Which counties would you like to see subdivided or redrawn?

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

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)

I generally agree, but I'd make a few amendments. I'd keep the SFV in LA County, send the Santa Clarita Valley and Agoura Hills over to Ventura County, and create a new county with Southeast Kern, the Antelope Valley, and the Victor Valley. I would also shift LA County east of San Dimas over to the Inland Empire, merge the Palm Springs area into Imperial County, and clean up the LA-OC border. This would allow LA to become a consolidated city-county and generally rearrange county lines along topographic borders. This would leave Southern California with:

City of Los Angeles
Population: 9,090,600
Area: 1,694 square miles
County Seat: Los Angeles

San Jacinto County
Population: 3,827,500
Area: 3,435 square miles
County Seat: Riverside

San Diego County
Population: 3,343,300
Area: 3,732 square miles
County Seat: San Diego

Orange County
Population: 3,185,900
Area: 815 square miles
County Seat: Santa Ana

Ventura County
Population: 1,233,800
Area: 2,640 square miles
County Seat: Ventura

Mojave County
Population: 998,900
Area: 22,933 square miles
County Seat: Victorville

Kern County
Population: 816,200
Area: 5,877 square miles
County Seat: Bakersfield

Coachella County
Population: 695,200
Area: 10,209 square miles
County Seat: Indio

[Brittain33]

The north part of Herkimer County, NY should be part of Hamilton.

Split up Northumberland County, PA with the northern part combined with Montour and the southern part combined with Snyder.

[Brittain33]

Middlesex County, Mass. (where I live) is ridiculous. It has a huge urban population in the southeast, a completely different large city in the north (Lowell), rural areas in the northwest, and a suburban bulge in the southwest.

• I would split off the northern parts of both Middlesex and Worcester County to make a new county based on Rt. 2 and including Lowell and Fitchburg.
• Give Marlborough, Hudson, and Hopkinton to Worcester County.
• Give Framingham and Natick to Norfolk County. They don't belong with Middlesex, but they're too Boston-oriented to give to Worcester.

This makes Worcester County and Middlesex County more cohesive and recognizes that Lowell is different from Cambridge.

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

I also think Georgia has way too many counties. I would redraw it from 159 counties down to 64 plus the independent City of Atlanta (everything ITP). It would look like this:

[MarkD]

Los Angeles County is way too big, both in square miles and in population. Subdivide it into three parts or so.

[Kyle Rittenhouse is a Political Prisoner]

The great plains rural counties with a 1000 people each should be merged until they're large enough that they can provide public services.

[voice_of_resistance]

Middlesex County, Mass. (where I live) is ridiculous. It has a huge urban population in the southeast, a completely different large city in the north (Lowell), rural areas in the northwest, and a suburban bulge in the southwest.

• I would split off the northern parts of both Middlesex and Worcester County to make a new county based on Rt. 2 and including Lowell and Fitchburg.
• Give Marlborough, Hudson, and Hopkinton to Worcester County.
• Give Framingham and Natick to Norfolk County. They don't belong with Middlesex, but they're too Boston-oriented to give to Worcester.

This makes Worcester County and Middlesex County more cohesive and recognizes that Lowell is different from Cambridge.

Ooh where in Middlesex are you? Im also in Middlesex, in Lexington. Personally, since counties don't actually have any real power, I think the structure is fine as is, as towns and cities are far more important in terms of boundaries.

[muon2]

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)

I generally agree, but I'd make a few amendments. I'd keep the SFV in LA County, send the Santa Clarita Valley and Agoura Hills over to Ventura County, and create a new county with Southeast Kern, the Antelope Valley, and the Victor Valley. I would also shift LA County east of San Dimas over to the Inland Empire, merge the Palm Springs area into Imperial County, and clean up the LA-OC border. This would allow LA to become a consolidated city-county and generally rearrange county lines along topographic borders. This would leave Southern California with:

City of Los Angeles
Population: 9,090,600
Area: 1,694 square miles
County Seat: Los Angeles

San Jacinto County
Population: 3,827,500
Area: 3,435 square miles
County Seat: Riverside

San Diego County
Population: 3,343,300
Area: 3,732 square miles
County Seat: San Diego

Orange County
Population: 3,185,900
Area: 815 square miles
County Seat: Santa Ana

Ventura County
Population: 1,233,800
Area: 2,640 square miles
County Seat: Ventura

Mojave County
Population: 998,900
Area: 22,933 square miles
County Seat: Victorville

Kern County
Population: 816,200
Area: 5,877 square miles
County Seat: Bakersfield

Coachella County
Population: 695,200
Area: 10,209 square miles
County Seat: Indio

I like your idea for Coachella county. I had my first visit to the Salton Sea in Jan. I went north from Escondido towards Hemet, then east to Palm Springs and south to the Salton Sea. I returned going west from Westmoreland. The borders of Imperial made little sense given the topography and population. Moving them both west and north would be a much better match.

[Hope For A New Era]

I also think Georgia has way too many counties. I would redraw it from 159 counties down to 64 plus the independent City of Atlanta (everything ITP). It would look like this:

Hey, what did you use to make this map? Missouri needs the same treatment.

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

I also think Georgia has way too many counties. I would redraw it from 159 counties down to 64 plus the independent City of Atlanta (everything ITP). It would look like this:

Hey, what did you use to make this map? Missouri needs the same treatment.

https://davesredistricting.org/

[Lisa's voting Biden]

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)

I generally agree, but I'd make a few amendments. I'd keep the SFV in LA County, send the Santa Clarita Valley and Agoura Hills over to Ventura County, and create a new county with Southeast Kern, the Antelope Valley, and the Victor Valley. I would also shift LA County east of San Dimas over to the Inland Empire, merge the Palm Springs area into Imperial County, and clean up the LA-OC border. This would allow LA to become a consolidated city-county and generally rearrange county lines along topographic borders. This would leave Southern California with:

City of Los Angeles
Population: 9,090,600
Area: 1,694 square miles
County Seat: Los Angeles

San Jacinto County
Population: 3,827,500
Area: 3,435 square miles
County Seat: Riverside

San Diego County
Population: 3,343,300
Area: 3,732 square miles
County Seat: San Diego

Orange County
Population: 3,185,900
Area: 815 square miles
County Seat: Santa Ana

Ventura County
Population: 1,233,800
Area: 2,640 square miles
County Seat: Ventura

Mojave County
Population: 998,900
Area: 22,933 square miles
County Seat: Victorville

Kern County
Population: 816,200
Area: 5,877 square miles
County Seat: Bakersfield

Coachella County
Population: 695,200
Area: 10,209 square miles
County Seat: Indio

Speaking of mapping tools which one is this?

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

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)

I generally agree, but I'd make a few amendments. I'd keep the SFV in LA County, send the Santa Clarita Valley and Agoura Hills over to Ventura County, and create a new county with Southeast Kern, the Antelope Valley, and the Victor Valley. I would also shift LA County east of San Dimas over to the Inland Empire, merge the Palm Springs area into Imperial County, and clean up the LA-OC border. This would allow LA to become a consolidated city-county and generally rearrange county lines along topographic borders. This would leave Southern California with:

City of Los Angeles
Population: 9,090,600
Area: 1,694 square miles
County Seat: Los Angeles

San Jacinto County
Population: 3,827,500
Area: 3,435 square miles
County Seat: Riverside

San Diego County
Population: 3,343,300
Area: 3,732 square miles
County Seat: San Diego

Orange County
Population: 3,185,900
Area: 815 square miles
County Seat: Santa Ana

Ventura County
Population: 1,233,800
Area: 2,640 square miles
County Seat: Ventura

Mojave County
Population: 998,900
Area: 22,933 square miles
County Seat: Victorville

Kern County
Population: 816,200
Area: 5,877 square miles
County Seat: Bakersfield

Coachella County
Population: 695,200
Area: 10,209 square miles
County Seat: Indio

Speaking of mapping tools which one is this?

Google MyMaps.

[Hope For A New Era]

Here's my Missouri map. 114 counties and 1 independent city -> 64 counties and 6 independent cities.

The 6 independent cities are Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield, Columbia, Independence, and Jefferson City. The top 5 largest + the capital.

Note that the city limits for Kansas City and Springfield aren't perfect, as the precincts don't match up exactly. They're pretty close, though. The limits I've drawn for Columbia and Jefferson City on here are entirely outside their current boundaries, so they don't share that problem, and St. Louis was of course an independent city already.

Generally, I tried to arrange the new counties based on connections between areas and topography. It's not 100% perfect - probably a professional demographer could do it much better - but I think it would at least be functional.




Would be interesting to try to create a county map where all counties are safe R (probably very easy) or where as many as possible are as D as possible (much more difficult).

[Libertas Vel Mors]

Here's my Missouri map. 114 counties and 1 independent city -> 64 counties and 6 independent cities.

The 6 independent cities are Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield, Columbia, Independence, and Jefferson City. The top 5 largest + the capital.

Note that the city limits for Kansas City and Springfield aren't perfect, as the precincts don't match up exactly. They're pretty close, though. The limits I've drawn for Columbia and Jefferson City on here are entirely outside their current boundaries, so they don't share that problem, and St. Louis was of course an independent city already.

Generally, I tried to arrange the new counties based on connections between areas and topography. It's not 100% perfect - probably a professional demographer could do it much better - but I think it would at least be functional.




Would be interesting to try to create a county map where all counties are safe R (probably very easy) or where as many as possible are as D as possible (much more difficult).

what the f is that KC

[Hope For A New Era]

Here's my Missouri map. 114 counties and 1 independent city -> 64 counties and 6 independent cities.

The 6 independent cities are Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield, Columbia, Independence, and Jefferson City. The top 5 largest + the capital.

Note that the city limits for Kansas City and Springfield aren't perfect, as the precincts don't match up exactly. They're pretty close, though. The limits I've drawn for Columbia and Jefferson City on here are entirely outside their current boundaries, so they don't share that problem, and St. Louis was of course an independent city already.

Generally, I tried to arrange the new counties based on connections between areas and topography. It's not 100% perfect - probably a professional demographer could do it much better - but I think it would at least be functional.

*image snipped so the post isn't massive*


Would be interesting to try to create a county map where all counties are safe R (probably very easy) or where as many as possible are as D as possible (much more difficult).

what the f is that KC

Yep, that's what Kansas City's city limits look like. It spans four counties, so it's kind of a Broomfield situation. A separation is long overdue, especially since a lot of statistics treat it as separate anyway (for example, COVID-19 statistics are reported separately for the Kansas City and non-Kansas City portions of Platte County).

Unfortunately, there are by my count 14 municipalities that are mostly or completely surrounded by Kansas City, and they all have very strong local identities and would absolutely refuse to merge. However, that leads to a situation that is really no more complicated than the current one, so it really doesn't seem to be a problem.

[jaymichaud]

San Bernadino, certainly. What a big clunky mess.

[Libertas Vel Mors]

Here's my Missouri map. 114 counties and 1 independent city -> 64 counties and 6 independent cities.

The 6 independent cities are Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield, Columbia, Independence, and Jefferson City. The top 5 largest + the capital.

Note that the city limits for Kansas City and Springfield aren't perfect, as the precincts don't match up exactly. They're pretty close, though. The limits I've drawn for Columbia and Jefferson City on here are entirely outside their current boundaries, so they don't share that problem, and St. Louis was of course an independent city already.

Generally, I tried to arrange the new counties based on connections between areas and topography. It's not 100% perfect - probably a professional demographer could do it much better - but I think it would at least be functional.

*image snipped so the post isn't massive*


Would be interesting to try to create a county map where all counties are safe R (probably very easy) or where as many as possible are as D as possible (much more difficult).

what the f is that KC

Yep, that's what Kansas City's city limits look like. It spans four counties, so it's kind of a Broomfield situation. A separation is long overdue, especially since a lot of statistics treat it as separate anyway (for example, COVID-19 statistics are reported separately for the Kansas City and non-Kansas City portions of Platte County).

Unfortunately, there are by my count 14 municipalities that are mostly or completely surrounded by Kansas City, and they all have very strong local identities and would absolutely refuse to merge. However, that leads to a situation that is really no more complicated than the current one, so it really doesn't seem to be a problem.

But if you get to redraw the map, why not just fix the borders?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Here's my Missouri map. 114 counties and 1 independent city -> 64 counties and 6 independent cities.

The 6 independent cities are Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield, Columbia, Independence, and Jefferson City. The top 5 largest + the capital.

Note that the city limits for Kansas City and Springfield aren't perfect, as the precincts don't match up exactly. They're pretty close, though. The limits I've drawn for Columbia and Jefferson City on here are entirely outside their current boundaries, so they don't share that problem, and St. Louis was of course an independent city already.

Generally, I tried to arrange the new counties based on connections between areas and topography. It's not 100% perfect - probably a professional demographer could do it much better - but I think it would at least be functional.

*image snipped so the post isn't massive*


Would be interesting to try to create a county map where all counties are safe R (probably very easy) or where as many as possible are as D as possible (much more difficult).

what the f is that KC

Yep, that's what Kansas City's city limits look like. It spans four counties, so it's kind of a Broomfield situation. A separation is long overdue, especially since a lot of statistics treat it as separate anyway (for example, COVID-19 statistics are reported separately for the Kansas City and non-Kansas City portions of Platte County).

Unfortunately, there are by my count 14 municipalities that are mostly or completely surrounded by Kansas City, and they all have very strong local identities and would absolutely refuse to merge. However, that leads to a situation that is really no more complicated than the current one, so it really doesn't seem to be a problem.

But if you get to redraw the map, why not just fix the borders?

yeah, something like this is a perfect chance to fix the borders indeed!

[lfromnj]

San Juan Utah, the Mormons and the Navajo basically hate each other at the local level.

[Idaho Conservative]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_County,_Georgia
Recreate Milton County

[walleye26]

St Louis, MN. It’s way too huge, and the southern part with Duluth and it’s suburbs are much different than the Boundary Waters way up north.
Oconto/Marinette, WI need to be redrawn in a way that doesn’t include so many 90 degree angles. I also agree with merging Pepin, WI into Buffalo County.
I would also merge Marquette and Green Lake County into one, as they are basically the same-small, rural farm counties with decent sized Amish populations and large lakes with the Fox River going between them.

[cg41386]

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.

There is no Warren County in MI. Macomb?

[RINO Tom]

I would favor Cook County being just the city of Chicago (maybe clean up the borders a bit...) and the remaining suburbs being absorbed into the Collar Counties.

[Gass3268]

I would favor Cook County being just the city of Chicago (maybe clean up the borders a bit...) and the remaining suburbs being absorbed into the Collar Counties.

I'd be in favor of creating three new counties for the north, west, and south.

Our you could just consolidate the county and city.

[Skye]

Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside are monstrosities that should be split.

King county in WA could benefit from a split too.

Also, the world doesn't need that many counties in Georgia.