Maps can be nifty, and they can also be depressing.
After taking a "let's see where this goes" drive the other weekend, I decided I needed a better map of the state than the AAA one I've been using, and picked up one of those big DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer books for Kansas.
Nifty: The scale is 1mm = 200m, so I can actually see details like the intersection where I live. EVERY town and city is listed, even those that are so small that the 2mm wide dot covers all their cross streets.
Depressing: There are entire townships in Kansas (mostly western) with no towns. A few roads, but the minimum "block" size is about a kilometer on a side or even more. Having lived most of my life in pretty densely populated areas, that feels kinda desolate.
After taking a "let's see where this goes" drive the other weekend, I decided I needed a better map of the state than the AAA one I've been using, and picked up one of those big DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer books for Kansas.
Nifty: The scale is 1mm = 200m, so I can actually see details like the intersection where I live. EVERY town and city is listed, even those that are so small that the 2mm wide dot covers all their cross streets.
Depressing: There are entire townships in Kansas (mostly western) with no towns. A few roads, but the minimum "block" size is about a kilometer on a side or even more. Having lived most of my life in pretty densely populated areas, that feels kinda desolate.