Contexts

Contexts

Posted using Super duper excellent interesting maps from Sociological Images

Despite my mixed feelings about Australia, deep down I am still massively parochial. Whenever I look at a map of the world my eye is always drawn straight to my homeland. The SI maps linked to have cool representations of accessible roads, rivers and railroads around the world. And would you know it? There's a giant empty space occupying about two-thirds of Australia. The white space of no-access shows up in the map of Australia, quite sensibly, becuase there aren't any people there. Comparable access-black holes like Central America and Northern Africa are full of people.

Not a bad thing, at all. I'm definitely not advocating building awful, wasteful cities in the middle of the Nullabor, or anything just to fill up the space. I'm just continually amazed at how I failed to realize, before I moved away, how isolated and empty Australia is. And yet! All the people are crowded into just two cities (sorry, not-Sydney and not-Melbourne. You don't get a look-in) and the house prices are FREAKING RIDICULOUS. Being a real-estate whore is the last sign one is a Sydneysider. My accent will go before that characteristic does.

I find it really hard to focus my eye on any big picture without reasonable distance. It's like I live the Monet effect; up close it's all fuzzy. This is one of those times.