# Move US State boundaries for fun and profit! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 14, 2014, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-us-state-boundaries-for-fun-and-profit/678730 "2014-01-14T00:00:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-us-state-boundaries-for-fun-and-profit/678730/41 "2014-01-15T05:24:48Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > 1. Move California’s border with Arizona east about 20 miles. Just enough to give us control of the Colorado River. Then fuck 'em. > > 2. Move Oklahoma’s border with Texas south about 300 miles. > > 3. Move New Mexico’s border with Texas east about 300 miles. > > 4. Move Louisiana’s border with Texas west about 100 miles. > > 5. Move Georgia’s border with Florida south about 300 miles. > > You get the idea. I’m not sure I do. This is about reducing the size of states you don’t like? Why in the favour of GA vs FL, for instance? ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-us-state-boundaries-for-fun-and-profit/678730/42 "2014-01-15T06:01:04Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > 1. Move New Mexico’s border with Texas east about 300 miles. Hang on there. We’ll take El Paso, Alpine, Marfa, and Big Bend. We can also extend west to the Colorado river, except for the Phoenix area. That can be turned into a landfill. Or just fenced off. Whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-us-state-boundaries-for-fun-and-profit/678730/43 "2014-01-15T15:35:30Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I guess it happened when they were colonies, but Pennsylvania’s chimney in the NW corner of the state was bought from NY to give the state a port on Lake Erie. There’s no end to such little zigs and zags and notches and pegs up in colonial land. Every one stems from a local squabble about not wanting to be part of THAT colony or the reverse. [Granby Notch](http://ctsenaterepublicans.com/2010/01/the-granby-notch/#.UtaqhbTFIYs) (as it’s known in CT; in MA it’s the Southwick Jog) is one example. The reason CT bends around Rye (presently NY) is another. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-us-state-boundaries-for-fun-and-profit/678730/44 "2014-01-15T21:06:09Z")
Merging NH and VT would be terrible. It’s two very different states. VT is filled with Prius driving, Birkenstock wearing hippies. NH is very libertarian and independent. Here’s what we need to do. NH got it’s coastline mostly stolen by MA at some point. Let’s take that straight line of the northern MA border and just continue it straight. That way instead of a mere 18 miles of coastline, we’d have closer to a hundred. Yes, this means we’d have to take Lawrence. It’s worth it. If MA doesn’t like it maybe we can give ME back to them. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-us-state-boundaries-for-fun-and-profit/678730/45 "2014-01-15T21:18:32Z")
They wanted to move Hawaii and Alaska next to California, but it would cost too much because Rand McNally owns the copyright. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-us-state-boundaries-for-fun-and-profit/678730/46 "2014-01-15T22:50:40Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > And put the 4-corners monument on the right spot, but that’s an engineering feat not a cartographic one. Not sure what you mean by that. It’s in the exact spot where the states meet. Granted, the states don’t meet where they were originally supposed to, owing to survey inaccuracies, but the monument does mark the exact legal quadripoint. In general, if a boundary is surveyed and marked on the ground, then that is where the boundary is, regardless of where it was “supposed” to be marked. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-us-state-boundaries-for-fun-and-profit/678730/47 "2014-01-15T23:36:37Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Not sure what you mean by that. It’s in the exact spot where the states meet. Granted, the states don’t meet where they were originally supposed to, owing to survey inaccuracies, but the monument does mark the exact legal quadripoint. In general, if a boundary is surveyed and marked on the ground, then that is where the boundary is, regardless of where it was “supposed” to be marked. Yeah, well. It’s a Feature. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-us-state-boundaries-for-fun-and-profit/678730/48 "2014-01-16T16:33:52Z")
We should probably move the US-Canada border so [Point Roberts, WA](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Roberts,_Washington) is given to Canada. Similarly, Michigan has the “Lost Peninsula,” a tiny little piece of land that can only be reached by driving thru Ohio. It would make a lot more sense to just give it to Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-us-state-boundaries-for-fun-and-profit/678730/49 "2014-01-16T17:17:24Z")
Eliminate the arc boundary between Pennsylvania and Delaware, just extend the Mason Dixon line east. Surveying that curved border must be a challenge. Extend the Ohio-Michigan border west, giving parts of Indiana to Michigan. Michigan would inherit the Indiana Toll Road and perhaps Notre Dame. Just being greedy. Eliminate the projection of Minnesota into Ontario, eliminating an enclave. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-us-state-boundaries-for-fun-and-profit/678730/50 "2014-01-16T20:35:46Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Eliminate the arc boundary between Pennsylvania and Delaware, just extend the Mason Dixon line east. Surveying that curved border must be a challenge. Nah. Just have the border between Deleware and New Jersey run down the middle of the river, the way anyone who isn’t retarded would have done it to begin with. This would elimate at least 2 tiny chunks of Deleware that were created when people in New Jersey dumped fill dirt. We’d just want to make sure there weren’t any islands that would wind up getting split by the new border. (The border between the US & Canada was drawn to make sure that all of the islands in the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River were fully on one side or the other.) And while we’re at it, the governors of New York & New Jersey can have a cage match to see who gets Ellis Island. All of it. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-us-state-boundaries-for-fun-and-profit/678730/51 "2014-01-17T10:39:50Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Eliminate the arc boundary between Pennsylvania and Delaware, just extend the Mason Dixon line east. Surveying that curved border must be a challenge. Fun fact: Mason and Dixon’s survey line takes a right angle and runs down the west side of Delaware and thence across the south of the state. ---
**Author:** ![kurtisokc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kurtisokc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurtisokc)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-us-state-boundaries-for-fun-and-profit/678730/52 "2014-01-18T00:57:08Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Eliminate the arc boundary between Pennsylvania and Delaware, just extend the Mason Dixon line east. Surveying that curved border must be a challenge. Then the boundary would run right through Wilmington, and a significant proportion of Delaware’s population would suddently find themselves in Pennsylvania. ---
**Author:** ![kurtisokc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kurtisokc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurtisokc)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-us-state-boundaries-for-fun-and-profit/678730/53 "2014-01-18T01:01:47Z")
Merge the six New England States into one state. Then split California into two states, dividing them by the 36th parallel. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-us-state-boundaries-for-fun-and-profit/678730/54 "2014-01-18T03:21:08Z")
I don’t have any ideas for moving state boundaries, but I do for international boundaries. Within Nicaragua is a large lake, Lake Nicaragua. Just south of this lake is a very narrow strip of land that still belongs to Nicaragua, and everything south of there belongs to Costa Rica. The strip is only a couple of miles wide at most points. I would award that narrow strip to Costa Rica so it could have access to the lake. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-us-state-boundaries-for-fun-and-profit/678730.md?page=2)