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I definitely think that splitting NYC and the surrounding areas from upsate NY would be good. NY state is very suburban and it doesn't know how people in NYC, which is mostly urban, have to operate so I don't think they can go well together. It'd be better for both of them to split apart.
Splitting a big state would mean a huge political power loss on the national scene. Not that I wouldn't be okay with that.
But, my choice would be to give Northern Virginia and Montgomery County, MD and Prince Georges County, MD to DC instead of just being the DC appendages they are now weighing down the identity of their respective states. I think it would be better for Virginia and Maryland.
1. Washington east of the Cascades AND the Idaho panhandle, which would be joined. Spokane, Yakima, Couer d;Alene or Pasco could be capital.
2. Oregon east of the Cascades. Bend could be the capital.
3. California - split into 3:
**Northern (border just north of the Bay Area, just north of Sacramento, just north of Truckee); capital could be Redding.
**Central (southern border: the northern edge of San Luis Obispo and Kern Counties, with the border then turning N along the Pacific Crest Trail and the crest of the Sierras); capital probably stays in Sacramento.
**Southern (N edge of SLO and Kern Counties, plus a "panhandle" including the area beteen the Sierras and the Nevada line); Bakersfield, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino or Barstow could all be potential capitals.
4. Michigan - Wisconsin gets the UP
5. Texas: ?
Rejoin the Dakotas, the Carolinas, the Virginias.
Make Puerto Rico into a state (perhaps with USVI included), ditto Guam (including the N Marianas). American Samoa goes to Samoa.
Instead of splitting states, how about merging tiny ones like Rhode Island, Delaware, or Vermont with neighboring states? I figure if the state is too small to be visible on a map, it's probably just too small.
Perhaps we could do the following:
Delaware / Maryland
Connecticut / Rhode Island
Vermont / New Hampshire / Maine
Mass should probably remain its own state despite its tiny size due to high population density and overall population.
Of course, some will say that big (but sparsely populated) midwestern and western states should be merged to be fair. Fair enough:
North Dakota / South Dakota
Wyoming / Colorado
Idaho / Montana
I would split GA along the "Fall Line". North and South GA are almost cultural opposites.
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