If you moved the entire population of the Earth to the United States and spread it out evenly, there would only be about 2000 people/square mile (7% as dense as New York City).

So not overpopulation as much as everyone wanting to live in/go to the same handful of places. And now they are all mostly making choices based on the same sets of data (Yelp reviews, AirBnb etc etc).

This statistics-speak is pointless. There are not that many places you would want to live at. Mojave dessert, mountainious area? Sahara, Greenland ...

Personally speaking, the main reason I wouldn’t want to live in any of those places is because of the lack of people — cities and buildings can be designed around the terrain… but if no one else is there, what’s the point?

Counterpoint: Las Vegas is in the middle of a desert - yet immensely popular.

Yet there are people who live in those places. Pointless? That statistic really puts in perspective for me how much empty space there is in the world.

Most of the available land that is capable of the agriculture needed to support the current populations are in use though.