Cities Across the U.S.

Here's a fun map I saw shared on social media somewhere by a data visualization person:

(Click to enlarge.)

The blue areas are the commuting ranges of the various metropolitan areas, some of which overlap and merge together from one city to the next.

The person who posted it noted that the major cities of Texas do not have overlapping commuting ranges, as is sometimes assumed. Obviously, the so-called sprawl of the Eastern Seaboard does, but also Chicago/Milwaukee, Los Angeles/San Diego, and just about Cleveland/Canton/Youngstown/Pittsburgh. Detroit and the southern cities of Michigan have a lot of contiguity going on as well.

I have to say I was surprised at the relative extent of the sprawl of the Twin Cities (marked as Minneapolis), which I think may be the largest stand-alone blot on the map. Note: I don't think that's something to be proud of. 

The line of Upstate New York cities along the Throughway/path of the Erie Canal (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Albany) is more visible than I expected.

And generally, look at all those cities in flyover land. Lots of people live there/here!