Which counties would you like to see subdivided or redrawn?

[RI]

A few that spring to mind for me:

1) There's no good reason why the Antelope Valley should be in Los Angeles County. I'd split Kern County at the southern end of the Central Valley, merge the remainder into a new county with the LA County portion of the Antelope Valley that ends east of Lake Los Angeles out to the NV border. Another county would contain the remainder of San Bernardino County outside the Inland Empire. I'd split off the Inland Empire portions of SBC and Riverside to form one county, and leave Palm Springs and the remainder of Riverside County as a separate county.

2) Similarly, I'd strong consider dividing the San Fernando Valley and points north from the Los Angeles Basin (cutting over the Santa Monica Mountains and then north of Pasadena)

3) I'd like the split King County, WA in two east-west along Lake Washington and split Snohomish County north-south between Everett and Marysville.

4) I'd give Jefferson County, WA west of the Olympics to Clallam County. I also wouldn't mind seeing Okanogan County split in two between the Methow Valley and Okanogan River Valley, although the population would be pretty low for that split.

5) Douglas County, OR should probably be subdivided, although I'm not sure which way would be best. I'd also consider lopping off the western portion of Lane County outside the Willamette Valley.

6) Give northern Washoe County, NV to Humboldt County.

[Storr]

Metro Atlanta, specifically Fulton County (which is an odd long shape due to the old Fulton County absorbing two counties during the Great Depression) needs to be redrawn. It's been near impossible for Metro Atlanta to coordinate on anything due to it being split among so many different counties, a good example being MARTA.

[iceman]

Iowa - Kossuth County, surely the odd one out in the Iowa map.

[catographer]

I love all 1-6 of your suggestions RI; SoCal needs a major redo. I’d also do a systematically consolidation in Georgia, as well as probably unifying some tiny Great Plains counties. Additionally, consolidate independent cities in Virginia into counties.

[lfromnj]

Passiac NJ.

[Tintrlvr]

Passiac NJ.

Any map that is redesigning counties really would have to start with this one.

[lfromnj]

Passiac NJ.

Any map that is redesigning counties really would have to start with this one.

Its both one of the most ugly county designs with a narrow bottleneck which also divides the urban part from a rural/exurban part.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The biggest changes I'd make in South Carolina would be various mergers.

Barnwell should absorb Bamberg and Allendale.
Orangeburg should absorb Calhoun.
McCormick should be split up, with some joining Edgefield and some joining Greenwood; Greenwood should also absorb Abbeville.

[clever but short]

Metro Atlanta, specifically Fulton County (which is an odd long shape due to the old Fulton County absorbing two counties during the Great Depression) needs to be redrawn. It's been near impossible for Metro Atlanta to coordinate on anything due to it being split among so many different counties, a good example being MARTA.

Yeah the Atlanta area seems messy

[Gass3268]

I feel like Maricopa County, AZ could use some trimming.

[Padfoot]

I think one of the biggest questions that should be simultaneously asked here is "what is the purpose of a county?"  In a lot of ways I feel like city and county governments are redundant.  As such, my proposal would be to consolidate the governments of all major cities and counties.

[iceman]

Metro Atlanta, specifically Fulton County (which is an odd long shape due to the old Fulton County absorbing two counties during the Great Depression) needs to be redrawn. It's been near impossible for Metro Atlanta to coordinate on anything due to it being split among so many different counties, a good example being MARTA.

Yeah the Atlanta area seems messy

That's because Georgia has too many counties.

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

Absorb Pepin, WI into Buffalo, WI. The NE part of Pepin isn't even readily accessible by a major road if you're coming from the Mississippi.

Brooke and Hancock, WV - the way this splits Weirton is incredibly unsatisfying. It would make sense to use some of the topography here.

Cook County - you could split off the Western knob and either absorb it into DuPage or make it its own county. A nice split would probably be run west from the Evanston-Chicago border.

Daggett, Utah probably shouldn't exist. It's tempting to give it to Summit but it actually would probably make more sense to give it to Uintah because highway 191 runs straight form Vernal up through the center of the county.

Give the bizarre annex of Windsor, VT to Rutland.

Some of the interior Nevada counties could be redone. What the hell is going on with Nye and Mineral? I would give the portion abutting the mountains next to Gabbs (is this the Toiyabe range?) to Mineral.

Lake County, TN - why does this exist? edit: actually the story behind the formation of the lake itself (not the county) is interesting.

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

The Northern Part of Los Angeles County, California could be its own County.

[Indy Texas]

In Texas...

(1) Create a new county called Amarillo County contiguous with the City of Amarillo. (I don't like it when cities straddle multiple counties.)

(2) Give Tom Green County's weird long, thin western "panhandle" to Irion County.

(3) Not redrawing, but rename counties named after Confederate/secessionist figures:
(a) Rename Jeff Davis County as Valentine County (after a city in the county)
(b) Rename Stephens County as Caddo County (after the Caddo Indians that once lived there)
(c) Rename Calhoun County as Espiritu Santo County (after the Espiritu Santo Bay it is on the shoreline of)

Elsewhere...

(1) In California, divide San Bernardino County in half, with the western half (including San Bernardino and other major cities) remaining San Bernardino County, and the eastern half being named Mojave County.

(2) In Louisiana, give St. Martin Parish the eastern portion of Iberia Parish so that it is a geographically contiguous entity.

[voice_of_resistance]

I'm personally not opposed to having small counties. That said, I think several counties are way too large. These include:

Maricopa AZ
LA, Orange, and SD in CA
rename counties named after Jefferson Davis
abolish Broward County FL (he wasn't a great guy and also the county is a joke elections wise) and merge into northern Miami-Dade, split southern Miami-Dade into its own county
restore Milton and Campbell Counties in Georgia

abolish Issaquena County MS, merge with nearer counties

these are just a few of my favorite things

[Storr]

The Northern Part of Los Angeles County, California could be its own County.

According to Wikipedia, the Los Angeles County part of the Antelope Valley (the Northern part of the county separated from the rest of the county by the San Gabriel Mountains) had 513,547 people as of 2013. That should be enough people for a functioning county, despite being quite small compared to other California counties.

In trying to find population statistics about the Northern Part of Los Angeles County, I found this interesting article about the region and how its massive population growth and urban development in the past 30 years, becoming a haven for people priced out of areas closer to Los Angeles, have affected the ecology and environment of the area:
https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/the-shifting-demographics-of-antelope-valley-and-developments-consequences

[EastAnglianLefty]

I think there's probably a pretty good argument for merging Wayne, Warren and Oakland counties in Michigan. It's quite striking that it wasn't until about 15 years ago that the Detroit metro (as opposed to Detroit itself) started to shrink and it's hard to avoid the conclusion that many of Detroit's problems are because 8 Mile Road meant the financial consequences of white flight were much worse than they'd have been if they stayed in the same county.

Possibly the solution would be something more like NYC or European metropolitan areas, where you have an overall city leadership and you then subdivide it into boroughs which have their own political leadership for more local priorities.

There's also a decent argument for altering the boundaries everywhere a city is in two or more counties and potentially for reshaping the map entirely and basing it around commuting patterns.

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

The Northern Part of Los Angeles County, California could be its own County.

According to Wikipedia, the Los Angeles County part of the Antelope Valley (the Northern part of the county separated from the rest of the county by the San Gabriel Mountains) had 513,547 people as of 2013. That should be enough people for a functioning county, despite being quite small compared to other California counties.

In trying to find population statistics about the Northern Part of Los Angeles County, I found this interesting article about the region and how its massive population growth and urban development in the past 30 years, becoming a haven for people priced out of areas closer to Los Angeles, have affected the ecology and environment of the area:
https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/the-shifting-demographics-of-antelope-valley-and-developments-consequences

I meant the entire Northern predominantly white rural section of Los Angeles County by the way, not just the Antelope Valley.

Its as much as 2757354 people total by the 2010 census.

[Orser67]

Similar to other people, I'd like to see the Greater Philadelphia area (at least the PA parts) merge into one county. It's essentially one economic unit already, so I think it makes sense for it to have one county-level government, while smaller units (townships, cities, etc.) can respond to more localized problems.

Also, rename all counties named after Confederate officials and John C. Calhoun. There are 20 presidents who don't have counties named after them, and plenty are deserving (FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, etc.).

[clever but short]

Also, rename all counties named after Confederate officials and John C. Calhoun. There are 20 presidents who don't have counties named after them, and plenty are deserving (FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, etc.).

[muon2]

I think one of the biggest questions that should be simultaneously asked here is "what is the purpose of a county?"  In a lot of ways I feel like city and county governments are redundant.  As such, my proposal would be to consolidate the governments of all major cities and counties.

State constitutions and statutes generally assign substantially different roles to counties and cities. Typically only the largest cities could afford to provide services like courts and health departments that are run by counties. Most counties have unincorporated areas that are willing to accept a lower level of some services like utilities in exchange for reduced taxes. Moving those areas under a city's jurisdiction is usually not supported by residents of either the city or the unincorporated area.

[voice_of_resistance]

I think one of the biggest questions that should be simultaneously asked here is "what is the purpose of a county?"  In a lot of ways I feel like city and county governments are redundant.  As such, my proposal would be to consolidate the governments of all major cities and counties.

State constitutions and statutes generally assign substantially different roles to counties and cities. Typically only the largest cities could afford to provide services like courts and health departments that are run by counties. Most counties have unincorporated areas that are willing to accept a lower level of some services like utilities in exchange for reduced taxes. Moving those areas under a city's jurisdiction is usually not supported by residents of either the city or the unincorporated area.

I agree. I think that some counties and cities that should merge are here:

Cook IL
Harris TX
Los Angeles CA
King WA
Salt Lake UT
Maricopa AZ
Mecklenburg NC
Charleston SC
Fulton GA
Miami-Dade FL

[Cokeland Saxton]

I think one of the biggest questions that should be simultaneously asked here is "what is the purpose of a county?"  In a lot of ways I feel like city and county governments are redundant.  As such, my proposal would be to consolidate the governments of all major cities and counties.

State constitutions and statutes generally assign substantially different roles to counties and cities. Typically only the largest cities could afford to provide services like courts and health departments that are run by counties. Most counties have unincorporated areas that are willing to accept a lower level of some services like utilities in exchange for reduced taxes. Moving those areas under a city's jurisdiction is usually not supported by residents of either the city or the unincorporated area.

I agree. I think that some counties and cities that should merge are here:

Cook IL
Harris TX
Los Angeles CA
King WA
Salt Lake UT
Maricopa AZ
Mecklenburg NC
Charleston SC
Fulton GA
Miami-Dade FL

Disagree strongly. Many of these would make for some messy city limits. Fulton County would be moot anyway, as almost all of the county is already incorporated.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I think one of the biggest questions that should be simultaneously asked here is "what is the purpose of a county?"  In a lot of ways I feel like city and county governments are redundant.  As such, my proposal would be to consolidate the governments of all major cities and counties.

State constitutions and statutes generally assign substantially different roles to counties and cities. Typically only the largest cities could afford to provide services like courts and health departments that are run by counties. Most counties have unincorporated areas that are willing to accept a lower level of some services like utilities in exchange for reduced taxes. Moving those areas under a city's jurisdiction is usually not supported by residents of either the city or the unincorporated area.

I agree. I think that some counties and cities that should merge are here:

Cook IL
Harris TX
Los Angeles CA
King WA
Salt Lake UT
Maricopa AZ
Mecklenburg NC
Charleston SC
Fulton GA
Miami-Dade FL

While Charleston County needs revising, I don't think a city-county merger is warranted.