Does California feel crowded the same way Netherlands feels crowded?

25 comments

1. Huge swaths of california are empty or only sparsely populated. Some relatively small bits of it are quite densely populated.

   So…it just depends on where you’re standing.

2. Depends where you are, but the Netherlands has several times the population density. I think Amsterdam, as an example, is also more dense than LA. Those measurements always get a little tricky.

3. The population density of the Netherlands is like five times that of California OP

4. Drive to Northern California, that misconception will be dispelled real quick.

5. Not even close. California has huge areas of sparse population or basically nothing. The Netherlands is much smaller, and there aren’t really many wide open areas, with towns and cities not being all that far apart from each other.

6. population density of CA – 97 persons per sq. km.

   population density of NJ (most densely populated state) 462.36 persons per sq. km.

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   population density of The Netherlands – 507 persons per sq. km.

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   so I’m guessing that no state in the US feels as crowded as the Netherlands. But NJ has a huge % of land dedicated to parks, reserves and protected natural habitat, so maybe the places where people live in NJ are as crowded as the Netherlands, IDK anything about their protected lands or open spaces.

7. No, it doesn’t. But the freeways in southern California do.

8. Depends on which part you’re in. The greater San Francisco Bay area and the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area feel crowded. Basically nowhere else does, not even larger cities like San Diego or Sacramento.

9. There are large sections of land where there is little to nothing. When you drive from SoCal to NorCal through the Central Valley, you drive for hours through areas with nothing but cow fields or almond orchards. The towns are tiny and far apart, with only the occasional big city like Fresno or Bakersfield along the way.

10. No.

    What in the name of Alfred E. Nueman would give you that impression?

11. Having spent time in the most populated areas of both (and also some time in Limburg province), I would say the Randstad region of the Netherlands definitely feels more crowded, but it also has the feeling of the infrastructure being more suitable for the density of people than California’s megacities.

12. https://www.google.com/search?q=California+population+map&oq=California+population+map&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i512j0i22i30l6.9179j1j7&client=ms-android-google&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgrc=W0TSHDdC1uRp_M

    Population map so you have some context. A square mile is roughly 2.6 square km so you have an idea.

13. I’m sure California is at least twice the size of the Netherlands lol.

    Google check. The Netherlands is 10x smaller than California lol.

14. How many homeless people do you have in the Netherlands?

15. Uh no

16. Netherlands make me feel claustrophobic. I don’t think there was a single piece of land where you couldn’t see major human structures.

    California still has some bits where you usually can’t see much else except nature.

17. I don’t know how ‘crowded’ it would be in the Netherlands.

    It’s very crowded in the urban areas near Downtown Los Angeles, and much of the area around the city of San Francisco.

    Los Angeles is known for suburbs, and expansion during areas where land was plentiful. So a lot of the area is 1000 – 2000 sq ft houses (100-200 sq m) built on 50 x 150 foot lots (about 15 x 50 meters). Those areas aren’t crowded, but there is a trade off: I can drive from Ventura, 70 (100 km) miles east to the Los Angeles area, then from there another 70 miles east to the desert, *and not really leave a populated area, and enter any sort of agricultural or wilderness area.* So there’s a feel of ‘can’t get out of the city’ sometimes.

    If, instead, I go south down the coastline, it’s 70 miles from Ventura to Los Angeles, and another 120 to San Diego, same thing. That’s almost 200 miles (320 kilometers) without fully ‘leaving the city’.

    Side thought: The metropolitan LA Area has a population that is a million more than the entire country of the Netherlands. The overall metro area is about one-third smaller in area.

    Side thought #2: Almost all of the population lives within 75 miles of the coast. About 80% of California is agriculture and wilderness.

18. I haven’t been to the Netherlands, but California does not *feel* crowded at all. Drive from Bakersfield to Needles. Or from Tehachapi to Bridgeport (except not today because much of it is closed). Or from Santa Rosa to Crescent City. Or from Sacramento to Weed.

    The only places in California that give me that “crowded” feeling are the downtown areas of major cities. The suburbs and small towns and country don’t feel crowded at all.

19. China is crowded and half the country is barely inhabited. Netherlands is very small and has a concentrated population.

20. If you live in the cities, I can see that but, massive chunks are of the state are just really empty with absolutely nobody in them.

21. It’s really only the big cities like LA, SF, San Diego, and Sacramento to a lesser extent that are crowded. California is actually mostly a pretty rural state.

22. It’s interesting you said “the same way Netherlands *feels* crowded”. There are a lot of ways for a place to feel crowded or not crowded. That I know of, Santa Monica is the only place that feels crowded the same way as 🇳🇱: low to mid-rise buildings, pedestrian-heavy, tourists aplenty, claustrophobic yet safe. But it feels more crowded than places that are technically more dense like DTLA and K-Town. I’m sure someone with Bay Area experience could weigh in on the spots there for similar vibes.

    Sparsely populated portions of Netherlands feel dense because of the intensive farming and the flatness: that guy on the bike 2KM away is still visible. Parts of California with lower populations feel way less dense, mostly due to terrain: there might be an enormous traffic jam or a herd of cattle over that ridge, but all you see is oak savanna and all you smell is sage.

    I don’t know why you’re getting heat over absolute population density when you’re talking about how a place feels. Look up Reyner Banham if “feel” is what you’re after.

23. No not at all, I’ve been to Netherlands. Even downtown la is far more spread out, even for an American from the northeast California is very spread out.

24. no it’s completely different. because of cars.

25. I lived in the Netherlands for a while. It does not really feel crowded. But California is a lot more sparse.