Republican wants Cook County to secede from Illinois

At least where I live, the two sides are so similar you can't tell you're in a different state.

Where is that not true between any two U.S. states?

I can always tell when I'm entering Nevada.

Alright. I accept Nevada as an exception, if only for the casinos crowding the border. But 2 miles into NV is no different than 2 miles into CA.

It's easy to tell you're entering AR or LA becuase the interstates in those states suck. I went to school in New Orleans, so I've done the southern part of I-55 at least a hundred times. For
l all its shortcomings, Mississippi takes care of its roads. The second you see that damn Bienvenue en Louisane sign, it's bump bump bump all the way to the Big Easy.

Actually, Louisiana's been doing some massive roadwork over the last few years- I think they got a lot of stimulus money for it. They even completely rebuilt the I-10 twinspan over Ponchartrain. Last I saw, it looked like they might be tearing down the Huey P- which is a great thing; every New Orleans native I know is horrified at the thought of driving over that bridge. And as far as the interstates go, the quality of I-10 seems considerably improved.

I agree with you that Mississippi's highways are very well maintained, though, and they also have the nicest rest stops in the country. There's still a huge contrast on the other side of Mississippi, though- Alabama's interstates are worse than Louisiana's ever were.

That's incredible that Louisiana is getting it's act together on roads! I finished in 2005 and haven't been back since, so my version is rather out of date. And they were trying to fix the New Orleans city streets when I was there, but there were just so many that were out of control messed up. You couldn't drive more than 15 mph on many streets, even some major ones because of it. I don't think there's anywhere in America that even compared.
I have no idea if this is true or not but the urban legend was that Louisiana refused to raise the drinking age to 21 until the 90s, so the feds cut off funding for roads for a long time. If true, Louisiana apparantly decided the Spring Break type tourism was more important than maintaining roads. Or maybe they were just a bunch of drunks. Anything was possible in that town. Except for cracking down on crime. Everybody I knew was a victim. But that's a story for another day...
Oh, and tearing down the Huey P? HOLY CRAP! That would be epic! I presume they'd have to build a replacement bridge for Jefferson Parish...

Just googled it, and they're actually expanding the Huey P, so it'll have normal sized car lanes. I assumed they were getting rid of it because last time I was down there, it was closed off with a big crane next to it.

But yeah, New Orleans city streets are still a permanent construction zone; I doubt that'll ever change. My geology professor said it was because all the roadside trees mess up the pavement, but I've heard the drinking age thing as well.

Regarding crime, from my three years at Tulane I can only think of a few times that something happened to people I know- mostly bike thefts (and my frat house was robbed, but that ended up being another frat's pledges). The only thing I've really seen people be victims of is TUPD's overzealous enforcement of the school's alcohol/drug policies. Tongue

It's anecdotal, of course, but it does seem like crime isn't as much of a problem compared to when you were down here.

Which school did you go to, memphis?

I went to Tulane also. TUPD gives a damn about drugs and alcohol these days? My goodness, things have changed! After freshman year in the dorm, I lived directly in the shadow of Monroe dorm on S. Robertson street. The freshmen kids would come over with weed daily and I offered them a place to smoke it. Very mutually beneficial. Anyhow, before the giant iron fence was built, there was a very simple chain link fence that was open during the day and TUPD would come by and bike llock it shut every 10 PM. And every 10 PM, we'd be sitting on the porch, smoking weed and hanging out. We'd wave to TUPD, and they'd wave back. They were black and from New Orleans. They knew what was going on. But they didn't care. Probably thought it was funny. Oh, and we were allowed to drink in the dorms freshman year as well. Some loophole in LA law about it being ok to drink in a private residence. Ah, college... Enjoy it. You'll be paying the student loan bill for it forever...

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