COMMUNICATION AND TRANSPORTATION 267 



Nevertheless, although there is danger of exaggerating the 

 isolation obtaining in the country, the social aloofness that exists 

 there is real, considerable, and serious. Grant to individuals 

 living in cities friends and a standing in some circle or set of 

 persons, and unquestionably opportunities for intercourse and 

 amusement, culture and social service are not only much more 

 numerous in cities than in country but in general the distance 

 traveled to reach them is less; and perhaps it should be added 

 that transportation and communication facilities are better. 



There are three proximate conditions which account for the 

 rural social isolation existing in the United States; namely, 

 spatial separation of families, fewness of social institutions, and 

 what may be called the rural state of mind. These will be con- 

 sidered for the purpose of evaluating the difficulty of overcoming 

 or mitigating them. 



A fairly approximate perception of the degree of separation 

 obtaining among persons and families in each of the nine 

 geographical divisions of the nation may be gained by dividing 

 the rural population by the appropriate division area. This is 

 only approximately correct for rural density since, besides the 

 rural territory, the total division area contains the urban area; 

 and further the rural population includes that of towns and 

 villages, or all segregated populations of less than 2,500 in- 

 habitants each. The latter statement is undoubtedly of greater 

 import than the former, creating the likelihood that the rural 

 population density is somewhat, though not greatly, less than the 

 accompanying figures indicate. The following table sums up the 

 data: 



Population Families 



Division Division Rural Per Square Per Square 



Area Population Mile Miles 



New England 62,000 1,097,000 16 4 



Middle Atlantic -100,000 . 5,593,000 56 T2.7 



E. N. Central 246,000 8,633,000 35 8.1 



W. N. Central 511,000 7,764,000 15 3.3 



South Atlantic 260,000 9,103,000 34 6.8 



E. S. Central 179,000 6,836,000 38 7.9 



W. S. Central 430,000 6,827,000 16 3.2 



Mountain 859,000 1,686,000 2 0.47 



Vacific 318,000 1,810,000 6 1.4 



(Abstract 13th census, pp. 29 and 60.) 



