When I was a little kid, I was an atlas fanatic. I would pore for hours over maps in world atlases, road atlases, and even star atlases. At one time, I even had a hobby of collecting road maps whereby I would walk to all of the gas stations within a couple of miles of my house and take whatever (then) free road maps they had.
In our home, we had one of those great Rand McNally road atlases of the United States. I would trace various federal highway routes through different states and across their borders, imagining that I was actually driving down the real roads and through the towns along the way (especially going east-west along routes like US 2 and US 6). I was deeply disappointed when I discovered that US 441, my "favorite" route (it still is) disappeared somewhere in Tennessee, never making it to Canada or the Great Lakes.
Through the road atlas I also noticed the cites and metropolitan area that were growing the quickest in population. These urban areas were depicted by yellow on the map. I was most impressed by the cities that had the biggest "yellow" (for some time I liked Newark, New Jersey for this one reason alone). Later, I got a revised road atlas and noticed how many more cities had gone from "point" depictions to the "yellow".
But as I grew older as a kid, I would begin to question whether urban growth was such a good idea. After all, my own home area of south Florida was becoming one gigantic, mass urban sprawl. I pictured the land designated by yellow in road atlases as being urban sprawls of buildings, roads, and parking lots. With nature in those areas being essentially wiped out.
Now, living in Gainesville (in north-central Florida), I am in a "yellow" zone but also in an environment with a lot of "nature" in it. And it makes me wonder how really urban those other yellow areas are. I bet even Newark, New Jersey has plenty of "natural" places within its borders. Now that would be an interesting project for someone to do (if they haven't already done so, that is): Go to the most urbanized locations in the U.S. and discover nature and wildlife in their midsts.
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I, too, was an atlas and map fanatic. Instead of going to the gas stations for maps, when I was nine or ten I wrote post cards to all the state governments, asking for maps of their states. Around 35 of them responded, some with just maps, and some also including other tourist information. I was thrilled with all that.
ReplyDeleteI used to put tracing paper over the maps in U.S. and world atlases, and trace the boundaries of the states and countries, keeping my copies in a folder, sort of a “portfolio”. I took particular care with countries like Norway, as I traced the intricate coastlines. Sometimes it seems silly to think of that — it seems a waste of time — but I did learn a lot, knowing the shapes of all the states and countries, knowing what others bordered them, knowing where they were in the world. I’d mark the capitals and some of the major cities on the traces, as well, and so I knew all the state and national capitals (and I still remember most of them).
«for some time I liked Newark, New Jersey for this one reason alone»
Those of us who’ve been to Newark would soon disabuse you of that notion.
«I bet even Newark, New Jersey has plenty of “natural” places within its borders.»
At one time. But it should tell you something that the big complex of sports arenas is in a place called “the meadowlands”. It’s true that are still areas of wetlands and such around Newark, but it’s also true, alas, that a lot of what was once natural has been paved.
One of the best natural areas within the New York City boroughs, though, is the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, part of the Gateway National Recreation Area. It’s in the shadow of JFK Airport (itself built on what was once natural habitat, before it became the Idlewild golf course), and is full of waterbirds of all sorts. I just paid it another visit last week, in fact, and saw herons and egrets and ibises (oh, my!).
Wouldn't having a wildlife sanctuary full of birds right next to a major airport present a safety hazard to the planes? I'm thinking of that recent controlled crash into the Hudson River after a flock of birds flew into the engine of a jet that was taking off.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't know what they do about that, but I've not heard of particular problems at JFK with geese, ducks, or other waterfowl.
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