Any map/road geeks out there? Nobody else will give a frog’s fat a-- what I’m about to write.
I believe that there is an aesthetic of state boundaries. A nice state has a certain degree of symmetry, no oddball hanging counties, but also a little character. Examples:
States that are too boring:
Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada, New Mexico
States that are an abomination against cartography:
Michigan, West Virginia, and of course Maryland.
States that are “just right”:
Ohio, Indiana, California, Texas, Georgia
States that have that special something:
Connecticut (that little piece that sticks out towards NYC, and the little divot that Massachusetts cuts out of the northern border), New Hampshire (that tiny bit of Atlantic coastline), Tennessee (looks like a parallelogram), Montana (western border looks like a guy’s face)
States that I am torn over:
Florida, Oklahoma, Delaware, Virginia (what’s with the Eastern Shore?), New York (Staten Island should be part of New Jersey)
Kentucky, with that little nipple on the western end that’s not connected to the rest of Kentucky by air or water.
Illinois, with that tiny bit of it west of the Mississippi.
Minnesota, with that “angle inlet” part of it in Canada
All the other states bordering the Mississippi River below Illinois, with their chunks of land cut off from the rest of the state by the shifting river.
Washington, with it’s “Point Roberts”, connected by land only to Canada
New York and Rhode Island, which share a common sea border. It’s possible to sail or fly directly from New York state (Off Fisher’s Island) into Rhode Island, without all that tedious mucking about in Connecticut
I also seriously love the idea of Point Roberts and Angle Inlet things.
I’ve always really loved the idea that just to go from county to county in Hawaii you have to fly. And Maui and Kahoolawe look like a mother and child.
Alaska is so interesting it just makes your eyes sore to look at. But I’d love to live in Little Diomede Island and be able to look across to Big Diomede Island and the Russians who might be there. As you can see this view has no basis in a real life knowledge of the area.
How about that neat little spit of New Brunswick that comes between Maine and Quebec.
In defence of New Mexico how about that neat little shift between OK and TX which if I recall correctly occured to a (land measurer person type) error.
I like the way Oregon is shaped, but then again, I live there so I’m a bit biased. Washington State, I have to admit, has borders that have a bit more character, thanks to the Olympic Peninsula.
Florida’s borders are cool…I lived there until I was 10, so maybe I’m biased there, too. And Jinxie? I’d have to say Florida looks a bit more phallic than Puerto Rico. I remember Gallagher once saying in one of his comedy shows that he always thought Florida looked like it was pissing on Cuba.
California and Texas definitely have interesting borders.
Idaho. That upper panhandle looks like a cartographer’s inside joke. Almost kind of cute, in a way. Beautiful country there in northern Idaho.
Michigan…never mind about the Upper Peninsula giving it that distinctiveness. Just the fact that the lower part always reminds me of a mitten makes it cool enough.
Louisiana’s shape has always looked right to me. It even looks like an “L”, which fits with the first letter of the state name.
Despite the OP, I have to say that Maryland has very interesting borders. It looks like it was set down to paper by someone with Parkinson’s.
Colorado? Wyoming? North Dakota? You must be kidding. Boring borders.
Aw hell, man, you got mitten-shaped Lower Michigan reaching up for a roughly phallus-shaped Upper Peni[sub]n[/sub]sula… you got the little dribble of Keys dripping off the tip of Florida towards the Caribbean - face it, we were geographically meant to be pissing on the rest of the world.
I can’t believe nobody has mentioned South Carolina yet. Triangular, with the state capitol located conveniently in the center. I don’t call it “home” any more, but it’s still my favorite state shape.
Contrast North Carolina, which ain’t shaped like nothin’ but a fallen log.
I think Oklahoma and Florida are neat because they’ve got little dangly bits hanging off an otherwise “normal” shape. I’d almost put New York in this category, but the main body is just fugly.
I’ve always been partial to Missouri…it’s got that, “Ho,hum, I’m just a rectangualar state with my eastern border the Mississippi” thing going, then you move south and WHAM! Take that Arkansas! We’re going to take that little nubbin and there’s nothing you can do to stop us.
I lived in VA my whole life almost, and the Eastern Shore is by far the most raggedy state border of all. It’s like when you pull a piece of notebook paper out too fast and it leaves that jaggedy, torn-up looking edge with one long piece hanging off the edge. Very bizarre.
I know someone out there is just dying to note that, if you squint just right, the eastern border of Pennsylvania looks kinda like a woman’s t!ts, so I’ll say it for you
And other people get no end of pleasure kidding us about it. Hell, who wouldn’t? It’s pretty damn hard when you’re not in Michigan to quickly and easily point out to people where you live!
Darn it Bunnygirl stole my line. Oh well. We’re still the only state with a Hell and a Paradise. I think I still have that T shirt from high school that says I ran through Hell.
I am a cartography junkie. I was a geography major in college. I like the odd shaped states. I like West Virginia, Florida, New York, and of course Michigan.
I always thought Quebec could be described by the shape of your hand (sure, sure, its not a state, but its nearby - and I want to join in!). Just lay your hand out flat, with fingers together and thumb a little to the side… I’m from the middle of the lowest thumb joint
