What factors influenced the location of cities and towns in the United States?
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Les Denham, Geoscientist at Various (1962-present)
Answered 2 years ago · Author has 760 answers and 1.5M answer views
Most cities and towns in the U.S. have one or more of the following factors determining their location:
Transportation. Many cities are located on a natural harbor, at the head of navigation of a river or stream, where a natural shallow spot in a stream makes it easy to cross, or where a railroad crosses a river, or at a railroad junction. Towns in this category include New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Houston, San Francisco, and many others.Water. Many towns and cities started at locations with the only fresh water for miles. Las Vegas, NV, is an example.Good land for agriculture. Some towns grew up next to fertile farmland. Farmington, NM, even has the reason for its existence in its name.Natural resources. Towns sprang up where gold, or oil, or coal, were discovered, or where much old growth timber could be easily logged. Many of them are now ghost towns.Military reasons. Towns grew around or near army and navy bases.Political manipulations. Washington D.C. is the most obvious in this category, but I know that in many Texas counties the location of the County Seat (which is often the largest town in the county) was determined by a process of political manipulation and in some cases outright fraud, mainly by businessmen who owned land at the location they backed.
