Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Well, if California can do it ...

This isn't the first time that Californians have debated splitting their large-and-in-charge fiefdom into multiple states. It's just that this time, it may have some legs*.

California residents will get a chance to vote on a measure to divide the Golden State into three separate states, election officials said Tuesday. ...

The proposal, led by venture capitalist Tim Draper, would split the country’s most populous state into three new states of near-equal population: Northern California, California and Southern California, according to the proposal.

Northern California would include cities between the Bay Area and the Oregon border. Southern California would begin in Fresno and cover most of the southern state. The "new" California would cover Los Angeles County and much of the coast below San Francisco Bay, the proposal said.



*Personally, the odds of it actually happening are very slim. Though it's an interesting thing to ponder.

Which made me wonder ... what if North Carolina were to chop itself up? What would that look like? After all, there is a theory that the Old North State consists of two very different populations anyway: rural vs. urban.  So, on one hand, we could just pull out the urban I-85/I-40 corridor. (Sorry Wilmington and Asheville - you are stuck with "the rurals" in this scenario.) That may look like this:



(If you are wondering, "Asgard" is the mythical city of the gods. This is a nod to how high we tend to think of ourselves in the Triangle. So sue me.)

Or we could essentially divide it up between the regions of the state, with some deviation based on populations and what-not:



Or, we could just do what many in the legislature have advocated for for years: Leave Charlotte be. I present to you, The Great State of Mecklenburg (finally)!



Secession and division isn't anything new to our state and region. (Duh.)  But how would you divide up the state if given the choice? Or do we absorb some of the South Carolina (yeah, Charleston!), but not all (I'm looking at you, MB)?

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