Should Virginia and West Virginia work out a trade.

[DINGO Joe]

Virginia gets:

Jefferson
Berkeley
Morgan

(approx 180,000 population)

West Virginia gets

Buchanan
Dickenson
Wise/Norton
Lee
Scott
Russell
Tazewell

(approx 210,000)

and

Washington/Bristol

(approx 70,000)

So, what's in it for everybody:

Well, Berkeley and Jefferson really have nothing in common with WV, they're an extension of the Shenandoah and have been sucked into the D.C. metro area thanks to geography and Sen. Byrd trying to pull federal jobs into WV. 

Their incomes are much higher than the WV average, they're far less obese, less disabled, less poverty, less drug overdosing, and higher educated (and certainly would want their kids to go to VA universities than WV).  They care more about things like zoning and roads and only care about coal to the extent that they get a cut of the excise taxes.

As for Morgan county, they just get tossed in for geography--everything can't be perfect.

For the SW VA counties, well when McDonnell was Gov the state was shutting down coal plants and breaking ground on new NG plants and now that the Dems have control--well, they're obviously doomed.  Plus culturally and economically they fit in with WV--low incomes, high poverty, obesity, disability, etc...  No more having to put up with big city Virginia telling them whatnot.

What does WV get?  Well, initially I was going to give WV the SW 7 plus Norton, but that only gives WV an extra 30,000 people which may not be enough to keep them from losing a CD in 2020.  Throwing in Washington/Bristol should ensure that (unless the coalpocalypse proves too great). plus there's the added bonus of a major coal company having their HQ in Bristol, ANR.  WV has always been a bit colonial in that they're the leading producer of coal east of the Mississippi, but the coal companies have always been HQd in Pittsburgh or Richmond or St. Louis.

What does VA get?  Don't have to give lip service to coal anymore.  Richmond actually used to be a center for coal company HQs, but the last one left, James River, could go bankrupt at any point.  Don't have to deal with poor distant isolated counties that they really aren't going to do much for anyway.  Plus that's prime real estate they're picking up in the Eastern panhandle.

It's all a win-win.  One of you budding legal types start drawing up the papers.

[Frodo]

No.  But Maryland might want to consider giving its far western counties to West Virginia.  I doubt the citizens would object too strenuously. 

[Adam Griffin]

Not to derail too much, but this was my proposed tidying up of the region's boundaries from awhile back:

[DINGO Joe]

Not to derail too much, but this was my proposed tidying up of the region's boundaries from awhile back:

It is tidy, but you've pretty much doomed WV to two CDs, which maybe it's how it should be.

[ElectionsGuy]

Not to derail too much, but this was my proposed tidying up of the region's boundaries from awhile back:

This would be great! But I would separate Garrett County, MD and Preston County, WV. It just looks oddly large combined.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I'd prefer to see Virgina regain all of the Potomac watershed that became part of West Virginia.  So in addition to Jefferson, Berkeley, and Morgan.  I'd want it to gain Mineral, Hampshire, Grant, Hardy, and Pendleton Counties (approx. 85,000 population).  Also I'd want West Virgina (or Kentucky) to gain all of the Ohio watershed that remains to Virginia, so I'd want West Virginia to also gain Bland, Carroll, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Pulaski, Smythe, and Wythe Counties and Galax and Radford Cities (approx 290,000 population).   So in all a net gain for West Virginia of approximately 300,000 population unless some of the toe of Virginia west of the New River watershed becomes part of Kentucky instead.