North America: The Human Landscape

Current News and Weather Finish North America Slides Environmental Issues Population and Settlement Cultural Coherence and Diversity Economic and Social Development For Next Class: Watch Unnatural Causes

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xc4ixx_weatherman-freaking-out-over-dc-sno_shortfilms

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Human Modification: Environmental Issues

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U.S. Energy Consumption

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• Uneven pattern of distribution

• Megalopolis• Census data

Modern Spatial and Demographic Patterns

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Population and Settlement

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Urban Skylines

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• European settlement expansion– 1st Stage

(1600–1750)– 2nd Stage

(1750–1850)– 3rd Stage

(1850–1910)

Population: Historic Patterns

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•E

uropean Settlem

ent E

xpansion–

1st Stage (1600–1750)

–2nd S

tage (1750–1850)–

3rd Stage (1850–1910)

Figure 3.13

Population: Historic Patterns

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•W

estward M

igration•

African-A

merican M

igration from

the South

•R

ural-to-Urban M

igration•

Migration to the S

unbelt S

outh•

Nonm

etropolitan Grow

th

Figure 3.14

North Americans on the Move

Amenity Migration

• What is amenity migration and what are the push and pull factors?

• Amenity Migration: Process of people moving to areas due to actual or perceived higher environmental quality

• Push Factors: Urban environments (traffic, density, stress, pollution, limited recreation, etc.)

• Pull Factors: Recreational opportunities (skiing, biking, kayaking), open space, rural lifestyle, public land, etc.

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•A

merican C

ity Grow

th–

Changing Transportation

Technologies

–U

rban Decentralization

Figure 3.16

Historical Evolution of the City

• Stage I – Walking-Horsecar Era– Pedestrian city characterized by

compactness• Stage II – Electric Streetcar Era

– Streetcar suburbs developed as the 30-minute travel radius expanded greatly

– Helped to differentiate space in older core city

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21

Figure 3.16

• Stage III – Recreational Automobile Era– Automobiles and highways significantly

improved the accessibility of the outer metropolitan ring

– Mass wave of suburbanization resulted– Residential space became even more

partitioned by class and race• Stage IV – Freeway Era

– High speed expressways further extended the 30-minute travel radius

Suburbanization

• A significant product of this Freeway Era has been suburbanization and the associated suburban sprawl that characterizes many landscapes across the country.

Gentrification

• Displacement of lower income residents of central-city neighborhoods with higher income residents

• Rehabilitation of deteriorated inner-city landscapes• Construction of new shopping complexes and/or

entertainment complexes

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25•

Gentri

fication

•N

ew

Urbani

sm

Figure 3.18

Pittsburgh’s SouthSide Works neighborhood is evidence of an urban renaissance on the site of an old steel plant

Settlement Geographies: Urban

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26

•U

rban P

eriphery

Figure 3.19

Suburban development in Douglas County, CO, miles south of Denver’s Central Business District

Settlement Geographies: Suburban

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27•

Repeating geom

etric patterns are a hallm

ark of rural N

orth A

merican landscapes

–Tow

nship and Range

“stamp” in Iow

a

Figure 3.20

Settlement Geographies: Rural

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28 Figure 3.21

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• Globally dominant and diverse culture

• Close ties to Anglo roots

• Ethnic groups• Cultural

assimilation

Cultural Coherence and Diversity

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Dominant geographies

U.S. Hispanic and Asian Populations

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Geopolitical Issues

Figure 3.31

Challenges to Federalism:– Quebec

Secession

– Native Land Claims

Politics of Immigration