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Kansas is Flatter Than a Pancake (2003)

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Re: Kansas is Flatter Than a Pancake (2003)

#41

Post by hobs »

lostapathy wrote: post #40
jlkuester7 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the big reason for KS's flat reputation vs places like Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, and Delaware is trees (or lack thereof). In SW Kansas (the flattest part of the state) you can drive for miles and miles of endless flatness without hardly seeing a single tree. There is just nothing that disrupts your view of the horizon. It is a bit of a different experience then being in a flat forest/swamp. (Al…

> (Also, the terrain of eastern/central KS is very different from the west. So if your only experience of KS is Wichita/Kansas City/Topeka, then you don't know how truly flat the other half of the state actually is...) People say that, and every time I make a trip somewhere out west I haven't been previously I brace myself for the boredom. So far I've always been "disappointed" and have yet to find this boring and ba…

Have you driven specifically through KS? I remember a 5 hour stretch going from MN to CA (yeah, I took the long way) where it was like driving in a matte painting, nothing changed.

Re: Kansas is Flatter Than a Pancake (2003)

#42

Post by lostapathy »

hobs wrote: post #41
lostapathy wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (Also, the terrain of eastern/central KS is very different from the west. So if your only experience of KS is Wichita/Kansas City/Topeka, then you don't know how truly flat the other half of the state actually is...) People say that, and every time I make a trip somewhere out west I haven't been previously I brace myself for the boredom. So far I've always been "disappointed" and have yet to find this boring and ba…

Have you driven specifically through KS? I remember a 5 hour stretch going from MN to CA (yeah, I took the long way) where it was like driving in a matte painting, nothing changed.

Have lived here for a couple decades.

Kansas is certainly not the best drive you'll ever see, but there are many that are worse.

The east/west drive across Nebraska is a lot worse - even less geography around the interstates. Kansas at least has some geographic change as you come through the high plains in the west toward the hills in the east.

For that matter - going north/south on the western side of Iowa is crazy boring too. Road runs right along the river so there is no perceptible elevation change for an eternity. East/west across Illinois is the same way - completely and totally flat highways for hours and hours.

Re: Kansas is Flatter Than a Pancake (2003)

#43

Post by jey »

I object to their methodology. They are including the sides of the pancake to model the pancake as having a plateau-like topology to conclude that it's "not flat". Clearly the pancake being referred to in the adage "Kansas is as flat as a pancake" is referring to the interior region of a pancake that excludes the edges. A more appropriate methodology would model only a Kansas sized interior of a larger North America sized pancake, without the cliff-like edges.

Re: Kansas is Flatter Than a Pancake (2003)

#44

Post by JKCalhoun »

WalterBright wrote: post #16

There are places in Kansas where you can turn 360 degrees and see not a hill, tree, structure, or any landmarks at all (other than the road). You see the curve of the earth. It looks like a golden ocean.

I've always liked that about Kansas.

An optimist senses it as an "unbounding": a freedom to travel, adventure, explore in any direction.

A cynic feels: anywhere but here.

I've felt both during my time in Kansas.

Re: Kansas is Flatter Than a Pancake (2003)

#45

Post by JKCalhoun »

lostapathy wrote: post #42
hobs wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you driven specifically through KS? I remember a 5 hour stretch going from MN to CA (yeah, I took the long way) where it was like driving in a matte painting, nothing changed.

Have lived here for a couple decades. Kansas is certainly not the best drive you'll ever see, but there are many that are worse. The east/west drive across Nebraska is a lot worse - even less geography around the interstates. Kansas at least has some geographic change as you come through the high plains in the west toward the hills in the east. For that matter - going north/south on the western side of Iowa is crazy…

The Sand Hills is a very pretty drive in an east/west drive across Nebraska.

Re: Kansas is Flatter Than a Pancake (2003)

#46

Post by JKCalhoun »

BenjiWiebe wrote: post #36

Where I live in central Kansas there's plenty of (small) hills and trees. Also as someone else mentioned, the Flint Hills are not flat. Western Kansas is the part that's mind numbingly flat.

The horizon broken up only by the ubiquitous grain elevators.

Re: Kansas is Flatter Than a Pancake (2003)

#47

Post by mandelbrotwurst »

jlkuester7 wrote: post #32
lostapathy wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Parts of Iowa and Illinois are much flatter than any parts of Kansas I’ve ever been to. Incredibly so. People romanticize this idea that Kansas is a flat nothing-land, luckily most of them also stay away. Kansas is only the 7th flattest state, even https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/flattest-st...

I think the big reason for KS's flat reputation vs places like Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, and Delaware is trees (or lack thereof). In SW Kansas (the flattest part of the state) you can drive for miles and miles of endless flatness without hardly seeing a single tree. There is just nothing that disrupts your view of the horizon. It is a bit of a different experience then being in a flat forest/swamp. (Al…

That makes sense. I think it’s also due to contrast, specifically due to Kansas neighboring Colorado with its very not flat mountains.

Re: Kansas is Flatter Than a Pancake (2003)

#48

Post by sdenton4 »

jey wrote: post #43

I object to their methodology. They are including the sides of the pancake to model the pancake as having a plateau-like topology to conclude that it's "not flat". Clearly the pancake being referred to in the adage "Kansas is as flat as a pancake" is referring to the interior region of a pancake that excludes the edges. A more appropriate methodology would model only a Kansas sized interior of a larger North America…

Science is a conversation, my friend! I encourage you to gather some new data and write a rebuttal article.

Re: Kansas is Flatter Than a Pancake (2003)

#49

Post by Tempest1981 »

Zenst wrote: post #17
WalterBright wrote: post #16

There are places in Kansas where you can turn 360 degrees and see not a hill, tree, structure, or any landmarks at all (other than the road). You see the curve of the earth. It looks like a golden ocean.

Would love a good google street-view link too that. [edit add] had a google, nowt special jumping out beyond some rather good jokes of which one I feel sums things up nicely "Kansas is so flat you can watch your dog run away for two weeks".

I found this, Hwy 96: (38.4823316, -100.6892430)

https://goo.gl/maps/iRajjCbBDJQMz5ud7

Re: Kansas is Flatter Than a Pancake (2003)

#50

Post by whatshisface »

jey wrote: post #43

I object to their methodology. They are including the sides of the pancake to model the pancake as having a plateau-like topology to conclude that it's "not flat". Clearly the pancake being referred to in the adage "Kansas is as flat as a pancake" is referring to the interior region of a pancake that excludes the edges. A more appropriate methodology would model only a Kansas sized interior of a larger North America…

Check the x-axis/y-axis ratio of the graphs. Even if the pancake edges weren't included I think Kansas could still be flatter.
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