One factor you didn't mention is that probably half of that land is either controlled by the federal government or is autonomous native american land (includes the entire four corners and a quarter of Arizona).

@pai9255

6 ай бұрын

Yes, this was my thought too.

@hillbilly4895

6 ай бұрын

"Facts are overrated" ~ Geoff

@lazygongfarmer2044

6 ай бұрын

Not so in Texas. It holds true for the other states though.

@driver4818

6 ай бұрын

Navajo area. US 160. Pretty Drive! Beautiful scenery

@Azurethewolf168

6 ай бұрын

@@driver4818it’s just empty

The empty southwest is a truly magical place. Remember driving on I-10 from Texas back to LA and had to pull over on the side of the highway in southern NM just because the scenery was so...haunting and enchanting.

@AmericanDaders

5 ай бұрын

It’s definitely haunted out there. Beautiful though. The land of enchantment

@mostdopecaptain3350

5 ай бұрын

It’s absolutely gorgeous. Got a spook feel to it. But I can understand after the US govt did what they did to the people of that land.

@TheAnnoyingBoss

4 ай бұрын

You havent seen the best views new mexico has to offer. Southern nm is as ugly as an asshole compared to the mountainous northern part I live in. Its really incredible the views and the vast publicly accessable lands where you can go put and no one will come to save you if you run out lf water but out therr is the real good views if you have the vehicle to support you to hey out that far away from any civilization at all. Northern nm is a great place for 4 wheeling dirtbiking etc because of the hills and mountains.

@AmericanDaders

4 ай бұрын

@@TheAnnoyingBoss man I wish I could’ve done that while I was there

@user-jw2bo3yp7p

3 ай бұрын

I think one of the best drives on a interstate in the nation is I-10 heading east to the city of Las Cruces New Mexico mountains are dreamy and I've lived in Colorado. We know mountains. Awesome desert drive with the mountains in the background makes las cruses a must drive in my opinion if you like the western desert look.

I actually live in Flagstaff, Arizona. The geology around here is actually pretty cool. We are on top of a volcanic field. The San Fransisco volcanic field. And we have huge mountain peaks here that are about 11-12,000ft. Although flagstaff itself is at 7k ft. The mountains around here are dormant volcanoes. It doesn't get hot here like southern arizona.

@patrick0uch

5 ай бұрын

it's probably snowing in Flagstaff now

@levistokes3960

5 ай бұрын

@patrick0uch it's not currently but it got about 4in over Thanksgiving. The mountains are snow capped now. Last year though we broke q record fir flagstaff. 140 inches of snow over the season. The ski resort stayed open till almost may.

@patrick0uch

5 ай бұрын

@@levistokes3960 that's awesome for the ski resort, probably not awesome for the residents. i plan on going to the ski resort when i visit my friend in phoenix in a couple weeks

@alvidrez7956

5 ай бұрын

Flagstaff is beautiful , but what trips me out is 1 hour south and your in the desert

Correction: The Saguaro (pronounced sa-Wah-ro) cactus grows primarily in the Sonoron Desert, which is to the west of the Chihuahuan Desert.

@wallacem41atgmail

6 ай бұрын

I cought that also. Thanks!

@BootyEahter

6 ай бұрын

Made me so mad... there aren't any saguaro in chichuaha

@aaronscarpa7469

6 ай бұрын

As a New Mexican, I get more upset than I should when people make that mistake 😂

@TheDarkhorse386

6 ай бұрын

There are no Saguaro cactus in the chihuahuan desert

@salvadorlopez1814

6 ай бұрын

The Saguaro cactus it’s a plant of the sonora desert, the cactus of the chihuahua desert it’s the yucca.

I chose to live out in Belen NM because an acre of land was cheaper than a month of rent in the city. Lucky enough to have a friendly neighbor with a well & smart enough to setup rainwater harvesting systems. People across the world thrive in even harsher environments. Research the "Tuscon swales". Natural buildings (adobe) are exceedingly easy to build given the rich clay/sandy soil. Giving up modern luxuries to live a humble, impoverished but empowered & natural life is a breath of fresh air in our era of industrial instability.

@user-gs6lp9ko1c

5 ай бұрын

I retired to the Sandia Mountains for similar reasons. Sitting by a fire right now from beatle killed wood I harvested from my own land. Heating paid by "sweat equity" and helping prevent wildfires in the process.

The water stress in cities like phoenix and las vegas is a real concern given the exponential growth. Longer term, these areas should stop building massive swimming pools, tropical themed neighborhoods, and fountains so that residents have enough water to survive. Increase the penalties when valuable fresh water is misused for vanity projects.

@Spongebrain97

6 ай бұрын

Even though those are problematic, they're actually not the primary cause of water stress. The vast majority of our water goes to growing crops specifically for cows to graze on

@henlohenlo689

6 ай бұрын

las vegas is an outlier. it's in a horrible location as far climate and resources, but it makes up for it being right next to the colorado river which gives it some water. and still somewhat close to so cal which is another region has alot of resources from the ports. people of so cal go to vegas for more fun activities if you know what i mean, but also go to mexico for that aswell california the laws are too strict on certain things.

@reesejabs1895

6 ай бұрын

Agreed! I visited Las Vegas earlier this year and was saddened by how much water they waste. It's also sad to see Lake Mead drained so far.

@FirstnameLamename

6 ай бұрын

Water is not "stressed" but politicized and economized at the same time. It is sold at a current rate, to consumers, large and small, who make decisions to consume water, large and small, based on scarce resources in their control.

@TheNotSoOrdinaryCarGuy

6 ай бұрын

@@reesejabs1895They wouldn’t be able to “waste it” if they didn’t have it. I’ve lived in both Vegas and Phoenix for considerable amounts of time and they’ve planned for long term growth with the scarcity of water and are well aware of what they have. Despite what it looks like, they are some of the most water efficient cities in the world. Everyone else should take note.

I grew up on the southern plains. It is flat. It is VERY flat. And very dry. There's a saying "Lubbock Texas isn't' hell, but you can see it from there," (with different versions depending on which town you live in). I'm surprised that when you were talking about water sources, you didn't mention the Ogalala Aquifer.

A lifelong Midwest boy. I've lived near El Paso for 4.5 years. I'm amazed at the beauty of the land and people of New Mexico. It's my new favorite state. I may retire there

@CarShopping101

6 ай бұрын

Hope you don't need good health care bc the healthcare and insurance companies in NM suck. It's the main reason I'm leaving this state.

@davidkachel

6 ай бұрын

Hope you aren't fond of the Bill of Rights. It is null and void in New Mexico.

@briansieve

6 ай бұрын

Y'all are such drama queen snowflakes

@eugenecrawford14

6 ай бұрын

I retired to New Mexico,, I carry everywhere everyday,, no one even notices I am 384 miles north of El paso, in tres Piedras, taos County Don't let the democratic socialist communist nazi Marxist party members scare you away

@drewskij2175

6 ай бұрын

@@briansieve healthcare will get much better, a lot of docs and nurses left during the lockdowns to neighboring states. My wife came from the medical profession here in NM but worked in NJ where we moved from years past, it was the same problems there as it is here. However I will say this, Ive been waiting over a year to see an ENT doc, she's had no issues seeing any professional she's needed to. Politically though, NM is an absolute mess, very similar to California but hope it's hit rock bottom with no where to go but up.

I loved my time living in El Paso, and being next door to Juarez makes the contiguous city a large metro area with about 3M+ people. Jobs took me away, but it has wonderful memories and culture on both sides of the border.

@hugoponders

6 ай бұрын

Yeah, not treating El Paso Juarez as a metroplex really undersells the truth.

@stuffnstuff6594

6 ай бұрын

@@hugoponders It’s actually called a borderplex

@stuffnstuff6594

6 ай бұрын

@@hugoponderswith El Paso and Juarez

@stuffnstuff6594

6 ай бұрын

@@hugopondersAnd just southern New Mexico to the north

@stuffnstuff6594

6 ай бұрын

@@hugoponderswhich includes las cruces

Tiny quibble: The desert scene with the saguaro cacti is of the Sonoran Desert, not the Chihuahuan. A point for consideration: Whether Taos Pueblo and Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico qualify as "cities" by geographers' definitions. If yes, THEY are possibly the oldest cities in the contiguous USA, each having been established about 1,000 years ago.

@pelicanus4154

6 ай бұрын

yep, you'll never see organ pipe cactus in the Chihuahuan desert.

@magellanicspaceclouds

6 ай бұрын

Yea, those Pueblos would be the oldest non-European cities/settlements to my knowledge.

@ericr154

6 ай бұрын

Are the pueblos part of the US or are they independent? Maybe that's why they don't count them.

There is also Mexicali, a city around 1M people contrasting Calexico which has less than 50K people

I grew up in Dallas. After spending the majority of my life in Dallas I moved out to El Paso. The 10 hour drive is brutal as my back & lets hurt from sitting for so long. Once I got out of Ft. Worth into Weatherford & saw the sign for El Paso at 545 miles I knew I was in for a long damn ride. But to me it was interesting to see the gradual change of vegetation down to dry shrubs, yucca, nopal cactus & creosote. I love the desert. I don't care what anyone says. I'd love to get lost in the desert & die in the desert on a spirit quest. The song by America was stuck in my head-Been to the desert on a horse with no name it felt good to be out of the rain. In the desert you can't remember your name Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain. I am glad I am here. Sure beats all that severe weather, tornados, humidity and other crap you have back in DFW.

@jeremiahallyn4603

6 ай бұрын

10 hours? That is wild. It takes 13 hours to get from my home in Central Kentucky to my family's home in Tyler, TX. And that's going through 3 separate states!

@greglane3978

6 ай бұрын

Simple rule of thumb for anyone that has never been to West Texas. Let me start by saying DFW and those big eastern Texas cities ARE NOT west Texas as many of them call themsleves "west Texas" since they think it sounds cool. West Texas starts around Del Rio. Draw a line straight north from Del Rio. Your on the west side of the line you are in west Texas. If your on the east side of the line you are not west Texas. Everytime you see a gas station in West Texas stop and fill up. If you own an EV you are screwed as you will not find very many charging stations if any. Rent a U-haul gas or diesel pickup and trailer and load your EV on the trailer if you want to travel in west Texas. Also carry water in your vehicle. If you break down on the trip between towns you are a long way away from help and summers easily get to 105F plus. If your from CA it all looks like this in west Texas and you really need to go to Austin or back to CA as you are not welcome here.

@tritosac

6 ай бұрын

@@greglane3978 Oh trust me. I stopped to fill up 6 or 7 times. I never took a chance. When you're getting out of Midland it is scarce. It's a little scary to think what would happen if my car broke down. But I got to say it's beautiful scenery at the same time. You're right about places like Ft. Worth whose slogan is "where the West begins" No it doesn't. Not by a long shot. They call themselves cowtown. Funny.

@tracejones5952

6 ай бұрын

​@@greglane3978I'm from Dallas and literally not one person in my entire life has ever called DFW "West Texas". Also I severely dislike people like you who try to tell people where they can live and stay as if you wanting them there matters at all. You or one of your relatives had to move to West Texas at some point in the near past and you have the gall to try and prevent people from getting the same opportunity. It's just crazy to me that everyone seems to forget that in the 1930's and 1940's a large amount of people in West Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas moved out to California. People will follow the opportunities and employment and ignorant people like you aren't going to stop that.

@tracejones5952

6 ай бұрын

@@tritosac because it's true. If you looked at a topographical map of the U.S. you can see a clear ecological dividing line across the U.S. that goes just west of Ft. Worth, (the 98th meridian). Just because it isn't as western as West Texas doesn't make it not western. It's the transition zone. So a nickname like the Beginning of the West is very appropriate and even more appropriate in the early 1900's when it first got the name.

I live by the region you're saying, in El Paso, Texas, at the extreme western panhandle of Texas. And yes we have the the typical desert weather, but not like Phoenix, because as a high altitude desert overlooking the southern tip of the Rocky mountains, we do have cold although bearable winters, that's why weather wise we aren't as attractive for guys that like spring like winters in Phoenix. And as you can see in the map, we are quite remote and as the city name implies, we been for centuries a mountain pass that the Rio Grande cut through and a crossroads to either California, the Rocky mountains and the Great Plains.

@user-zp7jp1vk2i

6 ай бұрын

Phoenix. Won three speech events in a tournament there. Eight months of broiling piss pot hot. No thanks. I'd take El Paso any day.

@kaymillerfromTX

6 ай бұрын

As a Houstonian, that’s always made me jealous of your weather. Phoenix weather sucks as does Houston’s. Our winters used to be more consistent when I was growing up. Just chilly at night with a few cold days here and there. Now we go from 82 to 20 and snow to 65 in the same week. Makes energy bills higher too when you’re running ac and heat all the time. Today is a nice 58 though :)

@schris3

6 ай бұрын

@@kaymillerfromTX Although with climate change, El Paso weather is starting to resemble Phoenix's, and Phoenix weather is waltzing into becoming more like the Middle East.

@kaymillerfromTX

6 ай бұрын

@@schris3 LOL! You aren’t wrong there.

@Sins83

6 ай бұрын

​@user-zp7jp1vk2i its only brutal June-Sept. May and October are mild 90s. Nov-April is perfect. Your 8 months is backwards. Besides, Phoenix is only 1.5hrs from mountain country and a 30 degree temp relief. Rim country is heaven in July.

Saguaro cactus only grow in the Sonoran Desert, not the Chihuahuan desert

You stated that Amarillo's population is around 270,000. I think you might have meant to say Lubbock's population. Amarillo's population is a little over 200,000 from what I've seen.

@yaboykris2118

5 ай бұрын

I was just thinking the same thing.

@TheUnknownWorld248

4 ай бұрын

He did, im from Lubbock and our CSA(Combined Statistical Area) is larger by over 70,000

Grew up in the "empty" region. Odessa Texas. It was a good place to grow up but I left after college (Lubbock Tx) to more habitable regions. I do like going back for drives there. No traffic and wide open views.

I’m from that region. It’s a harsh landscape, with little water, and meager economic opportunities. I now live in the NYC area, and the contrast is steeper than we even make it out to be. Also, there are no saguaros in the Chihuahuan desert. That’s the Sonoran desert.

@TheAnnoyingBoss

4 ай бұрын

I mean it also depends what you mean by meager economic opportunity. Nurses doctors lawyers they make bank anywhere bro. I live in nm i make every penny from the stock market I averaged 1-2.3k per day just this week in my stock value appriciation not even including my stocks representation worth of the companies assets which is now significantly high. Thats plenty of opportunity. Yeah there isnt a pf changs unless youre in albuquerque and there isnt tesla audi and bmw dealers unless youre in albuquerque but theres more economic benefit even in NM than you might think. If all you look for is jobs at taco bell of course youll think theres no opportunity. Its the land of enchantment man... To me i live here because its flawed but i will be fighting to make nm more like texas, and there is plenty of opportunity for me. I made 5k sitting on my ass last week man im 25 years old. Where there isnt oppprtunity you have to make it. Opportunity is only where youre willing to let your eyes see it. If you want to act like theres no opportinity there wont be for you. Stop saying there is no good jobs. I havent worked a W2 job in years in nm as there is so much opportunity i dont even have to. I go do my own thing to get my own money theres plenty of opportunity here you simply have to create it if what you want isnt there or think outside the box. I have plenty of ideas for opportunity here to build up my community over my life so it will outlast me for the peoples benefit. You dont have to work at mcdonalds bro im going to buy a 25k plot of land near my family here in nm and ill develop it. Theres plenty of ways to make money here if you dont thinl there is its because youre too used to being spoonfed opportunity so you think there is none when its simply a different kind of opportunity than youre used to. You have to think a little harder use a little intution a little intelligence and wisdom and diligence and the opportunity will become obvious to you where you thought it wasnt before. I have plenty of ideas im going to start an investment firm with my money im saving and im going to cut deals with my family for investment for a cut of the company as my family is not struggling with opportunity here either. This state is where we went from dirt poor to very comfortable upper middle class. Driving audis houses on hilltops. Come on man! Doesnt look like low economic opportinity to me. I have other ideas that are less for work and more for fun so when you say theres not a lot of opportunity to me what it means is there isnt the opportunity you expect like when you go to huston or new york city. Its a different kind of opportunities out here man. I wont tell you what all my secrets are but theres plenty of opportunity you just cant see it because you expect something else. If i hussle and snag all the good doordash shifts i can average 50k+ in one of the most rural areas if i work 7 days a week starting before breakfast and stopping towards midnight. So the money is here eben if all you do is deliver mcnuggets dont be fooled. you just cant expect it to be handed to you on a silver platter. Plus I live in a small town ive lived here most of my life so I know literally tons of the locals. Ive known them for most of my life. Thats great opportunity to me. One day theyll be my greatest employees I will work them half pay them double. Why is it i see opportinity when you do not? If someone wrongs me the town knows us so they fight for us because ive lived here for my life. Like when my family memeber was wrongfully terminated we post on facebook we have a yardsale to fund attourneys and people show up to buy stuff they say to me "i know your dad i know your mom i met your sister!" 😂 we had people want to helo pay for our attourneys because we stick up for each other better. I go to the bank and a guy will stop and yell my name i go to the grocery store someone will yell my name. I am a nobody to the world but here i am nearly famous. i know the people here. The sheriff ive seen around town countless times he even showed up just to break into my car for me when i got locked out. It gives a great feeling to me when i get to be apart of my small small community so when i develop an area it makes a big difference compared to if i was in a big city and no one really knew who i was. Here i painted for the city and they wrote my name on the walls to remember i painted their stuff 😂😂😂. The town likes me. They serve me i serve them we know each other for years and years and years since i was a child. i plant trees for the town and I know plenty of people i grew up with for years will see the same tree. I helped built a brick wall around a sign for a park i spread sod i spread rock i planted trees for my community and it actually makes a difference because people i know will read the wall and see me on it they know who i am already and can see im actually out building up an area 99.9% of usa turns a blind eye too. I ran into one guy in a restroom at one end of town i went to the other and ran into the same guy again 😂😂😂 to me its the greatest place because of things like this. Flawed but better to stay and fight for change like texas does. Im close enough to albuquerque i can sleep in until 9am and still be there by lunch time and enjoy the day there and drive a few hours back home its a day trip. Then I dont have to live anywhere near the big city. I will say, it is a corrupt place like anywhere. We have to sue our own local government once in a while. People running the grocery store get caught embezzling and stuff like that. But i mean it happens anywhere and low popualtions statistically itll be less anyway so there is that. Why is it i see opportunity all over in this land of enchantment yet you do not? Im going to build one of the coolest highly profitable businesses here in this so called "low economic activity zone" where I live is my favorite place. You call it bad ecomomy meanwhile ivd never had a job outside of the area. To me there is plenty of oppprtunity and there is less competition also. Have fun getting a job in LA when they have a gargantuan amount of applicants and they only want to pick 1-10 of them. When I apply for jobs here theres like sub 10 people applying for the same job so my odds of getting the job is way higher. But i havent worked a w2 jov in years that being said. I started a leather wallet company and i decided it wasnt for me so i took all my money and got into investing in the company everyone told me u was crazy to invest into. Well my asset accpunt went from 0 to 125k+ in 2 years so to me when tou say there isnt opportinity here, okay well maybe for you but not for me. I am developing these top secret plans only I know theres all kinds of cool stuff happening here you just dont know it! We were the manhattan project bro. We seem like a place of nothing very cool happening but cool stuff is happening you just dont hear about it. NYC sucks if youre dumb enough to live there you deserve every hyper inflated bill, charge and fees that comes your way. You asked for it. You willingly accept it. Where I live its so cheap i spend so little money my stock protfolio can balloon as my expenses almost dont exist compared to a new yorker. Thats nothing but opportunity man. Land of enchantment not the land of no opportunity.

There are 4 deserts in the US, each identified by certain plant species. Saguaros are the identifying plant and native to the Sonoran Desert only, not the Chihuahuan Desert. The Chihuahuan Desert identifiers are several species of Yucca. The Mojave Desert is identified by the Joshua Tree. And the High Desert is identified by several species of Sage Brush.

@TheAnnoyingBoss

4 ай бұрын

Sage brush is what weve got and its just a tumbleweed before its dead. They drop their seed shrivel up die and the wind snaps them off the ground and they go tumbling pff into the great deep as a timbleweed just like one blowing across the road in the movie

The Juárez metro population 2.5M residents figure you gave also takes into consideration the El Paso and Las Cruces populations. The Juárez metro population excluding them is 1.5M across the city proper and the population in the Juárez Valley

It all comes down to a lack of water that keeps the region small. Because of the high elevation, and lack of humidity, high temperatures here are more tolerable. Winters are also quite mild. I should also add that rainfall is irregular. One year you could have abundant regular rain all year long. The next year could be dry, and most of the rain will fall in one month. Irrigation is a necessity in this whole region. Water is the biggest problem in the whole region.

@TheAnnoyingBoss

4 ай бұрын

Yes there is vast wmpty land that is dumb cheap bit its cheap because if you buy it its hard to sell it. You pay 5k for a nice peice of alnd and its size is competitive for the price but there isnt a drop of water or a grocery store for literally hours sometimes. People buy tjat land realise they dont wamt it and have a hard time selling it. So what happens is the land thats where the water is, thats the valuble land. The rio grand and the northwest rivers from the navajo dam and san juan are where the population areas stick around. So thats where the good land is. In the southwest its like semi-ghosttowns plus places a little run down like roswell and theres a big oil industry down there that keeps people around. In my area the northwest its a lot of natural gas industry. Its a peculiar place i just wish it was less like cali and more like texas as it should be

I live in Washington State about 50 miles south of Seattle in the foothills of the cascade range by Mt. Rainer. Green, green, green. Visited Farmington New Mexico and drove around the area. Beautiful sites to see, rocks, sand, rock formations were beautiful. After seeing those sites for about 3 weeks, I had to get the hell out.

@clwest3538

6 ай бұрын

I grew up in the SW ... and feel the opposite! Went to eastern TN once - was on the CB and said, "... hey, I thought TN was supposed to be pretty! But how can you tell? .... all the trees are blocking your view!" A quiet reply stated, " ... Welcome to TN you desert flat lander" .... LOL - it was all in good fun. I enjoy looking out over the desert skies like I did in CA looking out over the ocean ... Told my brother in E. TN ... sheeze guy, you don't even see the sun until 10:00 am! I visited the CO Rockies but got a crick in my neck trying to see the sky - until I got up to Pike's Peak. Think I must have 'long' vision! 😆

@davidkachel

6 ай бұрын

And we encourage that decision!

@davidconn3222

6 ай бұрын

Hello from Bowen Island BC , Canada , we are retired now so get out for the winter to Arizona and many other states, love the desert hikes , driving to La Paz in a few weeks for the first time , hope Baja treats us good. many trips to the Skagit valley over the years , can't beat it , EH ?

@robertward553

6 ай бұрын

@@davidconn3222 Yes, Skaget valley is beautiful, so is BC. Lakes and rivers, mountain meadows with snow capped mountains beats the hell out of 110 degrees sand and rocks. Just my opinion.

@krisg3984

6 ай бұрын

@@davidconn3222. Sounds like the best of both worlds ! The Southwest in winter, NV on the summers !

Thank you. As a father of five I struggle to find educational and entertaining content for my younger children. The twins just hit their teen years and it's so hard to get them going in a positive direction concerning online content. They want to be KZreaders more than anything and you have given me hope. You channel is a a great resource for both entertainment and you are a good role model for kids wanting to create content. Thank you. It's so very nice to be able to watch your videos with them and teach them a variety of lessons.

Thank you for the informative and excellent presentation. I live in San Diego, but am originally from Albuquerque. I have one small correction to share. The Saguaro cactus is the iconic cactus of the Sonoran Desert, not the Chihuahuan Desert.

@davidkachel

6 ай бұрын

But, he's an expert. He must be right. And he taught us all how to pronounce it correctly. It is pronounced: "Sagg-wear-oh". All those years growing up in Arizona, I never knew! Maybe it's because the arms of the cactus "sag"!!

Living in Phoenix I have traversed few of these areas. The first thing that does come to mind is how vast and empty it is.

I am a minute in, and the answer is easy. Very little water.

@michro4094

6 ай бұрын

What?! I would have never guessed!

@billyroye3987

3 ай бұрын

Lubbock, on the high plains, gets more rain per year than LA or even San Francisco. California is a big desert in the southern part and sucks water resources from Las Vegas, Phoenix...

@donparkison4617

3 ай бұрын

@@billyroye3987 Rain isnt the primary source of water in the west, Its snowmelt. Those California cities get water from snow melt from multiple rivers of snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Madres. Texas only gets snowmelt from the Rio Grande river. P.S. The water in Phoenix and Las Vegas come directly from the Colorado River, I.E. the Rocky mountains.

@billyroye3987

3 ай бұрын

I have lived in Santa Ana CA, Phoenix, Lubbock and Las Vegas. California has a dark history of trying to take more than their share from the Colorado. They are slow to build reservoirs and most rainwater and other water goes to the ocean. Lubbock also has the Ogallala Aquifer.

Great video and so true. You either love it or hate it out here in New Mexico. After 30 years in California, I love having wide open spaces, mountains, open sky and other amenities. Doug Belen, New Mexico.

@tlaloc9624

6 ай бұрын

Hi Doug. Any tips for moving to New Mex? I'm also from CA and I'm planning to move soon. Thanks

@aaronscarpa7469

6 ай бұрын

My dad is from Belen, but we live in the NYC area now. When he talks about his childhood and early years, there’s a glow on his face that he doesn’t have otherwise. It’s really a magical place.

@allisonjones-lo6795

6 ай бұрын

Yes! I have lived in Santa Fe, NM for over 40 years. I will never leave Santa Fe, either. It is beautiful and comfortable to live here unlike anywhere else I have lived in the US.🥰

@michaeldeierhoi4096

6 ай бұрын

​@@tlaloc9624 There is a broad difference in the climate from north to south in New Mexico. It tends to be cooler with a milder climate in the northern half of the state due to the higher elevation. While moving south it becomes warmer year round with milder winters. It depends a lot where you move if you want to a larger city like Albuquerque a tourist town like Santa Fe with a higher cost of living or to a smaller community of which there are many spread around the state.

@TheAnnoyingBoss

4 ай бұрын

If we had no corporate income tax wed have better business. If we had no more conceal carry permits the texans wpuld visit more and they birthed us its sad this great state is crippled demonically by satans liberalism

For these reasons, I'm planning on living there. Living my childhood in the middle east made me prefer open landscape over concrete jungle. I'm going ton a road trip exploring most of this landscape in December 2023... starting in Michigan. Can't wait to embark on my journey

@dennisconrad6124

6 ай бұрын

Being from Michigan originally, I always thought the same as you. I spent 7 years around Arizona but not in the area covered here. I made several trips to New Mexico trying to convince myself that was what I wanted. But I just couldn’t do it. The thought of having to drive 100 miles to get to a Walmart (just an example) I realized it’s just not for me. Much of what I seen on my several trips, it looked like the whole place was “ Out of Business”

@danielclayton7524

6 ай бұрын

Funny 😂

@msovaz77

6 ай бұрын

I’m in a Tucson. It’s gorgeous here.

It's pretty hard to survive when you can't have access to clean drinkable water.

I'm one of the 2% of Americans who grew up in the empty South west in Southwest Colorado and live just north of the border outlined in your video today in Central Colorado. It really is a great part of the country. Interesting video on the history and Georgraphy of the area.

This is basically America's Outback.

@stevenbaker7025

6 ай бұрын

No, the outback doesn't have mountains, canyons, raging rivers, arches, etc. Now you could make a case for death valley being 'mericas 'outback'

@HawklordLI

6 ай бұрын

That honor would go to eastern Oregon.

@ChristopherSobieniak

6 ай бұрын

@@stevenbaker7025 Just less population, I meant.

@TheAnnoyingBoss

4 ай бұрын

​​@@stevenbaker7025nm is definelty comparable to the outback. Its just got endless semi arid desert-like enviorment and you have snakes tarantulas. You go out off the paved road onto the dirt oath that goes for miles and miles and miles into the luvlic wilderness and if you break down and run out of water youll orivbaly dehydrate and die without cell service and no one will fond you not evwn the vultures. Your body will shrivel up like a long expired peice of beef jerkey that got left out and became hard like a rock. Youll be mummified. Ive seen it with my eyes. The deer will wander so far away form water theyll die but nothing else is out there to eat them. So their corpse lays and the sun bakes them dry like a mcdonalds cheeseburger you let dry out it turns hard like stone before the mold can even grab hold. I actually compare new mexico more to that movie "the hills have eyes" compared to an outback like austrailia. The hills have eyes is a better comparison

@TheAnnoyingBoss

4 ай бұрын

Nm is basically the hills have eyes butnin real life

I love West Texas because there’s nobody there and it’s very scenic, but the scenery is highly variable.

@alicemurrah5029

6 ай бұрын

I'm a West Texas girl! I grew up in the Permian Basin and now live in the Panhandle. I love it here. Great people and stunning sunsets.

I’ve lived in Phoenix, San Diego, and San Antonio. When I lived in Phoenix I could never see any reason for anything larger than a small city. This was fifty years ago. Even more so now.

Loving County Texas is in the described area and has a population of 58 people.

@jeremiahallyn4603

6 ай бұрын

Yep, the least populous county in the United States.

Guessing in advance: Indian Reservations, mountainous terrain, and no water?

@howardlowry6412

2 ай бұрын

Not to mention federal government land control.

I live in cochise county on the western end . Love how few people live out here

The saguaros you pictured are an indicator species of the Sonoran desert, not the Chihuahuan desert. The famous cactus from the Chiuahuan desert is the peyote.

Im from the Chihuahua sierra... Lived in Las Cruces! Love the southwest!

@archjones8187

Ай бұрын

Cruces is beautiful!

Love your videos! You should make a video regarding the lack of new interstates being constructed in the plains / central US

Germans visiting the empty SW, I ask why so many Europeans visit the area since there is nothing here. They replied: "that is why, there is nothing!"

Enjoyed your video!! I grew up in the empty southwest region, so it’s an area I like to call home. Spent formative years in Albuquerque, before relocating to the Gila River Valley of southeastern Arizona, where i would attend HS. Definitely an enchanting beauty to the region. I moved away for 4yrs during college to live back east, and had to come back! I missed the beauty and diversity of the arid desert and alpine sky island mountains. Thank you for sharing!

Geoff if I had you as my geography teach during the latter end of the last century, I would've loved it!❤

just as ‘dry heat doesn’t feel as hot’ likewise dry cold doesn’t feel so cold … (i did a job in Albuquerque during one January-February and the weather was so pleasant and enjoyable)

Your population figures are wrong for the larger cities here, Lubbock, Tx is larger than Amarillo, Tx, in both city proper and metropolitan population, Lubbock has about 260,000 people while Amarillo has about 201,000, Lubbock Metropolitan has about 328,000, while Amarillo Metropolitan has about 308,000

Love the new do Geoff. Good video. THX

Why do so few people live here? Federal Government ownership of the land; Indian Tribal lands; but the most important reason is that there is scarcely any regular rain fall or available water. This is a near dessert area of our country. And hot. Not a lot of people care to live in these conditions if they have another choice.

@Default78334

6 ай бұрын

The Federal government owns the land because no one was able to move there and make productive use of it; it was so barren and useless that the Feds literally couldn't give it away. The Homestead Acts were still active until the 1970s.

@michaeldeierhoi4096

6 ай бұрын

​@@Default78334 Barren and useless are never terms that I would use to describe New Mexico particularly for many reasons. For one the native Americans who have lived here for thousands of years. The extensive pecan crop grown in the southern third of the state where it hottest. Green and red chili are grown here. There is extensive tourism in the state as in other regions described in this video outside of New Mexico

@Default78334

6 ай бұрын

@@michaeldeierhoi4096 Yes, and those portions that could be productively cultivated were claimed by homesteaders. The lands that the federal government owns are ones that no one wanted or were otherwise unsuccessful in developing. For over 100 years, that land was literally free for the taking if people were able to settle and cultivate it.

Thanks for making such a great video!

Thank you for another great video and I hope you know how much I appreciate you. Bless you and have a great week ahead 👍🌏

FYI: saguaro cacti are found in the Sonoran Desert.

Saguaro cactus are in the Sonoran desert. No Saguaros in the Chihuahuan desert.

No water

Very informative with great use of maps !

Del Rio, Creede, Del Norte, & Alamosa were all once my home on that map. There is no more water to be had. Every drop is allocated & over allocated, there are more people holding valid water claims than there is water to divide. The area can never grow because there is simply no water for more people. That & -50 F in Creede & 111 F in Del Rio.

Imagine if we added all of the empty areas of the US together: what would be left?

@orangeyewglad

6 ай бұрын

Humans have colonized a huge percentage of the planet if you count agriculture....which you should....because otherwise it would be pristine unadulterated habitat....so unfortunately a lot less land than you think.

@hillbilly4895

6 ай бұрын

A space equal to cavern between Geoff's ears, perhaps?

@revinhatol

6 ай бұрын

What about Northern New England?

it might have been worthwhile pointing out that old El Paso had been the northern suburb of Juarez.

The most beautiful part of USA. Thank you bro- great video

I really enjoyed my drive through this area when heading to the Grand Canyon a few years back. And driving through the Navajo Nation was really interesting for me too,. I really love the scenery out West, and can see why so many people move out to these places.

It might be nice to mention the Native Americans in passing here. There are large reservations in the area you're discussing.

@michaeldeierhoi4096

6 ай бұрын

There is a mention of the pueblos, Navajo and Apache nations mentioned beginning at 4:25.

Main reason for NM being so empty is lack of jobs, extreme poverty, second most violent state in the country.

@TheAnnoyingBoss

4 ай бұрын

I live here youre totally propagandized its actually sad. You think one of the saftest states in the union is the most dangerous. Sad youre illiterate. Luckily you wont be coming here. Stay out youre not welcome. California has more homeless than we have people total. I hardly.ever even see a homeless person even in albuquerque. Yes there is poverty but have you not seen the average income in usa? Itnused to be 55k-ish and now its 37k-ish. Most people are in poverty in this purposefully forced into poverty nation. California has 10,000x the crime as here. Chicago has gang wars ive never dealt with 1. Youre crazy. Living in la la land lime as if its apocolyptic here when in reality its san fransisco which is the real poverty hugh crime low job opportunity area. The businesses flee california and move in here because you keep saying its a safe place while millionares exit their front door and slip on a methheads feces and get stabbed by a used std needle left on the ground financed at taxpayer expense unlike here where i love where you cant get drug needles at tax payer expense. Vecaue nm is way less of a high crime rate area compared to at least half the country at large. 2% of the population it literally has the least crime compared to anywhere outside of maybe wyoming or montana. Wisconsin has a higher crime rate man what the hell are you on about? Making money in this state isnt a problem for me. I made 5k last week i didnt even leave my house. "Extreme poverty" the poverty here in nm is nothing even remotely close to what im seeing all over the coumtry. Nm wyoming montana tennesee, these places have exceptionally low crime rates. Everyone saying its high crime here live in areas of way higher crime its hypocricy my man it isnt accurate. How csn thd crime rate be so high when 95% of the entire state is literallt unpopulated desolate unsurvivable sand wasteland. No theifs are out there robbing like you see in megalopolis NYC san antonio, LA. Chicago. Albuquerque is the highest crime area and its a very small area of the actual state and even then its way safer at night in albuquerque than it is in sam fransisco portland la san antonio chicago or new york city. Where are you getting you data from, out of thin air? Nm isnt empty because of poverty crime of lack of jobs. Theres more jobs here than people. Its eloty hecause theres only 1 damn mega river the rio grand and theres only a few smaller rivers that drain towards lake powell. If youre not in these areas its empty because its literally inhospitable. No one moves out to the middle of the desert 3 hours away from a mcnugget.

@archjones8187

Ай бұрын

To be fair, Albuquerque is so violent it drives the crime rate of the entire state wayyy up. There are some safe cities like Las Cruces, Los Alamos, etc.

Small quip: Lubbock is larger than Amarillo by about 100,000 people when factoring the metro area.

@TheAnnoyingBoss

4 ай бұрын

I went though lubbock to see a buddy of mine in texas. I drove through all of nm to lubbock and down towards san antonio and lubbock as you come in at nighttime youll notice outside there is a lot of windmills and the air wreaks of the methane from more cow farts that you could humanly imagine by my guess. I was impressed by their infrustructure because in the middle of the night traffic is down so you rrally get more of the road to yourself and all that infrustructure development pays off. They have roads over there tjat are like roller coasters compared to where i live. When icday trip to albuwuerquenits like that. The big giant overpasses and the roads that shoot up into the sky over and under other roads. Where i live its not like that. Its cool to drive through those giant civilizations at night whe. You can enjoy all the roads they build up without white knuckling the steering wheel in uber dense traffic

US Hwy 60 through AZ & NM is a great alternate route to I-40, if you like mostly empty highways and few services. The drive from Superior AZ to Socorro NM is beautiful high-plains country, with elevations typically above 6-7,000 feet, even exceeding 8,000 ft.

Thank you

should do a episode on why the western part of South Africa only has a third of the population that the Eastern part has

One factor that may not get a lot of attention is the migration of retired workers from LA and southern California to Phoenix and Las Vegas. It’s basically like retired New Yorkers going to Florida. Also, you talked a lot about the weather, but the weather in Albuquerque and Santa Fe is much more comfortable than Phoenix or Las Vegas.

@suzannefreund3100

5 ай бұрын

Amen to the weather in Albuquerque & Santa Fe being more comfortable than Phoenix or Las Vegas! Even Tucson is slightly better. I seem to remember that there were political and cultural reasons why Arizona and Phoenix in particular have outstripped New Mexico.

Have a excelllent day Geoff

We live in central Oklahoma and are 71, so don’t travel very far, and our favorite place to go in our camper, is the Oklahoma Panhandle and into NM and COL a bit. It’s beautiful and very peaceful. No big cities, small towns here and there and it’s a whole different mindset, a timelessness that gets our minds off the mess in the world these days. It’s a whole different feel and the sky, stars, breezes, it’s a very free feeling.

Have you written any books on all the subject matter that you cover? I'd stand in line to buy a copy! Keep up the very good and informative work

it's a friggin desert

You are slowly convincing me no one lives in the US

Why there no national parks in the Mid Atlantic region?

@goldfieldgary

4 ай бұрын

Short answer, because it's already full of people.

Shhhh. We're trying to keep it a secret. I live in Albuquerque, NM and there are so many beautiful places within driving distance where you can avoid the crowds. The Grand Canyon, San Juan mountains, the Gila Wilderness, Big Bend, White Sands, Sangre de Cristo mountains, Carlsbad Caverns, and the list goes on.

Lack of water,trees, lack of paved roads other than Interstates.

@revinhatol

6 ай бұрын

*than

@rutabagasteu

6 ай бұрын

@@revinhatol auto correct is my enemy.

@allisonjones-lo6795

6 ай бұрын

That is not my experience here in the southwest. I have lived here over 40 years. Are you referring to trees and water levels comparable to back east? True, you will not find that here, except in the cities, because those plants deplete the water supplies. We plant native trees and shrubs which are drought tolerant As for paved roads, many of us do not want them because dirt roads allow the rain to drain into the soil instead of it going into a sewer. We conserve water in many ways. We learned this from the native American tribes of the area. They have lived here, in huge populations, for centuries.

@rutabagasteu

6 ай бұрын

@@allisonjones-lo6795 i grew up in central Texas during the early 1950s drought. In town we had oak and other water using trees. Just 20 miles west was nothing but prickly pear cacti and mesquite trees. About 1957 the drought broke and we had flash floods. Dirt roads, you get stuck.

Also there was a resonance cascade at the black mesa research facility in New Mexico

The saguaro doesn’t grow in the area you’re referring to in this video. It grows in the Sonoran desert

The 5.2 earthquake had nothing to do with the Rio Grande Rift. It was induced seismicity from fracking the Texas oil fields.

@valfletcher9285

6 ай бұрын

eh...no and neither is climate change real.

@xp8969

6 ай бұрын

😂☠️😂☠️😂☠️😂☠️😂​@@valfletcher9285

@beckybecky9643

6 ай бұрын

what a joke@@valfletcher9285

@TheRustyLM

6 ай бұрын

Plenty of fracking in NM too.🤓

@rebeccalindley153

6 ай бұрын

@@valfletcher9285 The US outside of the West Coast, has a very long recorded history of earthquakes. They had them long before fracking.

I love the north part of New Mexico, great place to Ski for relatively good prices

@TheAnnoyingBoss

4 ай бұрын

I live in the area. There is much better skiing just a little north up past durango, perhaps places more wealthy like telluride etc. in colorado the skiing is better. Nm only has mountainous in the northern areas towards colorado so the sking isnt as good. The 4x4 offroading is where its at here. We do less skiing in nm and more 4 wheelers, dirt bikes, my area legalized side by sides for our own public roads 😂

I noticed while staying in this area, you might really need to plan out your gas stops on long trips. You might have to go very far between fuel stations.

Recently drove thru the Northwestern and North/North Eastern corners of New Mexico and Arizona, respectively, on a trip thru South Western Colorado. One thing of note is that these chunks of land are sizable parts of the Navajo, Hopi, and Ute tribes's reservations. From my understanding, they don't really make a big emphasis on building sprawling cities and aim to conserve the wild nature of the southwest. When I say it feels eerily and isolatingly empty whilst still feeling inviting, curious, and enchanting all at the same time I mean it. Just driving thru the South Rim region of the Grand Canyon National Park (it cuts thru Navajo land) made me fall in love with the South West all the more. 10/10 would drive thru again!

@TheAnnoyingBoss

4 ай бұрын

Yes the navajo reservation is right on the edge of my main town. You can go out there but its mostly just navajo living out there and there isnt really cities or towns. Some but what theyll do is leave the res when they get paid and they buy groceries at my town and then leave back for the res. My 3 legged dog was rescused when he was abandoned om thr reservation and someone found him with his leg mangled they amputated and we kept him. Hes a reservation dog right off the res 😂

Hot Hell tundra. But the Four Corners area is magnificent. So are the people.

Because water is required for life.

Can we get a video on why there aren't many people living in Siberia? I'm curious as to why that is.

@sifridbassoon

6 ай бұрын

🤣🤣🤣

I have made many trips from Provo Utah to San Antonio Texas. There is not really much in between. The land is beautiful & the climate harsh & I love it.

@TheAnnoyingBoss

4 ай бұрын

I think the original settlers of abuquerque said "damn this desert after luisiana just wont stop we are atopping right here and settling right in the middle of freaking nowhere nothing but sand in every direction for hours and hours and hours 😂😂😂😂😂 thats why nm is so empty. The popualtions are all in the water areas or areas with geopolitical economic benefits like natural gas and oil. So theres even really really ran down areas ghost towns semi ghost towns, but theres also areas that have been consistently ever so slightly gaining population since they started tracking it back in like 1890 oe whenever. My small town started with like 100 people 150 years ago and now its above 6000 and never once has the population shrank really. It barely barely barely grows over decades and decades but at least itll still exist in the future

You forgot to mention in the Utah Parks Capitol Reef and Arches. Everyone seems to forget Capitol Reef, it's the least famous NP in the state, but you have to go through it if you travel between Bryce and Arches. It's also near where my mother grew up on a ranch

@jackprier7727

5 ай бұрын

Capitol Reef and Cedar Breaks are two wild natural places that are splendid and often uncrowded-

i live along the rio grande with the manzano mountains to the east, the mesa to the west, and a large dormant volcano to the north

Albuquerque and the middle Rio Grande get a share of the upper Colorado River basin through the San Juan-Chama Project, a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation interbasin water transfer project.

Over 40,000 students at Texas Tech University putting it in the top 50 largest universities in the country. The weather can quickly change in the region, but the lower humidity makes it more pleasant than east Texas in August, which also heats up with high pressure on the opposite side of the desert monsoons.

@TheAnnoyingBoss

4 ай бұрын

They have literally 38000 more students than my whole town has people total. Wild

I live in No. Colorado and can attest that the very SE corner of Colorado is virtually uninhabited. South of I-70 and east of Pueblo, there is nothing. I drove thru there years ago on the way to Memphis and almost ran out of gas. There was one lone pump (no station or convenience store) on a slab in Kit Carson. The area is like the surface of the Moon. Also, east of El Paso, there is not even a light bulb until you get to Van Horn Texas, which is just a bump in the road.

@TheAnnoyingBoss

4 ай бұрын

Be careful with those gas statioms in these areas of the country becauee often theyre not visited a lot and they can have bad gas. We shotnup from 4 corners nm upto silverton co and we pumped gas there its a very small town and their gas was so trash it ruined our fuel system and they wouldnt pay for it we had to get towed and i will never get gasoline up there again. Get gas from a station that looks to be used often enough. Their fuel will be fresher. Ill pump has at any gas station where i live but you gdy those weird stations that almost look abandoned or theyre in a small small small town witu. A popualtion of like 800 and none ofnthem trust their own areas gas you dont see them at that gas station thatsnaboutnto ruin your expensive fuel system.

I can tell you in west Texas the pay is almost half that of the golden triangle with the exception of oil field which drives inflation, making everyone else’s salaries not matter. Owning land is next to impossible. Sellers wanting 10 times the actual agricultural value. Maybe 1 cow per 10 acres because of drought. That would put land values at $1000 per acre or less.

I Live close to Mesa Verde National Park in S.W. Colorado and I Love it, Traveling the Four States, so Much History, Ruins, Arches, Slot Canyon's is really a Powerful Silent Force of Nature that can be Scary sometimes. Most Respect it.

I grew up in southeast Arizona, my wife is from the az/nm border. You have already been corrected on the Sonoran vs the chihuahuas desert stuff, they really are two different ecosystems. You have to have discussed the Gila River as well as the rio grande to really understand the regions. Mining is a major part of our past and present. 😊

It sucks if your trying to fly to this region I grew up there and going home is always hard because most places don’t directly fly there

Living in Prescott Valley, AZ for 8 years now. Quad cities area(Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, Dewey)

Der ain't no watur der.

You made a mistake at 1:45. You said "the chiwawan desert, which extends TO Mexico" . This is incorrect since most of the chiwawan desert is in Mexico. So, "the chwawan desert, which extends FROM Mexico.

Subbed for life ma boi

Remind me of an old Sam kinnison bit. We have deserts in America too, we just don’t live in them A******!!!!!” Rang truer in the 80s I suppose

@mystreteacher

26 күн бұрын

Don't send them water. Send them U-Hauls.

I live in tucson, and its nearly the same as the other cities out there. Its also just really peaceful [until you go to the bad areas] and its nice to be away from the big cities where your gonna be stuck in traffic and brainwashed by all the politicians and crime.

People don't live there because its not a fun place to be. I was in El Paso, Texas at Ft. Bliss for training for 4 months. They wouldn't let us go to Juarez, Mexico because of the crime. The rest of the area is desert and inhospitable. There's not much to do out there and the economy is poor.

@goldfieldgary

4 ай бұрын

To be fair, ANY military base is a sh!thole and it has nothing to do with the region's attractions or lack thereof.

I moved to an isolated small town in Northern Arizona in the 90's. I haven't seen a big town in over 20 years, the closest one is 100 miles away. Quiet, peaceful, low crime.

A lot of us from this region value our space. Aside from that, the drier regions take more acreage to support livestock thus the farms and ranches have to be larger than in the east. There are many roads that don't have utilities running down them and wells have to be dug deeper, so even if you want to move onto a piece of land, it could be cost prohibitive to a lot of people until the population gradually expands.

@TheAnnoyingBoss

4 ай бұрын

And it probably wont. Only 30k people moved in last year. My small town started with like 100 people in 1890 and its up to nearly 7000 now but it took 135 years 🤡🤣

You mentioned the chihuahuan desert supporting saguaro cactus. But what about the Sonoran desert? The Sonoran desert includes the giant saguaros of the southwest and is the only area in the world where they grow.