Wapsi Square Forum

Tyler Falk /SmartPlanet wrote:Like McDonald’s, Starbucks seems to be everywhere you go in the United States.

But just how deeply has Starbucks engrained itself into the U.S.? Are they really on every corner like they seem to be? Now we have a better idea thanks to James Davenport, a PhD candidate from the University of Washington.

He created a Voronoi diagram to find the farthest point from a Starbucks (including only franchise locations, not stores located in a grocery store, for example) in the United States. The farthest you can be from a Starbucks in the U.S. is 140 miles, or about the distance from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia. To put it another way, nobody in the U.S. is more than 140 miles from a Pumpkin Spice Latte:



And he created this graph that show just how close we all are to a Starbucks.



That’s right, almost everyone in the U.S. lives within 100 miles of a Starbucks. But even more fascinating is how the proximity to Starbucks relates to urban U.S. population. From Davenport:

There are ~311 million people living in the USA, with 82% living in urbanized areas. One might define urbanization in the modern era as the distance to the nearest Starbucks. An “urban” environment would therefore be anyplace within a 20 mile radius. Yes, more than 80% of the USA (that’s 250,000,000 people) live within 20 miles of a Starbucks.

There you have it, like it or not, Starbucks is urban America.

alj_ws wrote:Euh, what is a starbuck ? (ok not really)

But sorry, paying 4x the price of a good coffee anywhere around for a binge that smells of old socks, no thanks !

Ok, I'm a bit of a coffee snob, owning a machine that takes only freshly roasted beans bought from a local torrefacteur, grind them at the right level, and pour high pressure mineral water at the right temperature tru it to get a coffee, not the aforementionned swill. (I have also french presses and Italian vapetto but uses them rarely). But still, i cannot understand why starbuck seems to be so popular in the states. Here (France), what they serve is frankly horrible. I know it is hip, but this goes only so far.

shadowinthelight wrote:And according to their commercials Mcdonald's McCafe drinks score higher than Starbucks in taste tests. Make of that what you will.

NOTDilbert wrote:This kinda echos another stat I remember hearing: 80% of humaity lives within 20 miles of a coastline.

Tsunami/extiction impactor fans take note.....

Leak wrote:

shadowinthelight wrote:And according to their commercials Mcdonald's McCafe drinks score higher than Starbucks in taste tests. Make of that what you will.

Well, we've got several McCafes here and zero Starbucks, so...

But yeah, even by Austrian standards the coffee at a McCafe is good. I could have done without them also selling Bubble Tea (the latest fad here) now, though...

Fairportfan wrote:

Leak wrote:

shadowinthelight wrote:And according to their commercials Mcdonald's McCafe drinks score higher than Starbucks in taste tests. Make of that what you will.

Well, we've got several McCafes here and zero Starbucks, so...

But yeah, even by Austrian standards the coffee at a McCafe is good. I could have done without them also selling Bubble Tea (the latest fad here) now, though...

McCafe (at least here in the States) is the beverage, not the joint where you get it.

Personally, i find coffee in all forms revolting.

Julie wrote:Not 100% on topic...but our brilliant leader (aka Paul) shared this on his Facebook yesterday...and it made me laugh...

MerchManDan wrote:Here in the Frozen North, Tim Horton's coffee rules over us all. Robin's, Second Cup and - of course - Starbucks all have their places, but for the average Canuck, nothing beats a double-double from Timmy's. For the same reason that Starbucks is so big in the States, I suspect: It's all marketing.

MerchManDan wrote:Here in the Frozen North, Tim Horton's coffee rules over us all. Robin's, Second Cup and - of course - Starbucks all have their places, but for the average Canuck, nothing beats a double-double from Timmy's. For the same reason that Starbucks is so big in the States, I suspect: It's all marketing.

lake_wrangler wrote:I guess I must not be average, Canuck though I be... I don't drink coffee...

lake_wrangler wrote:However, I absolutely concur on the near ubiquitous status of Tim Horton's. They make decent sandwiches and soup, too. And they have an excellent selection of donuts, muffins, and other assorted pastries.

DinkyInky wrote:

MerchManDan wrote:...Tim Horton's...

I used to cross the borders on a weekend trip(mostly to paint the amazing scenic places), and I found that place...interesting. It was nothing to write home about at the time. I suspect that it's gotten better with age, as so many talk about it these days.

MerchManDan wrote:

lake_wrangler wrote:I guess I must not be average, Canuck though I be... I don't drink coffee...

D'oh! Sorry lake_wrangler, I keep forgetting I'm not the only Canadian here - and any sweeping generalization I make will probably be countered by facts.

MerchManDan wrote:

lake_wrangler wrote:However, I absolutely concur on the near ubiquitous status of Tim Horton's. They make decent sandwiches and soup, too. And they have an excellent selection of donuts, muffins, and other assorted pastries.

NOW we're speaking the same language!