Quote:
Originally Posted by edale
Well the entire western portion of Santiago's radius is the Pacific Ocean, so that's not an entirely fair comparison. But I'll take your word on Santiago being more isolated than Denver. I've never been to South America (though I would love to go), so I really have no clue.
I know that Denver does have other nearby communities along the front range. I've not been north of Denver, but I've driven through Colorado Springs and Pueblo to the south, and neither really felt like you were entering a real sizable metro area. CS felt more or less like an oddly conservative satellite of Denver, and Pueblo just felt small. Put it this way...Denver has a pretty huge catchment area for people wanting to experience a big city amenity. Be it taking in a pro sports game, visiting a quality museum, seeing a concert, catching an international flight, etc. People in Pueblo and Cheyenne and wherever go to Denver for that stuff. That's what I mean by isolation. In LA, you can easily drive down to San Diego to go to a Padre game or visit the zoo or whatever and come back on the same day. In Cincinnati you can day trip to Columbus/Indianapolis to see an art exhibit or go to an NHL or NBA game. That type of thing is just not a reality in the Mountain West. It's not a bad thing, just something that is different than the experience I grew up with and have always lived.
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Santiago also has its "front range" too. Valparaíso-Vina del Mar is almost 1 million people, and southwards, heading to Concepcion (700k), there are several dots on the link he posted above. The difference is this region has like 12 million people compared to 5 million around Denver. Moreover, Mendoza (1.2 million inh.) is just across the Andes, while Kansas City is much farther away from Denver.
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Talking of South America, Lima is very similar to Los Angeles. There is nothing outside its urban area, no small cities, farmland, nothing. Even their geographic shape is similar, both near the Pacific Ocean while their Downtowns are not near the coast.