Handley 1

Jessica Handley
Leaver
AP HuG- 3rd period
17 May 2016
Unit 2: Population
Our worldly views on success affect our judgment in relation to where we settle,
whether it is in rural, suburban, or urban areas. These views change as our world
develops, as communication between less developed and more developed countries
grows, and as more importance is put into the idea of success and efficiency, replacing
the 20th century ideal that a quiet and peaceful life signifies a persons success. My
family road trip to Colorado is an excellent example of such a phenomenon, as we
encountered the growing and declining of population as we traveled through multiple
urban, and many rural areas. During this trip, I discovered that populations tend to cluster
in urban areas for the purpose of obtaining a successful future.
In the summer of 2011, my family decided to take a road trip to Colorado,
specifically the cities of Denver and Colorado Springs. When we arrived at the
destinations themselves, the mountains were beautiful, and the activities we participated
in will stay with me forever, but what really stuck with me was the drive from St. Louis,
Missouri to Denver, Colorado that my family took. During our drive to Colorado, my
family and I passed through only one city, Kansas City. As many people know, Missouri,
Kansas, and eastern Colorado are a part of the United States Breadbasket, so miles of
farmland and pastoral grazing areas characterized the land. As children, my little brother
and I were not very amused by the hundreds of cattle that we saw, and became very bored

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by Kansass completely flat terrain with windy grain blowing around us for around four
hours. At that point in my life, I had no clue that urbanization had not yet reached parts of
the United States, and I learned pretty quickly that as we got farther and farther away
from any large urban areas, this urbanization diminished in importance, otherwise known
as distance decay. It amazed me that populations were not all the same in every place in
America, but that the arithmetic density really grew and declined over the span of the
Midwest.
As a society in the 21st century, many of us define our entire lives on how much
we can succeed and take advantage of the opportunities given to us. We agglomerate at
the sites of most opportunity, seeking to push ourselves to the brink of our ambitions. A
unifying centripetal force of urban areas is just that, a place where success can be
obtained. Populations tend to cluster in cities so that they can further their futures and
come out successful. This can illustrated through my familys road trip to Colorado
because the rural areas that we encountered seemed to be more densely populated by
cattle than by people, and the urban areas like Kansas City and Denver were booming
with people seeking their dreams. As populations grow in these urban areas, there are
only more opportunities given to these people, and the populations in rural areas only
decline more. Although the Midwestern United States will seem to always be essential to
our crop market, it is important to note that a lack of farmers in these rural areas does not
contribute to our economy, but only encourages imports of crops as a result of the lack of
desire to take on a peaceful life in contrast to the bustling life in our cities. As
communications and markets grow throughout our world, competition only grows, and

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therefore people are provoked to reach higher and higher towards their ambitions to
further their futures.
My family road trip to Colorado only enhanced the idea that populations tend to
grow and decline in relation to how urban areas are situated. 21st century Americans
desire one thing, success, and that success can be obtained much more easily in urban
areas with a multitude of opportunities than in rural areas where the primary economic
activity is farming and cattle raising. As our world becomes more and more unified in
communication and competition, more and more people will settle in urban areas in order
to seek more opportunities.