Desolate Places Near Metropolitan Areas

[thenetwork]

In my experience, New Mexico usually uses 86, unlike the 85 that CO/WY/UT/Eastern Idaho use.

Usually I was up in Ruidoso or Alamogordo but it was years ago so I could be mistaken.  I believe it clicked down to 85 in the Sierra Blancas and certain heights..  Isn't the degraded octane for some sort of emissions purpose?

The higher the elevation, the less octane is required to keep your engine from knocking.  If higher octane isn't needed, then why sell it?

What I find interesting is that regular in Guatemala is 88 RON (approximately 84½ AKI).  This might be fine in high-elevation cities such as Guatemala City and Xela, but how to people's cars manage to handle that low of an octane rating up in Puerto Barrios (barely over 2000 feet) or the Petén (less than 1000 feet)?

That's the tricky thing there, what happens when you get back to a low elevation?  Usually those work trips back in those days could be 300-550 miles long in a given day.  I'd hate to fill up with 85 octane in Ruidoso only to get somewhere like Tucson to have the engine start knocking. Always seemed like the prudent thing to do was purchase 88 and just eat the couple cents difference. 

That's why I was amazed to see 85 AKI sold in Burlington, CO (elev. 4170 feet).  Travelling eastbound on I-70, a full tank of gas purchased in Burlington can easily get you to 1200 feet elevation.

When we had to fill up in Western Kansas, we came across a station that was promoting Unleaded-85, or something to that effect.  I was worried that I was pumping E-85 in the tank but the employee assured me that it was 85 Octane Unleaded.  No problems getting me to Missouri, but the weird way they were displaying it threw me for a loop.

[cl94]

Closest "desolate" place to New York City depends on your definition. Harriman State Park in Rockland/Orange Counties, NY is less than 20 miles from the city line (and technically inside the metro area). Want "wilderness"? Closest designated wilderness in Catskill Park is about 70 miles from the city line (Slide Mountain Wilderness). That's basically untouched by man other than people hiking through.

[inkyatari]

Closest "desolate" place to New York City depends on your definition. Harriman State Park in Rockland/Orange Counties, NY is less than 20 miles from the city line (and technically inside the metro area). Want "wilderness"? Closest designated wilderness in Catskill Park is about 70 miles from the city line (Slide Mountain Wilderness). That's basically untouched by man other than people hiking through.

The closes wilderness area to Chicago is 300 + miles away at the Garden of the Gods in the Shawnee Forest of southern Illinois.

Went hiking through the wilderness area  there once.  'twas a thing of beauty,

[CNGL-Leudimin]

You'd never guess this is within the boundaries of the 5th largest city in Spain.

[kphoger]

When we had to fill up in Western Kansas, we came across a station that was promoting Unleaded-85, or something to that effect.  I was worried that I was pumping E-85 in the tank but the employee assured me that it was 85 Octane Unleaded.  No problems getting me to Missouri, but the weird way they were displaying it threw me for a loop.

Where was that?  I've never seen 85 octane in Kansas, and I grew up 55 miles from the Colorado state line.

[Flint1979]

Closest "desolate" place to New York City depends on your definition. Harriman State Park in Rockland/Orange Counties, NY is less than 20 miles from the city line (and technically inside the metro area). Want "wilderness"? Closest designated wilderness in Catskill Park is about 70 miles from the city line (Slide Mountain Wilderness). That's basically untouched by man other than people hiking through.

The closes wilderness area to Chicago is 300 + miles away at the Garden of the Gods in the Shawnee Forest of southern Illinois.

Went hiking through the wilderness area  there once.  'twas a thing of beauty,

The Manistee National Forest in Michigan is closer to Chicago than the Shawnee Forest is.

[kphoger]

You'd never guess this is within the boundaries of the 5th largest city in Spain.

To be fair, though, it appears that's only true because the city boundaries go stupidly far afield from the city proper.  And I'm guessing that's just so the industrial park nearby is within the city limit (?).

[inkyatari]

Closest "desolate" place to New York City depends on your definition. Harriman State Park in Rockland/Orange Counties, NY is less than 20 miles from the city line (and technically inside the metro area). Want "wilderness"? Closest designated wilderness in Catskill Park is about 70 miles from the city line (Slide Mountain Wilderness). That's basically untouched by man other than people hiking through.

The closes wilderness area to Chicago is 300 + miles away at the Garden of the Gods in the Shawnee Forest of southern Illinois.

Went hiking through the wilderness area  there once.  'twas a thing of beauty,

The Manistee National Forest in Michigan is closer to Chicago than the Shawnee Forest is.

Huh.  That is weird.

And now that I look at a map, Hoosier National Forest in Indiana is closer than the Shawnees...

[Flint1979]

Closest "desolate" place to New York City depends on your definition. Harriman State Park in Rockland/Orange Counties, NY is less than 20 miles from the city line (and technically inside the metro area). Want "wilderness"? Closest designated wilderness in Catskill Park is about 70 miles from the city line (Slide Mountain Wilderness). That's basically untouched by man other than people hiking through.

The closes wilderness area to Chicago is 300 + miles away at the Garden of the Gods in the Shawnee Forest of southern Illinois.

Went hiking through the wilderness area  there once.  'twas a thing of beauty,

The Manistee National Forest in Michigan is closer to Chicago than the Shawnee Forest is.

Huh.  That is weird.

And now that I look at a map, Hoosier National Forest in Indiana is closer than the Shawnees...

It's just the fact that Illinois is such a long state north to south that parts of northern Michigan and northern Wisconsin are closer to Chicago than the Little Egypt section of Illinois. I wasn't sure if Hoosier was closer or not but it looks like it is by about 50 miles.

[bandit957]

Unfortunately, Cincinnati doesn't have any significant desolate land nearby, because of the irrational hero worship of property.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

To be fair, though, it appears that's only true because the city boundaries go stupidly far afield from the city proper.  And I'm guessing that's just so the industrial park nearby is within the city limit (?).

More like in Western Europe we don't know the concept of unincorporated area, and every chunk of land belongs to a municipality (though there are five "unincorporated areas" in Navarre, Spain, and I've driven across two of them). Zaragoza is not only among the most populated Spanish cities, it also is one of the largest municipalities in area.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

You only have to go 15 miles north out of downtown Minneapolis to reach this:

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.1917547,-93.0757118,3a,75y,243.19h,84.6t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1stWtpinOrWj9sNOmzwN06YA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[adventurernumber1]

You only have to go 15 miles north out of downtown Minneapolis to reach this:

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.1917547,-93.0757118,3a,75y,243.19h,84.6t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1stWtpinOrWj9sNOmzwN06YA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

I am currently on my phone (not on a PC), so I don't have the luxury of looking around in that area all that much at this moment, but just from what I see when clicking on the link, that looks more rural, but I don't know if I would call it desolate.

[Rothman]

Unfortunately, Cincinnati doesn't have any significant desolate land nearby, because of the irrational hero worship of property.

The closest I can think of is if you head out a ways on OH 32 east of the city.

[ftballfan]

Nobody's mentioned the desolate areas IN Detroit yet?

They're not vast, but there are several areas where there's so little left standing that they were considering creating farms, even forestry.

Granted there are several large areas of Detroit that are pretty empty I can't think of one part of the city that is completely void of any type of life. I'd like to see if there is such an area in Detroit. About six years ago I had to go to Southgate one day and decided I wanted to try to find a part of Detroit that was just pure abandoned with no sign of life, so I was in the North End section of Detroit and decided to take a drive along Philadelphia Avenue to which it seemed like every house was abandoned and some were in such poor shape that they had collapsed porches and collapsed other things on the house.

To me the most empty part of Detroit would probably be the area near the old Packard Plant. I was driving around Detroit with a friend of mine and took Grand Blvd. around the loop but when I got to the Packard Plant I turned on Concord and just before I turned I told my friend it's about to look real ghetto here in a second, made that turn and it was exactly what I said which wasn't really a surprise to me since I'd been around the Packard Plant numerous times before.

Btw, the most dangerous zip code in Detroit is probably 48205.

Detroit probably has more abandoned schools than operating schools: http://www.detroiturbex.com/content/schools/index.html

[Flint1979]

Nobody's mentioned the desolate areas IN Detroit yet?

They're not vast, but there are several areas where there's so little left standing that they were considering creating farms, even forestry.

Granted there are several large areas of Detroit that are pretty empty I can't think of one part of the city that is completely void of any type of life. I'd like to see if there is such an area in Detroit. About six years ago I had to go to Southgate one day and decided I wanted to try to find a part of Detroit that was just pure abandoned with no sign of life, so I was in the North End section of Detroit and decided to take a drive along Philadelphia Avenue to which it seemed like every house was abandoned and some were in such poor shape that they had collapsed porches and collapsed other things on the house.

To me the most empty part of Detroit would probably be the area near the old Packard Plant. I was driving around Detroit with a friend of mine and took Grand Blvd. around the loop but when I got to the Packard Plant I turned on Concord and just before I turned I told my friend it's about to look real ghetto here in a second, made that turn and it was exactly what I said which wasn't really a surprise to me since I'd been around the Packard Plant numerous times before.

Btw, the most dangerous zip code in Detroit is probably 48205.

Detroit probably has more abandoned schools than operating schools: http://www.detroiturbex.com/content/schools/index.html

I know at one time Detroit had 31 Public High School's, I'd say now they have about half that number.

[hbelkins]

Unfortunately, Cincinnati doesn't have any significant desolate land nearby, because of the irrational hero worship of property.

The closest I can think of is if you head out a ways on OH 32 east of the city.

Plenty of desolate-looking land in western Boone County, Ky.

[Road Hog]

One place that is deceptive is entering Nashville from the west on I-40. There is a buffer zone of trees on either side that extends well into the city. The transition to urban is very abrupt.

[Avalanchez71]

One place that is deceptive is entering Nashville from the west on I-40. There is a buffer zone of trees on either side that extends well into the city. The transition to urban is very abrupt.

There used to be more buffer on I-24 WB from Mufreesboro as well but they knocked some of it down for lane expansion.

I-24 EB from Clarksville still has rural character to it nearly all the way to I-65.  It is nearly rural with the city skyline visible.

[adventurernumber1]

One place that is deceptive is entering Nashville from the west on I-40. There is a buffer zone of trees on either side that extends well into the city. The transition to urban is very abrupt.

There used to be more buffer on I-24 WB from Mufreesboro as well but they knocked some of it down for lane expansion.

I-24 EB from Clarksville still has rural character to it nearly all the way to I-65.  It is nearly rural with the city skyline visible.

That is something I have noticed myself. While definitely not desolate, Interstate 24 remains rural up until very, very close to Nashville, on the northwest side of the metro area. In pretty close proximity to the city, I-24 traverses through somewhat rural hills, rock cuts, and lots of trees.

[doorknob60]

Going east from Boise, as soon as you exit the Boise city limits, it's desolate. Not just rural (like to the west), there's really basically nothing from there to Mountain Home.

[Flint1979]

What about I-10 entering Jacksonville from the west? Or I-95 entering Jacksonville from the south? I've gone through Jacksonville on I-95 before but not I-10. It looks pretty desolate out near Baldwin.

[jeffandnicole]

What about I-10 entering Jacksonville from the west? Or I-95 entering Jacksonville from the south? I've gone through Jacksonville on I-95 before but not I-10. It looks pretty desolate out near Baldwin.

It is.  Nothing city-like out that way.

[ftballfan]

Sorry for the big bump, but this is US-98 about 6 miles north of I-4 near Lakeland, FL: https://goo.gl/maps/4o3KUjrqQ4RJPvzB8

The speed limit here is 60 mph, but it widens to four lanes (with a speed limit drop to 55 mph) just south of the linked image, and later widens to six lanes at Daugherty Rd and eight lanes near Foxwood Blvd. Heading northbound, US-98 drops from eight lanes to two lanes in just under five miles!

[Avalanchez71]

Sorry for the big bump, but this is US-98 about 6 miles north of I-4 near Lakeland, FL: https://goo.gl/maps/4o3KUjrqQ4RJPvzB8

The speed limit here is 60 mph, but it widens to four lanes (with a speed limit drop to 55 mph) just south of the linked image, and later widens to six lanes at Daugherty Rd and eight lanes near Foxwood Blvd. Heading northbound, US-98 drops from eight lanes to two lanes in just under five miles!

Polk County is like that.  One second nothing the next second viola.