Timmy's States

[muon2]

Gitchigumi is supposed to unite the mining belt around the Great Lakes. It unites the Finns in the Great Lakes area
It is one of my favorite states on the map.

You should ask Muon, BRTD or another poster of the region if it's sound from a socioeconomic point of view. Personally I have serious doubts, but I might be wrong.

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The split that I see most easily would be to make one State with only Cook, Du Page and Lake counties, another one with Milwaukee, Madison and the northern Chicago suburbs, and a third one with southwestern MI, northern IN, and the eastern Chicago suburbs. Two-way splits might be a bit trickier, but if you have to choose between putting Chicago with either Milwaukee or Indianapolis I'd say Milwaukee makes more sense.

Since the map started with the statement that the names could change but the borders were fixed I didn't weigh in. The inclusion of the MI LP doesn't fit in Gitchigumi at all. There's really no connection to the bulk of the population in MN. Linking the MI UP with the Twin Cities is fine.

An interesting variant of the state would be to cut off the LP, then run Gitchigumi all the way west across ND to Glasgow MT. That would pick up the whole area that speaks the North Central dialect, often thought of as the Minnesotan accent. If you do go that way, stay away from SD and the I-90 corridor. They don't speak Minnesotan.

Surely at least parts of MI LP have a similar culture? Why not put the Bay City area in the Ohio state with Detroit and have the Chicagoland one gain, say, Muskegon and the Grand Rapids area?

The LP and UP are very different cultures. It's why folks in the LP make fun of the Yoopers. But the Yooper culture does have a lot in common with da Raynch in northern MN.

What interesting is that the LP has a lot more in common with southern, and particularly southeastern WI. That includes settlement, dialect, and economic development. Wrapping a state from Door county south around Chicago and north to Traverse City isn't all that crazy. You basically are picking up the Lake Michigan cities up to where Chicagoans go on vacation. I don't do it in my map on the other thread because I have population limits on my states.

Edit: One other note on Chicagoland and the Lake Michigan area. I wouldn't include anything south of Kankakee in IL or Lake county to South Bend in IN. If you are looking at cultural changes in the Midwest that's a significant divide.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Gitchigumi is supposed to unite the mining belt around the Great Lakes. It unites the Finns in the Great Lakes area
It is one of my favorite states on the map.

You should ask Muon, BRTD or another poster of the region if it's sound from a socioeconomic point of view. Personally I have serious doubts, but I might be wrong.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

The split that I see most easily would be to make one State with only Cook, Du Page and Lake counties, another one with Milwaukee, Madison and the northern Chicago suburbs, and a third one with southwestern MI, northern IN, and the eastern Chicago suburbs. Two-way splits might be a bit trickier, but if you have to choose between putting Chicago with either Milwaukee or Indianapolis I'd say Milwaukee makes more sense.

Since the map started with the statement that the names could change but the borders were fixed I didn't weigh in. The inclusion of the MI LP doesn't fit in Gitchigumi at all. There's really no connection to the bulk of the population in MN. Linking the MI UP with the Twin Cities is fine.

An interesting variant of the state would be to cut off the LP, then run Gitchigumi all the way west across ND to Glasgow MT. That would pick up the whole area that speaks the North Central dialect, often thought of as the Minnesotan accent. If you do go that way, stay away from SD and the I-90 corridor. They don't speak Minnesotan.

Surely at least parts of MI LP have a similar culture? Why not put the Bay City area in the Ohio state with Detroit and have the Chicagoland one gain, say, Muskegon and the Grand Rapids area?

The LP and UP are very different cultures. It's why folks in the LP make fun of the Yoopers. But the Yooper culture does have a lot in common with da Raynch in northern MN.

What interesting is that the LP has a lot more in common with southern, and particularly southeastern WI. That includes settlement, dialect, and economic development. Wrapping a state from Door county south around Chicago and north to Traverse City isn't all that crazy. You basically are picking up the Lake Michigan cities up to where Chicagoans go on vacation. I don't do it in my map on the other thread because I have population limits on my states.

I was talking to a Minnesotan on this forum and he said that most of Gitchigumi had the same kind of the consensus oriented politics Minnesota has. Surely he was talking about part of the LP too right?

[muon2]

Gitchigumi is supposed to unite the mining belt around the Great Lakes. It unites the Finns in the Great Lakes area
It is one of my favorite states on the map.

You should ask Muon, BRTD or another poster of the region if it's sound from a socioeconomic point of view. Personally I have serious doubts, but I might be wrong.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

The split that I see most easily would be to make one State with only Cook, Du Page and Lake counties, another one with Milwaukee, Madison and the northern Chicago suburbs, and a third one with southwestern MI, northern IN, and the eastern Chicago suburbs. Two-way splits might be a bit trickier, but if you have to choose between putting Chicago with either Milwaukee or Indianapolis I'd say Milwaukee makes more sense.

Since the map started with the statement that the names could change but the borders were fixed I didn't weigh in. The inclusion of the MI LP doesn't fit in Gitchigumi at all. There's really no connection to the bulk of the population in MN. Linking the MI UP with the Twin Cities is fine.

An interesting variant of the state would be to cut off the LP, then run Gitchigumi all the way west across ND to Glasgow MT. That would pick up the whole area that speaks the North Central dialect, often thought of as the Minnesotan accent. If you do go that way, stay away from SD and the I-90 corridor. They don't speak Minnesotan.

Surely at least parts of MI LP have a similar culture? Why not put the Bay City area in the Ohio state with Detroit and have the Chicagoland one gain, say, Muskegon and the Grand Rapids area?

The LP and UP are very different cultures. It's why folks in the LP make fun of the Yoopers. But the Yooper culture does have a lot in common with da Raynch in northern MN.

What interesting is that the LP has a lot more in common with southern, and particularly southeastern WI. That includes settlement, dialect, and economic development. Wrapping a state from Door county south around Chicago and north to Traverse City isn't all that crazy. You basically are picking up the Lake Michigan cities up to where Chicagoans go on vacation. I don't do it in my map on the other thread because I have population limits on my states.

I was talking to a Minnesotan on this forum and he said that most of Gitchigumi had the same kind of the consensus oriented politics Minnesota has. Surely he was talking about part of the LP too right?

I'm not so sure of that. Also, your quote suggests that you may have missed my edit.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Gitchigumi is supposed to unite the mining belt around the Great Lakes. It unites the Finns in the Great Lakes area
It is one of my favorite states on the map.

You should ask Muon, BRTD or another poster of the region if it's sound from a socioeconomic point of view. Personally I have serious doubts, but I might be wrong.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

The split that I see most easily would be to make one State with only Cook, Du Page and Lake counties, another one with Milwaukee, Madison and the northern Chicago suburbs, and a third one with southwestern MI, northern IN, and the eastern Chicago suburbs. Two-way splits might be a bit trickier, but if you have to choose between putting Chicago with either Milwaukee or Indianapolis I'd say Milwaukee makes more sense.

Since the map started with the statement that the names could change but the borders were fixed I didn't weigh in. The inclusion of the MI LP doesn't fit in Gitchigumi at all. There's really no connection to the bulk of the population in MN. Linking the MI UP with the Twin Cities is fine.

An interesting variant of the state would be to cut off the LP, then run Gitchigumi all the way west across ND to Glasgow MT. That would pick up the whole area that speaks the North Central dialect, often thought of as the Minnesotan accent. If you do go that way, stay away from SD and the I-90 corridor. They don't speak Minnesotan.

Surely at least parts of MI LP have a similar culture? Why not put the Bay City area in the Ohio state with Detroit and have the Chicagoland one gain, say, Muskegon and the Grand Rapids area?

The LP and UP are very different cultures. It's why folks in the LP make fun of the Yoopers. But the Yooper culture does have a lot in common with da Raynch in northern MN.

What interesting is that the LP has a lot more in common with southern, and particularly southeastern WI. That includes settlement, dialect, and economic development. Wrapping a state from Door county south around Chicago and north to Traverse City isn't all that crazy. You basically are picking up the Lake Michigan cities up to where Chicagoans go on vacation. I don't do it in my map on the other thread because I have population limits on my states.

I was talking to a Minnesotan on this forum and he said that most of Gitchigumi had the same kind of the consensus oriented politics Minnesota has. Surely he was talking about part of the LP too right?

I'm not so sure of that. Also, your quote suggests that you may have missed my edit.

I replied before you edited
I get your point re:the cultural divide.
I saw a cartoon once showing a map of Chicagoland and a highway going south. They had a sign saying 'you are now leaving the state Illinois' on it. Lol.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

OK. Do I delete the post?

Yes, please. And llr please do likewise.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Thoughts on this?

I think you could add Monterey, San Benito, Mendocino and Lake counties into Oso, to make Secoya more cohesive.

Okay so I talked with Ted and he likes it. So consider it adopted.

[jimrtex]

If you wanted to include Puerto Rico, you could have an Eastern Isles: Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Monroe, Dare, Nassau, Suffolk, Newport, Nantucket, and Dukes.

Western Isles would include Hawaii, Guam, Northern Marianas, American Samoa, Aleutians (East and West), Kodiak, Sitka, and Outer Ketchikan.

I figure that PR is best to be on its own if it was a state. Nonetheless that idea is quite inventive, I have to admit.

Oops! I left out San Juan and Island from Western Isles (Na h-Eileanan Siar)

[jimrtex]

Jimrtex I also considered the name Plano would be fitting since it is largely a Plains state.
What do you think about that?
I would definitely consider using the name Comanche if you still thought so.

It would be Llano rather than Plano.

I'd still extend Pawnee to include Logan, Morgan, Washington, Lincoln, Crowley, Kiowa, Otero, Prowers, Bent. These are definitely Plains or Lower Platte, Lower Arkansas counties, that fit better with the areas to the east, rather than the Front Range or Mountain areas.

I'd probably switch Baca and SW Kansas as well.

Incidentally, you have two different yellows in Pawnee.

Ah ok. Llano instead of Plano.
So give all of Plano's CO territory to Pawnee and exchange for which counties?
And nice catch regarding the two different yellows. I need to fix that.

Does there have to be an exchange?

[jimrtex]

Fixed?

I'd still move Pawnee another layer of counties to the west. You're still on the Plains.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Jimrtex I also considered the name Plano would be fitting since it is largely a Plains state.
What do you think about that?
I would definitely consider using the name Comanche if you still thought so.

It would be Llano rather than Plano.

I'd still extend Pawnee to include Logan, Morgan, Washington, Lincoln, Crowley, Kiowa, Otero, Prowers, Bent. These are definitely Plains or Lower Platte, Lower Arkansas counties, that fit better with the areas to the east, rather than the Front Range or Mountain areas.

I'd probably switch Baca and SW Kansas as well.

Incidentally, you have two different yellows in Pawnee.

Ah ok. Llano instead of Plano.
So give all of Plano's CO territory to Pawnee and exchange for which counties?
And nice catch regarding the two different yellows. I need to fix that.

Does there have to be an exchange?

You mentioned one. I assumed you had a list of SW Kansas counties to put in Llano, especially given how detailed you were with Texas.

[Figueira]

Thoughts on this?

I think you could add Monterey, San Benito, Mendocino and Lake counties into Oso, to make Secoya more cohesive.

I tried to reach out to Bay Area natives here on Atlas for their thoughts.
I haven't been able to yet.

I grew up in the relevant area (partly) and I agree with Tony. At least for Monterey and San Benito counties.

[jimrtex]

Don't know if it's too late to suggest names, but I'd nominate Calumet for the Chicago Metro+SW MI and Milwaukee/Madison state.

As a potential Kennebec resident, I also think you might want to name Kennebec for the Northern Forest administrative region (something like Northwood?).

https://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wild-Places/Northern-Forest.aspx

The region geographically dominates the proposed state (as you can see here: https://northernforest.org/the-center-and-region/interactive-map) and is common to all of them.

Forêt du Nord?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Fixed?

I'd still move Pawnee another layer of counties to the west. You're still on the Plains.

Fair enough. That shall be done.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Don't know if it's too late to suggest names, but I'd nominate Calumet for the Chicago Metro+SW MI and Milwaukee/Madison state.

As a potential Kennebec resident, I also think you might want to name Kennebec for the Northern Forest administrative region (something like Northwood?).

https://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wild-Places/Northern-Forest.aspx

The region geographically dominates the proposed state (as you can see here: https://northernforest.org/the-center-and-region/interactive-map) and is common to all of them.

Forêt du Nord?

Hey, Kennebec rhymes with Quebec.

[jimrtex]

Gitchigumi is supposed to unite the mining belt around the Great Lakes. It unites the Finns in the Great Lakes area
It is one of my favorite states on the map.

You should ask Muon, BRTD or another poster of the region if it's sound from a socioeconomic point of view. Personally I have serious doubts, but I might be wrong.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

The split that I see most easily would be to make one State with only Cook, Du Page and Lake counties, another one with Milwaukee, Madison and the northern Chicago suburbs, and a third one with southwestern MI, northern IN, and the eastern Chicago suburbs. Two-way splits might be a bit trickier, but if you have to choose between putting Chicago with either Milwaukee or Indianapolis I'd say Milwaukee makes more sense.

Since the map started with the statement that the names could change but the borders were fixed I didn't weigh in. The inclusion of the MI LP doesn't fit in Gitchigumi at all. There's really no connection to the bulk of the population in MN. Linking the MI UP with the Twin Cities is fine.

An interesting variant of the state would be to cut off the LP, then run Gitchigumi all the way west across ND to Glasgow MT. That would pick up the whole area that speaks the North Central dialect, often thought of as the Minnesotan accent. If you do go that way, stay away from SD and the I-90 corridor. They don't speak Minnesotan.

My inclination would be run the green district up to the Twin Cities, and give it a river theme.

And then move Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Tri-Cities to the south.

I think Traverse City and Green Bay and Duluth fit together.

[jimrtex]

Jimrtex I also considered the name Plano would be fitting since it is largely a Plains state.
What do you think about that?
I would definitely consider using the name Comanche if you still thought so.

It would be Llano rather than Plano.

I'd still extend Pawnee to include Logan, Morgan, Washington, Lincoln, Crowley, Kiowa, Otero, Prowers, Bent. These are definitely Plains or Lower Platte, Lower Arkansas counties, that fit better with the areas to the east, rather than the Front Range or Mountain areas.

I'd probably switch Baca and SW Kansas as well.

Incidentally, you have two different yellows in Pawnee.

Ah ok. Llano instead of Plano.
So give all of Plano's CO territory to Pawnee and exchange for which counties?
And nice catch regarding the two different yellows. I need to fix that.

Does there have to be an exchange?

You mentioned one. I assumed you had a list of SW Kansas counties to put in Llano, especially given how detailed you were with Texas.

I was mainly trying to soak up the district that we eliminated. You could put the 4 SW Kansas counties into Llano based on the Hugoton Gas Field, or put it in Pawnee based on Kansas.

[jimrtex]

Don't know if it's too late to suggest names, but I'd nominate Calumet for the Chicago Metro+SW MI and Milwaukee/Madison state.

As a potential Kennebec resident, I also think you might want to name Kennebec for the Northern Forest administrative region (something like Northwood?).

https://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wild-Places/Northern-Forest.aspx

The region geographically dominates the proposed state (as you can see here: https://northernforest.org/the-center-and-region/interactive-map) and is common to all of them.

Forêt du Nord?

Hey, Kennebec rhymes with Quebec.

Are people from the area Kennebeckers or Kennbecois?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Redone a bit.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Don't know if it's too late to suggest names, but I'd nominate Calumet for the Chicago Metro+SW MI and Milwaukee/Madison state.

As a potential Kennebec resident, I also think you might want to name Kennebec for the Northern Forest administrative region (something like Northwood?).

https://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wild-Places/Northern-Forest.aspx

The region geographically dominates the proposed state (as you can see here: https://northernforest.org/the-center-and-region/interactive-map) and is common to all of them.

Forêt du Nord?

Hey, Kennebec rhymes with Quebec.

Are people from the area Kennebeckers or Kennbecois?

Good question. Given typical American parlance I imagine that Kennebecers would likely be the demonym.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Named all of them now. I got rid of an unnamed green-colored Driftless Area state and replaced it with a state centered on SW Ohio. I also shrank the Chicago seat.

[Antonio the Sixth]

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.

[jimrtex]

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.

[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.

Fair enough. Miami will get bigger.
No, I will not take any more of the LP out of Gitchigumi. That is a red line craved in the sand of Lake Michigan. I have been told by a Wisconsinite that it represents a cohesive community of interest, that the areas of it "would get along". So I won't adopt it in its entirety, no. I have already adopted it in part.
Partitioning Kootenai has indeed something I have considered. Exactly how to do it is up in the air.
Regarding Baltimore I would not debate the topic, for the good of both of us. You have some good ideas I have adopted and undoubtedly have more, and wasting time doing that would hurt progress on other fronts.

[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.

[jimrtex]

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