEW YORK CITY HOW FUCKING WEIRD

[CobaltYoshi27]

San Diego, California, is directly due west of Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas.

[kalvado]

Not exactly US road, although a lot of US bound traffic:
Atlantic end of Panama canal is actually to the west from Pacific end.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Russia reaches so far East, its Easternmost lands are actually among the Westernmost on Earth (as seen from Greenwich).

[thenetwork]

There is a section of Northern Nevada as well as a part of Wyoming NORTH of Cheyenne that is considered by the Nielsen Ratings to be a part of the Denver, CO TV Market.

[paulthemapguy]

Lake Tahoe's longitude is west of that of Los Angeles.

[jwolfer]

I'll grant you that that part of New Jersey is as close to wilderness as you can get along the I-95 corridor. There are some pretty undeveloped places in NH, VT, ME and eastern Upstate New York though and those places are still on the "east coast."

I respectfully disagree.

The most-desolate parts of the I-95 corridor are in South Carolina (between I-26 (Exit 86) and I-20 at Florence (Exit 160)), and in Maine (between Maine 43 at Old Town (Exit 197) and U.S. 1 at Houlton (Exit 302)).

I-95 between Old Town and Houlton was originally constructed as a Super-2 (with plenty of signs and pavement markings warning drivers to keep right and reminding them that they were on a two lane undivided highway, but I understand that there were plenty of head-on crashes anyway).

Actually desolate does not begin until after Ridgeland, SC and all the way to just outside of Jacksonville, FL. 

I-95 in rural Jasper County, SC, all of Georgia, and Nassau and part of Duval County in Florida is the most desolate drive of I-95 south of Kittery, ME.   North of Kittery, I cannot say as I never been on it except a small piece near Bangor, and I cannot remember what it looked like as I was fairly young.

That part of 95 skirts Western Savannah suburbs and Brunswick.. There are lots of gas stations at different exits.  It is relatively desolate but all 6 lanes

The area in SC has long distance between exits and not many services. All 4 lanes too

[wxfree]

Not exactly US road, although a lot of US bound traffic:
Atlantic end of Panama canal is actually to the west from Pacific end.

And the water on the Pacific side is higher.  Even though the two sides aren't far apart, the connection by water is thousands of miles long, so it isn't unusual that the water is unlevel over that distance.

[jp the roadgeek]

It's actually closer and shorter timewise for me to drive from central CT to Philly than to Montauk, Long Island, despite Montauk being only 65 miles away.

Florida and Oregon are the only two coastal states whose farthest reaches from the (ocean) coast extend into another time zone.

[empirestate]

Florida and Oregon are the only two coastal states whose farthest reaches from the (ocean) coast extend into another time zone.

And as a result, for an hour each year, a Floridian and an Oregonian can correctly observe the same local time as each other.

[US 81]

Florida and Oregon are the only two coastal states whose farthest reaches from the (ocean) coast extend into another time zone.

And as a result, for an hour each year, a Floridian and an Oregonian can correctly observe the same local time as each other.

Wait, isn't Texas another one? Alaska?

[ftballfan]

Bristol VA is closer to several other other state capitals (Charleston WV, Nashville TN, Raleigh NC, Atlanta GA, Frankfort KY, Columbia SC) than it is its own capital of Richmond.

Have also heard this said about the three West Virginia eastern panhandle counties. Closer to Harrisburg, Trenton, Annapolis, Richmond and possibly Dover than to Charleston.

Bristol VA is also closer to Columbus, OH than Richmond, VA

[ftballfan]

There is a section of Northern Nevada as well as a part of Wyoming NORTH of Cheyenne that is considered by the Nielsen Ratings to be a part of the Denver, CO TV Market.

Partly because Denver's always had a full set of network affiliates while the two Wyoming markets (Casper and Cheyenne) were usually short at least one network historically. Also, Sheridan, WY is in the Rapid City, SD TV market despite being closer to Casper, WY and Billings, MT

[paulthemapguy]

Here's something odd, though it's kind of a human construct.  I don't know who decided this, but the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is completely in the eastern time zone except for the counties that border Wisconsin.  I don't know why they didn't put the boundary along the state line, but they put it one county into Michigan instead.  For that reason, as I took a trip to the Porcupine Mountains last July, my buddy and I sat outside and watched the sunset over Lake Superior after reaching our hotel--just after 10pm.

[Chris]

I visited Tarifa, Spain last year (by car from the Netherlands). It is the southernmost point of mainland Spain. Besides the fact that many people think Gibraltar is the southernmost point, it's actually farther south than Algiers and Tunis. It's also at the same latitude as northern Iraq and northern Pakistan.

[english si]

It's also at the same latitude as northern Iraq and northern Pakistan.

And the VA/NC border, or thereabouts.

[mhh]

Here's something odd, though it's kind of a human construct.  I don't know who decided this, but the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is completely in the eastern time zone except for the counties that border Wisconsin.  I don't know why they didn't put the boundary along the state line, but they put it one county into Michigan instead.  For that reason, as I took a trip to the Porcupine Mountains last July, my buddy and I sat outside and watched the sunset over Lake Superior after reaching our hotel--just after 10pm.

Those western counties have closer economic ties to Milwaukee and Minneapolis/St. Paul than to Detroit, hence the different time zone.