America’s Empty West Coast

The West Coast of the U.S. is known for its wealth and large population centers. However, there is one section that is almost completely empty. Surprisingly, there have been plans for this region to secede from their respective states and claim their own identity. Will one of the least populated regions in the country become its own state? And if so, how will it survive with such few people within its borders? Let’s find out.

The United States is a massive country, and although it has a population of approximately 333 million, there are some unusual phenomena regarding population density and distribution. Perhaps the biggest conundrum is the large, sparsely populated region in southern Oregon and northern California. To the north are Portland and Seattle, two major cities with large populations and vibrant economies. To the south is San Francisco, the tech capital of the nation.

So, why is the land between these heavily populated areas almost completely devoid of cities and urban areas? The reasons might surprise you. We will uncover how a series of migrations led to the growth of the West Coast but somehow neglected northern California and southern Oregon entirely, why the rugged geography of the region has hindered population growth, and what has led the population of the area to seek statehood in the past and why some advocate for this part of the West Coast to become the 51st state in the U.S.

First, we need to dive a little deeper into the population statistics of the country as a whole before zooming in and examining why this part of the West Coast is so empty. Around 40% of the people in the United States live on or near the coast, even though coastal regions only make up around 10% of the nation’s total land mass. This amounts to approximately 128 million people living near the oceans. The fact that such a large section of the West Coast seems to be almost empty is odd. Between 1970 and 2010, the population along the coasts of the U.S. increased by about 34.8 million people. The coastal counties in the United States produce more than $9.5 trillion in goods and services while employing 58.3 million people and paying $3.8 trillion in wages. If the coast of the United States were its own country, it would have the 3rd largest GDP in the world after the U.S. as a whole and China. However, very little of this money or the jobs that create it can be found in the coastal regions of northern California and southern Oregon.

Knowing that close to 130 million people live near the coast in the U.S., it should come as no surprise that the population density is high in these communities. There are around 461 people per square mile who live in coastal counties when Alaska is excluded. This is about five times more than the nation’s overall population density, which is about 93.8 people per square mile. The land mass of the United States is continuously shrinking due to climate change and sea level rise. Therefore, the land being lost is mostly along the coasts, which could result in even higher population densities in the future as people along the northeast coast and southwest coasts lose their homes to the ocean. Perhaps this will force population growth in the barren areas of the western coast of the United States.

In 2020, the area we are talking about contained approximately 484,727 people and around 21,349.76 square miles (or 55,296 square kilometers). If this area were its own state, which many in the region have argued for, it would have the smallest population of any state in the nation, while being a little smaller than West Virginia. This means the population density would be 22.7 people per square mile or 8.76 people per square kilometer, which would give it a density much lower than the national average and significantly below the average coastal population density even though the area includes hundreds of miles of coastline.

Eugene, Oregon, is the largest city in this region, with a population of 177,923. There are around 3,998 people per square mile in Eugene, which also makes it the most densely populated area in all of southern Oregon. If we zoom out slightly, the Eugene metro area has approximately 380,000 people living around it. The next biggest population center is Medford, with 223,000 people, followed by Chico, with 211,000 people, and Bend, with 99,000. All of these small cities are located in Oregon, and it’s worth noting that although relatively few people live in this part of the country, Bend is one of the top 10 fastest-growing cities in the United States. The Deschutes River runs through the town, which is one of the reasons why the location was first settled in 1905 and grew as a logging community. Now Bend attracts outdoor sports enthusiasts, fishermen, hikers, skiers, and golfers. This is what the whole region grew to accommodate. Since there are no large cities or major economic opportunities, the population has grown steadily with people who love the outdoors and want to get away from more densely populated areas. This lifestyle clearly isn’t for everyone, which is why there are so few people in this part of the West Coast.

It’s worth noting that Bend has another claim to fame other than being one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Bend, Oregon, has the last remaining Blockbuster video rental store in the entire world. This isn’t a huge draw for most people, but it is an interesting blast from the past for millennials and Generation X-ers.

Let’s now examine trends across the country that will give us a better understanding of what is happening in this region of the West Coast. The census data collected in 2010 and 2020 will provide us with a clearer picture of why this area is less settled than the rest of the western coast of the U.S. When the U.S. government conducts a census, it breaks areas into what are called census blocks where individuals living there are counted. These census blocks vary in size, and in rural areas, the census blocks are much larger as there are fewer people in the area, so it would be a waste of time and resources to make them any smaller. In 2010, there were 11,078,300 census blocks. Of those, 4,871,270 census blocks were completely empty. This means almost 44% of all census blocks were empty in the U.S., which added up to around 4.61 million square kilometers or 1.78 million square miles of empty land or around 47% of the country’s total land mass. Now to be fair, a lot of that uninhabited land is in Alaska, but there is a decent amount in the continental U.S. as well.

What is interesting is that the West Coast does not consist of many areas of low population density. That is unless you look at Northern California and Southern Oregon. Then the data indicates these locations are much less populated than the rest of the West Coast. There are a lot fewer people between the Sierra Nevada, Cascades, and the Rocky Mountains, but this makes sense due to the severe effect these mountains have on precipitation and climate in the region. The same cannot be said about the West Coast, however, where the region we are examining receives plenty of annual rainfall. Then again, a lot of the land that is considered empty in the middle of the United States consists of farmland and pastures, which means it’s uninhabited but not uninhabitable. But as we will see later, this is not the reason that Northern California and Southern Oregon have such low populations.

One of the most surprising things to come out of the census data is that just because an area isn’t considered residential doesn’t necessarily mean people do not live there. For example, in the 1990 census, the bureau recorded 63 residents living in New York City Census Tract Number 143, better known as Central Park. By the year 2000, this number had been lowered to 18 Central Park residents. Surprisingly, this downward trend didn’t persist because, in 2010, the population of Central Park rose to 25 residents, an increase of 39%, while the population of the city itself only increased by 2.1% during the same time period.

This data is interesting because it shows the lengths to which the United States Census Bureau will go in order to ensure that they secure the best possible data for the nation’s population. Therefore, when examining the lack of people in the low-population areas of the West Coast, it becomes clear that there must be something very strange going on. It’s also worth mentioning that when looking at a map of U.S. population distribution, one fact really stands out: there are many more people living east of the Mississippi River than to the west. Even though the states east of the Mississippi make up less than half of the country’s total land, it contains over 60% of its population. This has to do with several geologic and meteorologic factors caused by the Rocky Mountains that result in lower precipitation in this region of the U.S.

However, it’s important to remember that the land in northern California and southern Oregon doesn’t have this problem. So, let’s look at the population statistics in each state to see how this data compares to the empty part of the West Coast. California has the largest population out of any state in the entire country, even though it’s only the 3rd largest in land mass at 163,695 square miles (or 423,967 square kilometers). This means that California has a population density of around 251.3 people per square mile or 97 people per square kilometer. The population of the state is approximately 39 million, which grew by 6.13% between 2010 and 2020. Oregon has the 27th largest population in the country but is the 9th in overall territory. It has 98,379 square miles (or 254,799 square kilometers) of land and a population of 4.24 million people. The state has a population density of 39.9 people per square mile or 15.0 per square kilometer and grew by 1.38% between 2010 and 2020. The population density of both states is much higher than the population density of the territories in northern California and southern Oregon, which again is 22.7 people per square mile or 8.76 people per square kilometer.

So, the question becomes, why does this specific region have a much smaller population than the rest of the West Coast? The answer can be broken down into four different categories: 1. Geography, 2. Navigability, 3. Infrastructure, and 4. Identity.

**Geography:** The geographic features of northern California and southern Oregon can make the region a difficult place to live in. Much of the area is home to vast national and state forests as well as other protected lands. This means that developing housing projects and infrastructure in the area is greatly regulated, slowing if not stopping any attempts to establish large settlements within this protected part of the West Coast. On the plus side, these protected lands allow vibrant ecosystems to thrive, and some of the oldest known trees in the world reside in this part of the country.

Then there are the mountain ranges. The northernmost section of the Sierra Nevada mountains reaches into northern California while the Cascades extend into southern Oregon and across the border into California. These are some of the most impressive mountain ranges in the country, and building towns and cities between their peaks can be next to impossible. In fact, building on the faces of many of these mountains just isn’t safe, and therefore, much of the land in northern California and southern Oregon can’t support the infrastructure needed for even a small town. A perfect example of this is Mount Shasta, which is the 2nd highest peak in the Cascades and the 5th highest in the state of California. However, what makes this mountain so dangerous is that it is also an active volcano. Mount Shasta has an elevation of 14,179 feet (or 4,321.8 meters) and an estimated volume of 85 cubic miles (or 350 cubic kilometers). The mountain is so large that it also has seven main glaciers.

Southern Oregon is also home to Crater Lake, which is a volcanic crater that descends 1,949 feet (or 594 meters) deep, making it the deepest lake in the United States and 9th deepest in the world. It’s natural features like Crater Lake and Mount Shasta that draw people who love the outdoors to the region. But the wild landscape is also one of the things that keep this part of the country from developing further and having large cities. Then there is the Great Basin to the east, which has an arid climate that includes Death Valley, dry deserts, and a number of other extreme biomes. The coastal region of this part of the nation can be harsh and is made up of rugged and rocky beaches that make building ports or trade centers a fruitless endeavor. Without natural bays and calm waters to entice the shipping industry, there was never a desire to construct large port cities along this part of the West Coast, which is another factor that has kept the population in the region relatively low.

**Navigability:** Due to a series of historical events, the West Coast of the United States became heavily settled in the 1800s. The Oregon Trail allowed settlers to leave Wayne City, Missouri, travel across the border into Kansas, through Nebraska, and into Wyoming. Here they would pass over the Rocky Mountains, ending up in Idaho, and then proceed onward into Oregon, where many settled around Portland. Then there was the Columbia River, which served as a shipping and travel lane into northern Oregon but never reached the southern part of the state.

In California, the Gold Rush brought massive amounts of prospectors and families to the West Coast. Most of the gold was located in the middle of the state, and the northern region didn’t see nearly as much development or influx of people. By 1849, the Port of San Francisco opened, and the city grew around the booming trade sector. The population of the city exploded after the Civil War. Between 1860 and 1950, the population of San Francisco went from just under 100,000 to close to 800,000 people. The central and southern regions of California continued to grow over the years, while northern California remained sparsely settled.

While other parts of the West Coast were becoming more accessible due to various factors such as promised wealth and land, the region between central California and northern Oregon just didn’t have much to offer. It was hard to get to, and since there was no major gold rush or route to the area, the population in the region grew very slowly. If there had been easier access and more of a reason to settle in northern California and southern Oregon, then perhaps this area of the West Coast wouldn’t be so empty today.

**Infrastructure:** The previous two points explain why the infrastructure in the region was slow to develop. This very fact is one of the main reasons why the population has grown so slowly over time. The geography and landscape are just not conducive to building large cities or urban centers. The land has lush forest ecosystems but is not the most fertile, with the exception of one particular area. The Rogue Valley offers some of the most fertile lands in the region but is not large enough to sustain a metropolis.

Since the infrastructure hasn’t been built up to the extent of central California and northern Oregon, accessing the Rogue Valley or any part of this section of the West Coast can be difficult. Today we have the technology and tools to build roads, railways, and airports in the region, but it’s a little too late. Since the area didn’t develop as quickly as the rest of the West Coast, it got left behind. Now it would take a lot of time, resources, and money to build the transportation networks necessary to support urban centers or large populations. And since there is no real incentive for individuals to move to this part of the country other than to get away from other people, the infrastructure and population are unlikely to grow any time soon.

**Identity:** These sparsely populated regions of northern California and southern Oregon have a distinct heritage that the people who live there are proud of. It’s a land of rugged terrain and vast wilderness that generations of people have grown up to love. However, they oftentimes feel that the densely populated cities where the capitals and politicians are located are out of touch with what the rural populations in the region want and need. This has led to conflict in the past and even in the present day.

The people who do live in this part of the West Coast of the United States care about the land and the resources it provides. This is because it is their livelihood. For some, this means that they don’t want outside interference or an influx of people changing their way of life. It also means that many people in this area don’t agree with the way the region is managed by the state governments. It’s a fine balance between not wanting things to change and doing what’s best for the people who live in this part of the country. This is why there has been talk of secession. In fact, it was not too long ago that the people living in the empty part of the West Coast tried to form their own state.

The State of Jefferson was first proposed in the middle of the 19th century. During the 1851 gold rush, some of the precious metal was found in the Klamath River basin of Northwest California. Prospectors headed to this region, but not in the same numbers that had traveled across the country to seek their fortune in the Sierra Nevada Gold Fields of Central California. The search for gold would cause the first major influx of settlers into northern California and southern Oregon. Unsurprisingly, this led to conflict between the settlers and the indigenous populations who had been living on this land for thousands of years. As more settlers entered the area, the tensions between the two groups began to rise, and on October 8th, 1855, the Rogue River War began, ending in 1856.

By June of 1856, a series of small battles had taken place, with the settlers coming out victorious. They pushed the indigenous people out of northern California and southern Oregon to Coast Reservation, later renamed Siletz Reservation. It’s estimated that around 250 American Indians were killed during the war, and approximately 50 settlers lost their lives. Before the West was colonized, about 9,500 American Indians lived in the Rogue Valley. The population was made up of several different tribes, with Takelman and Shastan as two of the main languages spoken. After the Rogue River War and the subsequent removal of indigenous people from their ancestral lands, less than 2,000 Indians from the Rogue Valley survived.

Over time, the settlers of the region began to take advantage of the vast amount of natural resources in the area. They were difficult to procure and move to the quickly growing cities to the north and south, but for the settlers who were dedicated enough, there were opportunities in this sparsely populated region of the West Coast. These opportunities resulted in the first political movement to form an independent state that would include northern California and southern Oregon. Local advocates for the new territory first proposed the name State of Shasta to the California legislature in 1852, but the bill was turned down.

Politicians in the region