Timmy's States

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I think Miami should take up a bit more area from Cadillac (is that how the beige one is named?). Right now you're splitting the Columbus area among them, and I think it would make more sense to have it all in Miami so that Cadillac becomes a cohesive community centered on Lake Erie (really, "Erie" would be a better name for it than for the green State, which is mostly on Lake Ontario ).

I really hope you find a way to follow Muon's advice and cut the Michigan LP away from Gitchigumi. You could then make a relatively cohesive LP State that takes some area from Cadillac (limiting it to the Detroit-Flint area) and La Salle (having it stop at Gary instead of continuing into North-central IN and Southwestern MI).

I also think you should partition Kootenai into Oregon and Yellowstone. The States there really seem redundant to me.

And, sorry to insist, but the Baltimore area really belongs in Washington and not in Susquehanna.

Back in the day, Michigan had one congressional district based on the Huron-Superior shore and another on the Michigan shores. The upper L.P. doesn't have significant agriculture or manufacturing. Tourism and summer homes should be considered extractive industries, just like lumbering and mining.

Another approach would be to convert the grey district to a National Road theme (St.Louis, Indianapolis, Springfield (Dayton?), Columbus, Zanesville) and the SW Ohio district to an Ohio River district (Evansville to Pittsburgh?). Allegheny could scoop down through the Cumberland Gap.

How about including Chesapeake Bay in Susquehanna?

I would flip the names of Columbia and Oregon. Oregon would have been understood as meaning the Willamette Valley, and Columbia as the interior beginning a Fort Vancouver. When Oregon Territory created two counties in the north, Lewis and Clarke (sic), Lewis was west of the Cascades, and still exists south of Olympia. Clarke was east of the Cascades with an extension down to Fort Vancouver. In this case it the extension that survives as Clark County,

Perhaps name the western district as Cascadia, and the interior as Columbia.

I perceive Kootenai as being a mountain district, and Yellowstone as plains. So I would give Valley, Lemhi, Custer, Beaverhead, Gallatin, Park (both), and Teton to Kootenai.and bring Yellowstone a bit further west but not to the Continental Divide. This assume Yellowstone is named for the river and not the park.

I named Cadillac after the guy who founded Detroit. YMMV.
Why not have all of Columbus Metro in Cadillac and have Miami take up Metro Louisville and parts of rural IN next door from OH? The reason I left it in Kentucky was to avoid underpopulating that state. Two more inventive proposals. One of reasons I gave SW Ohio its own state was to preserve Allegheny's mountainous character.
Switching (and/or renaming wholesale) Oregon and Columbia is something I will seriously look at.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Back in the day, Michigan had one congressional district based on the Huron-Superior shore and another on the Michigan shores. The upper L.P. doesn't have significant agriculture or manufacturing. Tourism and summer homes should be considered extractive industries, just like lumbering and mining.

Another approach would be to convert the grey district to a National Road theme (St.Louis, Indianapolis, Springfield (Dayton?), Columbus, Zanesville) and the SW Ohio district to an Ohio River district (Evansville to Pittsburgh?). Allegheny could scoop down through the Cumberland Gap.

How about including Chesapeake Bay in Susquehanna?

I would flip the names of Columbia and Oregon. Oregon would have been understood as meaning the Willamette Valley, and Columbia as the interior beginning a Fort Vancouver. When Oregon Territory created two counties in the north, Lewis and Clarke (sic), Lewis was west of the Cascades, and still exists south of Olympia. Clarke was east of the Cascades with an extension down to Fort Vancouver. In this case it the extension that survives as Clark County,

Perhaps name the western district as Cascadia, and the interior as Columbia.

I perceive Kootenai as being a mountain district, and Yellowstone as plains. So I would give Valley, Lemhi, Custer, Beaverhead, Gallatin, Park (both), and Teton to Kootenai.and bring Yellowstone a bit further west but not to the Continental Divide. This assume Yellowstone is named for the river and not the park.

I named Cadillac after the guy who founded Detroit. YMMV.
Why not have all of Columbus Metro in Cadillac and have Miami take up Metro Louisville and parts of rural IN next door from OH? The reason I left it in Kentucky was to avoid underpopulating that state. Two more inventive proposals. One of reasons I gave SW Ohio its own state was to preserve Allegheny's mountainous character.
Switching (and/or renaming wholesale) Oregon and Columbia is something I will seriously look at.

Western West Virginia is not mountainous it is hilly

Well I didn't say Allegheny was completely mountainous; it certainly isn't. However in its current incarnation it is centered on the Appalachian mountains and the culture that predominates there. What I meant was that by adding Metro Cinnicati to it I would be diluting that as well as throwing the area in with other places that collectively do not share in the Lower Ohio River culture that metro Louisville and metro Cincinnati both share.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Adopted the suggestion to switch the names of the two PW states.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I just got a thought... Rename cadillac as Erie and Erie as Onondaga or Seneca.
Haudenosaunee was suggested by Clark.
So many good options!

Does this map have any relevance?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I think Cherokee would be a much better name for the state that you currently have named Boone.

Agreed. Adopted.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I think Hunterdon makes more sense with the New York state than the Philadelphia one since it's part of the NYC metro area and is generally considered either North or Central Jersey. The three-way split of the Los Angeles CSA and the two-way split of the Inland Empire is also a little bothersome. San Bernardino County's population is heavily skewed towards the tiny corner near LA and Orange counties and is more aligned with them than Las Vegas. Riverside is fairly similar, as it's more aligned with LA than San Diego. Gwinnett County in Georgia is also a fairly integral part of the Atlanta metro area, and should be with it.

Sorry for being so nitpicky since that actually looks like a pretty cool project.  

You don't need to apologize.
I'll place Hunterdon in NY, per the suggestions of an NJ resident (thanks).
I will likely, though not certainly, place San Brenadino County in California. Riverside County is iffy though.
I will discuss your suggestion re: Gwinett with our deleGAtion.
Thanks for your input.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Well I didn't say Allegheny was completely mountainous; it certainly isn't. However in its current incarnation it is centered on the Appalachian mountains and the culture that predominates there. What I meant was that by adding Metro Cinnicati to it I would be diluting that as well as throwing the area in with other places that collectively do not share in the Lower Ohio River culture that metro Louisville and metro Cincinnati both share.

I wasn't suggesting adding Cincinnati in with Allegheny.

As I understood it, the concern was that Cadillac/Erie was too large.

Currently it has a strong industrial cast from Detroit and Cleveland. On the wast end it reasonably extends out to include Youngstown, Akron, even Canton. In the middle you have Toledo, and out into Michigan you have Flint, Tri Cities, and Lansing. Places like Battle Creek and Kalamazoo and Fort Wayne are a close enough fit. But western Ohio and Columbus don't. They're not industrial.

So I was suggesting making the grey district (Lincoln?) along the National Road from St. Louis through Indianapolis and Columbus.

But that would trim off much of Miami. So I would make Miami snake along the Ohio River, and maybe rename it Ohio (after the river). That would only scoop some of the western part off Allegheny.

I agree with jimrtex about Columbus. I've been there many times. It fits well with the I-70 corridor west to Indy. In my experience Cincinnati could fit going along the Ohio river. However, I'd put it and Dayton with Columbus and Indianapolis. Cinci has a bit more in common with the midlands than with the midsouth.

Why not expand Miami to take Metro Columbus from Cadillac/Erie and Metro Indianapolis from Lincoln and leave Allegheny untouched?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Well I didn't say Allegheny was completely mountainous; it certainly isn't. However in its current incarnation it is centered on the Appalachian mountains and the culture that predominates there. What I meant was that by adding Metro Cinnicati to it I would be diluting that as well as throwing the area in with other places that collectively do not share in the Lower Ohio River culture that metro Louisville and metro Cincinnati both share.

I wasn't suggesting adding Cincinnati in with Allegheny.

As I understood it, the concern was that Cadillac/Erie was too large.

Currently it has a strong industrial cast from Detroit and Cleveland. On the wast end it reasonably extends out to include Youngstown, Akron, even Canton. In the middle you have Toledo, and out into Michigan you have Flint, Tri Cities, and Lansing. Places like Battle Creek and Kalamazoo and Fort Wayne are a close enough fit. But western Ohio and Columbus don't. They're not industrial.

So I was suggesting making the grey district (Lincoln?) along the National Road from St. Louis through Indianapolis and Columbus.

But that would trim off much of Miami. So I would make Miami snake along the Ohio River, and maybe rename it Ohio (after the river). That would only scoop some of the western part off Allegheny.

I agree with jimrtex about Columbus. I've been there many times. It fits well with the I-70 corridor west to Indy. In my experience Cincinnati could fit going along the Ohio river. However, I'd put it and Dayton with Columbus and Indianapolis. Cinci has a bit more in common with the midlands than with the midsouth.

Why not expand Miami to take Metro Columbus from Cadillac/Erie and Metro Indianapolis from Lincoln and leave Allegheny untouched?

It makes sense to me. It's what I did with my state of Miami.

Is this unqualified support for my idea, qualified support, qualified opposition? What exactly do you imply here?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Why not expand Miami to take Metro Columbus from Cadillac/Erie and Metro Indianapolis from Lincoln and leave Allegheny untouched?

It makes sense to me. It's what I did with my state of Miami.

Is this unqualified support for my idea, qualified support, qualified opposition? What exactly do you imply here?

I certainly support you making the same logical choices I did in drawing alternate states. Since I drew Indy, Cinci and Columbus together, I would support the same in your map.

Thanks for clarifying.
So I will try to, as soon as I feasibly can, post an updated version.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I think Hunterdon makes more sense with the New York state than the Philadelphia one since it's part of the NYC metro area and is generally considered either North or Central Jersey. The three-way split of the Los Angeles CSA and the two-way split of the Inland Empire is also a little bothersome. San Bernardino County's population is heavily skewed towards the tiny corner near LA and Orange counties and is more aligned with them than Las Vegas. Riverside is fairly similar, as it's more aligned with LA than San Diego. Gwinnett County in Georgia is also a fairly integral part of the Atlanta metro area, and should be with it.

Sorry for being so nitpicky since that actually looks like a pretty cool project.  

You don't need to apologize.
I'll place Hunterdon in NY, per the suggestions of an NJ resident (thanks).
I will likely, though not certainly, place San Brenadino County in California. Riverside County is iffy though.
I will discuss your suggestion re: Gwinett with our deleGAtion.
Thanks for your input.

All suggestions have been adopted.
UPDATE: Changed my mind re: Riverside. Authorial fiat.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Should I rename Miami as Ohio?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Oops I forgot to fix Boone. Oh well. Next time.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

15:56   TimTurner   So could I have an r majority in both chambers
15:56   TimTurner   After 2010
15:56   TimTurner   But have them overreach on leg maps
15:56   TimTurner   Resulting in a court map
15:57   TimTurner   An R gerry for CDs being upheld though
Saved for posterity.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

15:56   TimTurner   So could I have an r majority in both chambers
15:56   TimTurner   After 2010
15:56   TimTurner   But have them overreach on leg maps
15:56   TimTurner   Resulting in a court map
15:57   TimTurner   An R gerry for CDs being upheld though
Saved for posterity.

?

I posted it here both to bump it and assure that I would remember it.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

This thread might seem dead, but don't worry, important stuff is being done behind the scenes.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Just dropping by to make clear this project isn't dead.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

This thread might seem dead, but don't worry, important stuff is being done behind the scenes.

This is as true as ever.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Am I right that Carolina would be a Democratic state?

Carolina is slightly D-leaning. D+0.74 by 2012 results I think.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Delmarva would be the closest state in numerical terms in 2016. A few thousand votes or so.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Fun fact: if my EV totals are correct the 2016 election would have been 282 Clinton-256 Trump.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

What are the states with the highest margins in 2012 and 2016 for each party? What were the bellwethers/tipping points? The closest state in 2012?

Looks great, by the way, Tim. Happy to see you're still working on this.

In 2012 Shoshone, Pawnee, and Yellowstone probably had the strongest pro-Romney vote. 2016 wasn't all that different likely, but Kentucky, Allegheny, and Ozark probably swung hard R.
The tipping point in 2016 was probably Maricopa. Either that or Carolina.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

It's back!

I doubt this was ever truly dead.