Ryan Hite

Content Creator and Digital Marketer. I like to talk about interesting maps.

[Ryan Hite @religiousryan]

In 1965, a US senator toured a "school" on Staten Island and compared it to a zoo. It stayed open 22 more years. It took a fired doctor's smuggled key and a hidden camera to finally force the doors open. This is Willowbrook. #DisabilityHistory #Willowbrook https://t.co/8eJodJXhwu

[Ryan Hite @religiousryan]

The U.S. Navy spent decades blocking the San Diego-Coronado Bridge. Their fear: a collapsed span could seal the channel and trap the Pacific Fleet inside the bay. 🌉⚓ #SanDiego #Engineering https://t.co/zEjdY7ULmd

[Ryan Hite @religiousryan]

Zürich programs its traffic lights to hold cars at multiple red cycles so trams never stop. Banned new parking since 1990. Uses 4,500 sensors to queue cars at the city's edge instead of the center. 🚋

#Zurich #UrbanPlanning #PublicTransport https://t.co/SIZlM7Xdng

[Ryan Hite @religiousryan]

Ukraine hasn't invaded Crimea. But its drones have crashed the main supply highway's cargo traffic by 71% in 2 weeks, burned 3 of 5 ferries, hit every crossing, and triggered a 15km traffic jam of people trying to flee.🗺️🔥
#Crimea #Ukraine #Geopolitics https://t.co/4CzV05Cas7

[Ryan Hite @religiousryan]

In 1982, ~300 Iranian Revolutionary Guards moved into a Lebanese army barracks in Baalbek. They built hospitals, schools, and welfare networks. They never left. Today Hezbollah runs a parallel government there in plain sight
#Baalbek #Lebanon #Geopolitics https://t.co/R2geZNbSPv

[Ryan Hite @religiousryan]

London had TWO chances to be completely redesigned — after the Great Fire and after the Blitz. Both times, planners drew bold new blueprints. Both times, the city rebuilt on its old medieval streets instead.🗺️
#London #Geography #History https://t.co/4mNOhSK71t

[Ryan Hite @religiousryan]

Nebraska's western edge is higher than Denver. Its main river is too shallow for a single steamboat. A quarter of the state is a hidden desert disguised as green hills. It wasn't forgotten — it was built by geography to be a hallway.
#Geography #Nebraska https://t.co/eAomu27q9A

[Ryan Hite @religiousryan]

A 50-mile stretch of Interstate 8 east of San Diego crosses 4 mountain summits, splits into 2 separate highways, drops 3,000 ft on a 6% grade, then dives below sea level into 120° desert heat before crossing 40 miles of shifting sand dunes. 🗺️ #Interstate8 https://t.co/tZBnnvhneA

[Ryan Hite @religiousryan]

A city of 1.2M people 150km south of Tehran trained both Iranian Supreme Leaders, sparked the revolution, and shaped Hezbollah's and the Houthis' leadership. It's called Qom — and it may be the most influential city on Earth you can't place. 🗺️ #Iran #Qom https://t.co/fuS5Dwtivv

[Ryan Hite @religiousryan]

June 16, 2014: The atmosphere over Nebraska reached 6,000 J/kg of energy and broke the rules.

Result: Four EF4 tornadoes from one storm. Two simultaneously on the ground, converging on each other.

Pilger, Nebraska lost 75% of its buildings in minutes. https://t.co/PDgQ8ibAYU

[Ryan Hite @religiousryan]

Bolivia has $47M in foreign reserves for 20M people (≈2 days of imports) while sitting on 20% of the world's lithium.

The gas ran out. The currency is fiction (6.96 official rate vs ~20 street rate). The fortune is untouchable.

https://t.co/62gWLwLBnn

[Ryan Hite @religiousryan]

For 30 years, I-10 had a 1-mile gap in downtown Phoenix.
The state wanted a 100-foot elevated freeway with spiral ramps.
Residents voted 3-to-1 against it.
So Phoenix buried the highway instead.
https://t.co/ob7etY1vwX
#Phoenix #Infrastructure #Engineering

[Ryan Hite @religiousryan]

Boston audited its own zoning code and found that less than 1% of its existing buildings would be legal to construct today.
The city made its own geography illegal.
https://t.co/o3xgZZJufb
#Geography #UrbanPlanning #Infrastructure

[Ryan Hite @religiousryan]

A village of 80 people lives on a near-vertical rock in the Bering Strait — closer to Russia than to any American city.
This is Little Diomede — and it's just one of three American towns that exist where they shouldn't.
https://t.co/mMSxZdGgvB
#Geography #Alaska #HiddenAmerica

[Ryan Hite @religiousryan]

In the 1920s, LA had the world's largest electric railway: 1,000+ miles of track, 350 million riders/year.
Today, 33% of downtown Orlando is parking lots.
America didn't evolve car dependency—it was engineered.
#UrbanPlanning #Geography https://t.co/KI5sUrjZvq

[Ryan Hite @religiousryan]

Myanmar's 5-year civil war is ending in the weirdest way possible:
• Military regime lost territory
• Pro-democracy fighters pushed toward victory
Result: A frozen conflict where nobody won except Beijing. 🇨🇳🇲🇲 #Geopolitics https://t.co/6GuQ6atdYk

[Ryan Hite @religiousryan]

BREAKING: Cuba hits "Zero Day"'
🏥 Hospitals dark, nurses ventilating patients by hand ✈️ CIA director lands in empty Havana airport
👴 94-year-old Raúl Castro indicted for murder
90 miles away. This won't stay "over there" for long.
Full analysis: https://t.co/JcajTlQBTK

[Ryan Hite @religiousryan]

There's a "country" in Europe where: • Soviet flags still fly 🚩 • One company owns everything 🏢
• 1,500 Russian troops are trapped inside 🪖
Transnistria might be the strangest place on Earth—and it's about to disappear.
Full story: https://t.co/Rl68USFF3o #Geopolitics

[Ryan Hite @religiousryan]

30km of water. 15% of global trade. Three countries quietly building a maritime empire.
The UAE, Israel & Ethiopia are using ports, bases and breakaway states to control the Red Sea.
It's a battle for who controls the world's most critical shipping lane. https://t.co/Gk4BJRukIX

[Ryan Hite @religiousryan]

The Netherlands built the perfect country—and then ran out of room for its own people. 🇳🇱
Amsterdam: Most expensive rent in Europe (€2,164/month) Housing deficit: 410,000 homes
How the world's best urban planners engineered a crisis: https://t.co/4tlsNVljGd