I spend a great deal of time each day on Craigslist. For work, for myself, for friends, and sometimes, just because. Have you ever noticed that Craigslist knows where you are? Well here's a giant map of the United States according to Craigslist web traffic data.
In this day and age I'm ok with the Big Brother aspect of Craigslist knowing where I am. What I find completely fascinating is seeing who should be shopping where and how the country breaks down shopping wise outside of major metropolitan areas.
Do you shop exclusively in your own city? In the Midwest, it's pretty easy to accomplish a days worth of travel for a specific item. I've driven a few states away in the past and have always been grateful I did. What do you think of the map above? Let us know below.
You can read more about this map, what it means, how it interacts with Cragslist and it's users from the link below.
• Read More: Chalkboard Maps: United States of Craigslist from IDV User Experience
(Image: IDV User Experience)
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Although I live in Greensboro, NC, I always search in nearby and not so nearby cities. Found a wonderful wooden trestle table for my dining room that was located in Richmond Virginia. Drove the 3 plus hours to pick it up after making sure it would fit in the back of my Toyota Prius. It did!! Also bought 10 plus pounds of fresh, dry-picked cranberries from Cape Cod via C-list, seller could not have been nicer. The berries shipped via USPS, and are my winter answer to rhubarb. My next distant trip is to Norcross Georgia, to check out some chairs listed on a local C-list. This is on my way to Atlanta, hope they are comfortable. I believe they will also fit into the Prius. Word of advice: before you make the drive just make sure you can haul the stuff home.
I'm located in Philly (center city). I have a second base in (geographically central/west) Jersey. I have gone a-craigslisting in the following regions: Delaware, Philadelphia, Allentown, South Jersey, Central Jersey, North Jersey (listed as new jersey, those punks), Jersey Shore, and New York City. Reading is also, occasionally, under consideration, but the pickings there (and in Allentown) are fairly slim. (I have some general searches bookmarked set for CNJ that I know will not yield many hits in CNJ but will pick up listings from almost all of these regions anyway.)
The most miles I've invested in a listing was 400miles total for 2 round trips to pick up a dining table and 6 chairs, and I didn't even want the chairs but the seller was stubborn and hadn't budged on price or breaking up the set after months. I did rid myself of the chairs eventually, though I didn't get quite as much for them as I might have hoped....
I have a honda fit, btw. Lots of things will fit in the fit... I've also basically made it my policy to have as few items of furniture that I can't move by myself as possible.