Furthest Point From McDonald’s

Furthest Point From McDonald’s

Sep 22

I came across this map today.  It is a visualization by distance to the nearest McDonald’s.  First and foremost, this is not my data or visualization.  I came across this on weathersealed.com on a post entitled Where The Buffalo Roam.

 

The map is all cool and dandy, we have seen these kind of things with Wal-Mart, it really comes as no surprise.  However, the best stat to take away from this is that the furthest point you can get away from a McDonald’s in the contiguous US is in South Dakota, where you can be 107 miles away from the wonderment that is the McGriddle.

Digg has brought to my attention that I am stupid and it should read farthest, not furthest. I shall leave it unchanged so I can feel the full extent of the ridicule I have earned. :(

 

McDonald's Density Map

71 comments

  1. Jay

    This is so sad on more than one level.

  2. Peter

    I dunno… looking at dictionary.com, there doesn’t seem to be any mention of a differentiation between furthest and farthest. In particular,

    Usage note:
    Although some usage guides insist that only farther should be used for physical distance (We walked farther than we planned), farther and further have been used interchangeably throughout much of their histories. However, only further is used in the adverbial sense “moreover” (Further, you hurt my feelings) and in the adjectival senses “more extended” (no further comment) and “additional” (Further bulletins came in).
    The expression all the farther (or further) in place of as far as occurs chiefly in informal speech: This is all the farther the train goes. See also all.

    At any rate, when in doubt, I always apply the rule, "is there any chance anyone would be confused if I get this ‘wrong’?" In this case, I think it’s a resounding "no", so you’re in the clear.

  3. I have been to that part of SD, it is desolate. There is a town out there called BUFFALO, it is just down the road from a town called BISON. I loved seeing the sign that said <—-BUFFALO BISON—–>.

  4. Bill

    Well good grief Peter! If dictionary.com says they are the same word then they must be! Like the internet could ever be wrong!

    Use farther for physical distances and further for metaphorical distance…. Freakin blind internet num nuts…

  5. David

    What about Alaska?

  6. Bruce

    @David

    My thoughts exactly. Dunno why people seem to think Alaska’s on a different continent.

  7. Ryan

    Farther refers to an actual distance: "The ball went farther than I thought."
    Further refers to a description of time or measurement other than distance: "Let’s not take this any further." or "He went the furthest in his career."

    So yeah, the title is wrong. ;)

  8. j.

    David and Bruce:
    the map says "contiguous" not "continental," and contiguous means touching. so yeah, no alaska. alaska is not touching any other state.

  9. struax

    I wonder how close this map resembles the areas of morbid obesity in the USA.

  10. Matt

    I love how you can see outline of some roads…interstate 15 in Utah, interstate 90 in NY, 70 and 44 in MO…crazy.

  11. @struax- not very closely actually. The south comes in very high in obesity and the north east not so much. Pity they didn’t include alaska and hawaii.

  12. They should do the same stat map with subway.

  13. ManUpstairs

    They should do the same stat map with ALL of the states.

  14. mofo

    People on Digg are A-holes.

  15. Charles

    Interesting that Ohio has the same density as the east coast corrider.

  16. cunninglinguist

    According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, which is based on corpus linguistics (which takes into account the way people actually use the language, rather than just dictating what is "right" and "wrong") : furthest
    1 at the greatest distance from a place or point in time [= farthest]:There was a huge tapestry on the furthest wall.
    furthest away/from
    He walked slowly toward the end of the jury box furthest from the judge.

    Language changes with time. Do some real research. Both furthest and farthest are "correct."

  17. Kip

    dgxshiny: Fuck the diggers, they’re all 12 year old liberal pussies with pent up aggression for the realization they’ll never have sex with a woman. Fix your title and keep your head high.

  18. Halogenic

    I’d like to know more about this map. You brought up an interesting point in my head with the mention of Wal-Mart. Since there are McDonald’s restaurants inside Wal-marts now, do you think in the 13,000 locations mentioned in the other post, would this map factor in those locations as well, or is it a map of just straight-up McDonald’s-only restaurants? I wonder…

  19. clington

    No wonder Americans are so fat!

  20. JoeCool1986

    Don’t worry, another person actually corrected me (I’m JoeCool1986 on Digg) and showed that you can actually use further for physical distances! You are redeemed, my friend!

  21. gannan

    According to my Merriam-Webster dictionary the definition of Furthest is Farthest.

  22. Jill

    LOL 107 miles is not that far!
    http://www.electroniccigarettesinc.com

  23. Shirl

    I live in Idaho and I am a hundred miles away from a McDonalds… Furthest is right too, it’s one of those either or kind of words… don’t let the jerks bring ya down!

  24. Yeah, I’m with you, brother. Furthest is fine and your McDonald’s observation is bound to become useful to me someday. But I’d better act fast. Once word gets out, they’re just gonna build one in exactly that spot.

  25. COok

    i’d love to see a uk version of this map :)

  26. surio

    Yes Cook, you mean the uk version of the us map right?? Would really like to see that.

  27. bjk

    Oddly enough, Alaska isn’t considered part of the continental US. Perhaps by denotation it is, but to Alaskans the Continental US is synonymous with the Contiguous States, or as they call it, the "lower 48".

    Probably the furthest I’ve ever been from a McDonald’s would be Healy, Alaska which sits around halfway between Fairbanks and Anchorage…so it would probably be around 150 miles from a McDonalds.

  28. Nathan

    Pathetic

  29. johnr

    it’d be interesting to overlay a map of US highways over this

  30. CleanWater

    There are none (maybe 1?) shown in the U.P. of Michigan…which is part of the US.

  31. EITHER

    From the New Oxford American Dictionary 2nd edition:

    Traditionally, farther and farthest were used in referring to physical distance: "the falls were still two or three miles farther up the path". Further and furthest were restricted to figurative or abstract senses: "we decided to consider the matter further". Although farther and farthest are still restricted to measurable distances, further and furthest are now common in both senses: "put those plants the furthest from the window".

  32. Mike

    Why is everyone so concerned with the usage of the word furthest? How about looking at how ridiculous it is that McDonalds is everywhere. No wonder 2/3 of you are probably fat.

  33. yanbu

    Lol at all the Alaska comments. I’m writing this from Bethel, Alaska, and I’m almost exactly 500 miles from the nearest McDonalds.

    I wonder how far Adak is from a Mickey D’s? Gotta be 900 miles. Unless there is one in Japan that it is closer to, or Russia.

  34. yanbu

    Ok, correction, Adak is 1204 miles to Anchorage. Thats probably the farthest inhabited point from a McDonlands in the ENTIRE United States. Hah! Beet that lower 48!

  35. Chalyse

    You know there is someone in South Dakota right now thinking…HMMM..I should open a McDonalds!! There isn’t another one for 107 Miles!

  36. zach

    hey every1 whos talking about alaska, i no u guys think ur a bunch of radicals for think up "hey wat about alaska, oh im so cool" but obviously this guy is just talking about the continental united states,….. dumbf***

  37. furthest
    Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
    Jump to: navigation, search
    [edit] English
    [edit] Adjective

    furthest

    1. Superlative form of far: most far. A synonym of farthest.

  38. Calvin

    I would like to see one of Subway. I know of a lot more subway locations than McD’s.

  39. Given that we’ve clarified farthest/furthest, what would be the furthest point from McDonald’s? A fine French restaurant? Maybe Ethiopian or Afghan? Vegetarian?

  40. Shane

    lol, funny. everyones bitchin’ n whinin’ about alaska and only 1 person besides me mentions that hawaii is also part of the united states.

  41. Randy Rambo

    "Farthest."

  42. shelbz

    man, ya know. this is ridiculous if theres really that many mcdonalds’ here. and just think, by most of them is a burger king, taco bell and everything else. insane. and sad.

  43. Hoops MacCann

    …and only one mile from a Starbucks

  44. Peter

    It MUST be the furthest distance from at least two Mc Ds. Right in the middle. but could be in the middle of three.

  45. El

    The furthest you can be from a McDonalds in the US is 145 miles- and that’s in North Dakota, the darker region in this graph.

  46. Chelsea

    I actually think the darkest part of the map would be the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, since it isn’t even represented as part of America in this map.

  47. Ryan

    Being from South Dakota…I can tell you there is no Mcdonalds in Glad Valley or Meadow SD. Both towns are less than 100 people…

  48. South Dakota happy place, too many McDonalds in the world..

  49. Now I want an apple pie.

  50. Gez

    Wow! Cannot believe there are that many MacDonalds. They must sell a lot of burgers!

  51. calico

    And they wonder why America is #1 for heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and other diet-related diseases!!!!

    And the worst part is we are realizing it, but we don’t care. And we happily bring our children there to ruin their health as well.

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  57. The furthest you can be from a McDonalds in the US is 145 miles- and that’s in North Dakota, the darker region in this graph.

  58. Well good grief Peter! If dictionary.com says they are the same word then they must be! Like the internet could ever be wrong!

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  63. Thanks for the write up! This is really some great stuff here! Wishing for a following post for the similar subject.

  64. that’s an awesome map. Best to live out west and away from McDs, huh?

  65. I wonder if US looks like this in real life lol

  66. How about looking at how ridiculous it is that McDonalds is everywhere. No wonder 2/3 of you are probably fat.

  67. ha ha what a suggestive picture of the obesity of the americans…why bother losing weight when you’re 5 min to the nearest mc Donald’s ? ^^ damn you mcdonalds and all your money !

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