Many Americans still burdened with constitutional rights

[james_davis_nicoll]

Using data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, the ACLU has determined that nearly 2/3 of the entire US population (197.4 million people) live within 100 miles of the US land and coastal borders.

The government is assuming extraordinary powers to stop and search individuals within this zone. This is not just about the border: This " Constitution-Free Zone" includes most of the nation's largest metropolitan areas.

Is the claim that "nearly 2/3 of the entire US population (197.4 million people) live within 100 miles of the US land and coastal borders" correct? That would seem to require that the rest of the country contains slightly over 1/3rd of the population and since my incredibly untrustworthy eye thinks the first area is much smaller than the second, it implies even lower population densities than I expected for the interior regions.

Comments

[leighdb.livejournal.com]

What KightP said. Water is life. That's why almost all of the larger non-coastal US cities are situated on rivers - most notably the Mississippi, of course.

It's hardly just an American thing. Practically every non-coastal major city in the world is next to some type of body of water.

[tavella.livejournal.com]

It's one of the reason why major climate change screws us so hard. If the big terrestrial ice sheets start melting (or melt more), ooh boy.

[lpetrazickis.livejournal.com]

Not just life -- water is transportation. Cities grow around transportation corridors and transportation hubs. Borders are an excellent motivation for transportation.