The Southern Coastlands

The Southern Coastlands region includes parts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and all of Florida.

In terms of topography and climate, Boulder and the Southern Coastlands are very different places. The climate in the Southern Coastlands is high in humidity, with high heat in the summertime and long growing seasons. The average temperature in the summertime in Colorado is only in the 70s (Fahrenheit).

This region is centered around the Gulf of Mexico, and the Ocean plays a large part in making the region what it is. This is often the most affected area in terms of hurricanes, such as Katrina in 2005.

Boulder, Colorado, faces no such storms. They experience severe snow storms in the winter, but nothing like the raging hurricanes in the Southern Coastlands.

Boulder is over a thousand miles from the ocean.

Agriculture is an important theme for both the Southern Coastlands and Colorado. Although the Southern Coastlands focus largely on citrus fruits, Colorado is mainly a producer of vegetables, sugar beets, potatoes, and peaches.

Colorado:

Florida:

Sources:

Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada

http://geography.howstuffworks.com/united-states/geography-of-colorado2.htm

http://bigpictureagriculture.blogspot.com/2011/07/farming-on-boulder-county-open-space.html

The Changing South

Talk about two very different regions in the United States...

... Culturally, economically, ethnically, agriculturally, and geographically.

Even our book, the Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada notes the unique and distinct culture of the South (p. 166).

Religion, surprisingly, is what turns out to be a similarity. Both areas have a high level of the Protestant and Catholic religions.

A Catholic church in the "Changing South." (Louisiana)

A Church in Boulder, Colorado...

Another important section in the text in reference to the "Changing South" region is dealing with poverty.

In the "Changing South," the Reconstruction was a period of constant poverty. Just like I previously discussed with Boulder, the "Changing South" was able to recover and grow with the economic boom caused by WWII.

Sources:

Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada

http://www.city-data.com/poverty/poverty-Boulder-Colorado.html 

http://geography.howstuffworks.com/united-states/geography-of-colorado.htm

Appalachia and the Ozarks

Colorado and the Bypassed East definitely have some topography in common- although I must say that the Rockies are much more impressive than those Appalachians...

Rockies

Appalachians:

Both are beautiful- don't get me wrong. I just prefer the daunting, sharp, jaggedness of the Rockies to the smooth, hilly Appalachians.

They also have another aspect in "common": which is coal and mining.

Both regions have dealt with the dangerous job of mining- according to the Bureau Labor Statistics,  "Employees in coal mining are more likely to be killed or to incur a non-fatal injury or illness, and their injuries are more likely to be severe than workers in private industry as a whole."

This common industry these two places share helps create a similar culture in a way- the people in these areas share similar experiences (sometimes traumatizing) that can create a similar culture in its own way.

Sources:

http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/osh/os/osar0012.htm

Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada

The Bypassed East

The Bypassed East and Colorado don't really have that much in common, either. They do share some of the same natural resources however...

This includes petroleum and natural gas.

In Colorado, it is in the fields in the Great Plains and Wyoming Basin regions.

In the Bypassed East, it is off the coast.

Both regions have to deal with a mutual problem that is a result of these natural resources: pollution. In an article from the Department of Justice, Petroleum distributors were required to pay $2.5 million in reparation for the pollution to states including Colorado.

Offshore drilling is extremely dangerous and damaging to the environment...

Although because of their differences in their locations, the two regions deal with the problems as a result from the same cause.

This points out an obvious difference the two areas have in location relative to the ocean, and both site and situation characteristics. This also largely affects climate.

Not only is the proximity of the ocean a factor, but the large difference in longitude is as well. The Bypassed East is much farther than Colorado, making the already very cold Colorado (compared to sunny California) seem warm and bright.

Topographically, although the Bypassed East has part of the Appalachians in its region, Colorado and the Bypassed East are very different. The part of the Appalachians in that region are not close to resembling the Colorado Rockies- they were largely eroded by glaciation hundreds of years ago. The same applies to the Adirondacks in the region.

Forests is another commonality between the regions. Although they are decidedly very different types of forests, they share the beauty of nature :)

Colorado:

The Bypassed East:

Sources:

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/May/11-enrd-571.html

http://geography.howstuffworks.com/united-states/geography-of-colorado2.htm
Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada