Where It’s At

Where It’s At: Walking the perimeter of this city = Walking from Philadelphia to Denver

January 28, 2021 by Randy Majors

If you were to walk the perimeter of this U.S. city’s city limits, you would cover 1,562 miles (2,513 km), which is roughly the same distance as walking from Philadelphia to Denver.* Here’s what that distance looks like: And the answer is: Well, of course, Houston. Isn’t everything big in Texas? The city covers an area of 672 square miles (1,739 sq km), and all those little (big) tendrils shown by the dark blue lines above make its perimeter add up to this whopping 1,562 miles! Want to zoom in and see the details? Explore the city limits of Houston here. So, … Read more

Where It’s At: Drop nearly 15,000 feet in just over 85 miles in the Contiguous U.S.

January 28, 2021 by Randy Majors

Where It’s At is an occasional feature that uses maps to show interesting stuff about our world. At least interesting to map geeks like me :) For this inaugural post: Where can you can drop nearly 15,000 feet of elevation in just over 85 miles in the contiguous United States? A clue: these two points also happen to be the highest elevation point and the lowest elevation point in the contiguous U.S. Answer: Mount Whitney, California to Badwater Basin in Death Valley, California: And here’s the elevation profile along that line: Note that it’s not a nice easy descent along … Read more