Don’t Tread on Me: The Meaning & History Behind the Gadsden Flag
Outside the 2%
I live and work in an urbanized area. For most of week, I get on a bus or walk from place to place, go to work, go to the library, and otherwise interact with others in an urbanized fashion. People from Albany are pretty urban, by no means is Albany a farm town — although there are certainly many rural areas around Albany.
Yet, despite all the time I spend in Albany, the city really is just a little dot on the map compared to vast lands around it. Drive less then 20 miles in any direction, and chances are you’ll be in a mountain town, a farm town, or some kind of national or state forest.
Albany is a large enough of a metro-area to have a very urban feel to it. It’s cities have all of the regular urban problems, from drugs to gang violence. But your never very far from the rural hinderlands, and truly rural areas that are largely independent from the city’s regular activities.
With the cold weather of the past two months, I’ve spent much too much time in city. But getting back up to Vermont I’ve come to realize all I’ve missed, outside the 2%.
Population Density of Albany County and New York State
Albany County.
This Google Maps is based on the block level 2010 Census Population Counts. Census Blocks with no residents appear 100% clear.
Regardless, zoom in, to see how many people live in a particular block, and the density of residency of poeple in various communities. Compared to the city, the suburbs, and rural areas all seem depopulated.
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New York State.
The population density of New York State. Notice this is a totally different scale, and is by per square miles, per Census Tract rather then block. Makes all of upstate look rural compared to New York City. Zero population blocks are not clear on this map.
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Liberty as Wilderness
I have written many times in the past on how much I dislike State Parks and State Campgrounds. I dislike the high degree of enforcement, the rules and regulations, and the number of people that are crowded into a small area. I much prefer to be alone and make my own rules, limited only by a basic respect for the natural world around me.
I have never viewed wilderness as a fixed or pure landscape. There is no pure wilderness for me, no set of clear definations, except for the need to be fairly remote, fairly private, fairly free from the big government enforcement precence. Certainly, a scenic view is nice, and quiet from passing traffic is great, but it’s not everything.
Liberty should be the primary goal in wilderness. Wilderness is a place with the fewest regulations and rules possible, the farthest place possible from an enforcement precence. I just like to be myself, spend time in the woods, observing nature, and doing things on my own pace, without the regulations or control of the government.