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Let's say all of our current state boundaries suddenly disappeared, as did any ties every person/city might have to a specific state. What do you think would be the best way to redraw the fifty states to be the most economically/politically/socially/culturally effective?
I think the best way would be to redraw states according to metro areas. This way, the entire NYC metro area would be enclosed in one unique state, as would the Boston, LA, and San Francisco metro areas. Smaller cities surrounded by smaller metro areas would probably best be grouped together with other metro areas around it. For example, the relatively small metro areas in Upstate NY such as the Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse areas could probably be grouped together into one state.
By culture.
For example, Louisiana would extend from Houston/Beaumont to Pensacola/Mobile. Going no further north than Natchez (now in Louisiana).
Memphis would be in Mississippi and Northern Louisiana in Arkansas or Texas.
I would straighten out all of the borders and then put them next to each other starting with the smallest one and work left to right getting progressively bigger.
I think the best way would be to redraw states according to metro areas. This way, the entire NYC metro area would be enclosed in one unique state, as would the Boston, LA, and San Francisco metro areas.
Metro areas change a lot over a few decades. In the first census, the standard for an urban area was only 2500 people. Four states (out of 13) did not qualify as having even a single urban area (NC GA NJ DE). Only 5 urban areas had over 10,000 people: (NY, PHL, BOS, BALT, Charleston).
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Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
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