Cities that belong in other states

[craigs]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

With a giant wall along it.

Not really the same thing.


Detroit and Buffalo city propers both directly border Canada.

I edited my post to show that it has the busiest land border crossing in the Western Hemisphere. Tens of thousands flood into San Diego each day to work, and then head back home to Tijuana at the end of the day.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

With a giant wall along it.

Not really the same thing.


Detroit and Buffalo city propers both directly border Canada.

Right, and so do Cleveland and Erie, and really any city/county on a Great Lake with Canada on the other side, technically, but it’s a water border… the US-Canada Maritime Border.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

With a giant wall along it.

Not really the same thing.


Detroit and Buffalo city propers both directly border Canada.

Yeah, not a singular metro without unrestricted movement and access to the workforce.

[veep]

Las Vegas belongs in California.

It's in the Mojave desert, which is mostly in California. Nevada is mostly mountains with a teeny bit of the Mojave stretching into the southern tip from California.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by craigs

San Diego (city proper) borders Tijuana, Mexico.

Really? I could have sworn I had to go through National City, Chula Vista and San Ysidro to get from San Diego to Tijuana.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

Really? I could have sworn I had to go through National City, Chula Vista and San Ysidro to get from San Diego to Tijuana.

There's a very weird section of San Diego proper right on the border, and then going north on the 5 you do indeed leave San Diego before reentering it.

[Quixote]

Originally Posted by summersm343

While modern day Philadelphia would probably be far more progressive and better off if it were in the state of New Jersey, and in many ways Pennsylvania holds Philadelphia back, I do think Philadelphia and it's surrounding suburban counties in the state are quintessential Pennsylvania.

What's "quintessential [suburban] Pennsylvania"? What makes, say, the Main Line suburbs distinct from parts of North Jersey?

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by JManc

I spent my early teenage years in Missouri City, TX

What school(s) did you go to? When I was a mid-teenager in Sugar Land, Dulles was the only high school in Fort Bend ISD.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by craigs

There's a very weird section of San Diego proper right on the border, and then going north on the 5 you do indeed leave San Diego before reentering it.

So it’s kind of technical to say San Diego proper borders Tijuana. Downtown SD’s really not within walking distance from Tijuana the way Downtown El Paso is from Ciudad Juarez. Of course, I’m being technical (or annoyingly pedantic) to point that out.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

Also Colorado City, AZ.

A very scary place.

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by AviationGuy

A very scary place.

Not nearly as scary as it once was. It lost nearly half its population between 2010 and 2020 and because of that, it's definitely lost a lot of the theocracy leadership that defined the town for generations.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

What school(s) did you go to? When I was a mid-teenager in Sugar Land, Dulles was the only high school in Fort Bend ISD.

Dulles. But when I was there (late 80's), there was also Willowridge, Kempner and Clements.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by pj3000

Yeah, I get it. The thing is, I've never argued that Philadelphia is not quintessentially Pennsylvania. It is THE hub of PA, no doubt about it. As I started my first post on the topic... it's the reason for the state's existence.

I think you guys are missing the point of the thread and my subsequent posts. It's not an anti-Philly thing AT ALL. And I feel like I have to write this disclaimer... Philadelphia is one of my favorite cities. I have lots of family and friends who reside throughout the area, spending I spent one week per month living there for work for 3 years... so a quarter of my life for 3 years, I spent living in Philly. To me, it easily belongs among the top US cities. I know its and the state's history quite well... so, I definitely understand Philadelphia's position in Pennsylvania. And I get the seemingly knee-jerk defense reactions that some Philadelphians on here have if someone even mentions the city's name, based on the less than amicable relationship the rural parts of PA/PA state govt have with the city. And as EastSideHBG said above, "If you think this is bad come visit one of the 15 Philly threads"

The point of the thread: Cirrus inquired about which cities belong in other states "culturally speaking". And "What cities feel like they're in the wrong state?"

In present day, I think it is hard to argue that Philadelphia (meaning the city and its suburbs... which are strongly influenced by the city) is more associated culturally with, and thus influenced by, the NY-NJ metropolis and south NJ than it is with the rest of PA. So is it a bit flippant to say that Philadlephia "belongs in New Jersey"? Sure, but that's just the thread title. It's not a negative assessment of Philly; rather it based on its status and more metropolitan/cosmopolitan nature than what is found in the vast rural areas of PA, which yeah, make it feel like it might be in the "wrong" state. That's it.

To go a bit further, the meme that was posted about Philly not even thinking about Pittsburgh (to say nothing of thinking about all the smaller cities and towns outside of Philly's orbit) only supports this. Philly is not going to think much about the rest of the state. That's natural for a state's largest city.

But the big difference here is that while Philly is PA's largest city by far, it also tightly connected to one of the world's greatest (if not THE greatest) cities only 70 miles away. There is no doubt that NY/NJ exert outsized cultural influence on Philadelphia... and much more so than that exerted on it by the rest of the rather spread-out, largely rural state of PA.

I actually don’t disagree with what you’ve been saying. Today, Philadelphia is more tied to NJ, NYC and even Delaware, Baltimore, and DC than it is to the other regions of Pennsylvania outside of the Philadelphia Region, Lancaster and the Lehigh Valley. Philadelphia only has connections to Harrisburg really politically today. State College only for Penn State.

It makes sense though. Transit-wise, Philadelphia is well-connected to NJ, NYC, DE, MD/Baltimore and DC. In many instances, it’s easier and quicker to get to all of those states/cities from Philadelphia than it is to get to some other regions of PA as well. Thats probably why today, the Philadelphia Region is more connected to those cities/regions that it is it’s own state.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

So it’s kind of technical to say San Diego proper borders Tijuana. Downtown SD’s really not within walking distance from Tijuana the way Downtown El Paso is from Ciudad Juarez. Of course, I’m being technical (or annoyingly pedantic) to point that out.

Per Wikipedia, southernmost San Diego is an exclave consisting of San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, and other neighborhoods. That part of SD shares two border crossings and a 15-mile border with Mexico, and is indeed "physically separated from the rest of the city by the cities of National City and Chula Vista." So, yes, it is technical to point out that SD shares a border with Tijuana, but it's not incorrect.

That said, unlike El Paso and Ciudad Juarez you cannot walk from downtown San Diego to downtown Tijuana (not that I personally ever walked between El Paso and Cd. Juarez, mind you--I drove). You can, however, take San Diego's light rail to the border between the two cities.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by Quixote

What's "quintessential [suburban] Pennsylvania"? What makes, say, the Main Line suburbs distinct from parts of North Jersey?

The Main Line was coined from the historic Pennsylvania Railroad’s Main Line. If that’s not quintessential Pennsylvania, then I don’t know what is. It still runs through the area today and operated by SEPTA and Amtrak. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it became a bastion for the Philadelphia elite after the rail line was built.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Main_Line

[James Bond Agent 007]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Kansas City, MO into Kansas.

...

If for no other reason than to end the confusion surrounding their names.

This. You would not believe how many people I encounter who think Kansas City is in Kansas. And of course, there really is a KCK, but it's not what one usually means when one says "Kansas City."

I was really surprised at this when I moved here. Even when I was a kid I knew Kansas City was in Missouri.

Frankly, rather than move KC into Kansas, I think they should instead rename Kansas City (MO of course). There's a "Missouri City" not far from KC, and maybe they could merge, but I don't think the folks of Missouri City would take kindly to that.

A better idea I thought of would be to change the name of KCMO to "Truman." There's tons of Truman-this and Truman-that around here, so it would be a natural thing to use for a city name.

"Truman, Missouri."

So the Chiefs would become the Truman Chiefs and the Royals would become the Truman Royals.

Or maybe you use "Truman City." Then it would be the Truman City Chiefs and the Truman City Royals.

Since Truman was a democrat republicans might get upset. Too bad. There's all kinds of Lincoln-stuff in Illinois even though Lincoln was a republican and Illinois is dominated by democrats.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

I found some more:

Kansas City, MO
Michigan City, IN
Nevada City, CA
Virginia City, NV
Missouri City, TX
Colorado City, AZ
Michigan City, ND
Wyoming City, WV
Texas City, IL
Colorado City,TX
Nevada City, MT
Montana City, CO
Georgia City, MO



These are more common than I would've guessed, but most of 'em are pretty small piss-ant towns that are taking great liberties with the word "city".

There's a bunch more of these in Missouri:

Louisiana, Missouri
Mexico, Missouri
Nevada, Missouri
Oregon, Missouri

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by craigs

Per Wikipedia, southernmost San Diego is an exclave consisting of San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, and other neighborhoods. That part of SD shares two border crossings and a 15-mile border with Mexico, and is indeed "physically separated from the rest of the city by the cities of National City and Chula Vista." So, yes, it is technical to point out that SD shares a border with Tijuana, but it's not incorrect.

Never mind. I was under the mistaken impression that San Ysidro was a separate city.

[KevinFromTexas]

Austin belongs in Hill Countria.

[mja]

Originally Posted by summersm343

The Main Line was coined from the historic Pennsylvania Railroad’s Main Line. If that’s not quintessential Pennsylvania, then I don’t know what is. It still runs through the area today and operated by SEPTA and Amtrak. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it became a bastion for the Philadelphia elite after the rail line was built.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Main_Line

It's also just a very different place culturally than pretty much anywhere in Jersey, and especially North Jersey. There's overlap with SJ, but it's very much a Venn diagram with the city in the middle shared space.

If you blindfolded me and dropped me anywhere on the PA side of the river, I would quickly know I was on the PA side after removing the blindfold, and likewise for the NJ side. The built form, the landscape, the sub-regional quirks, how people dress and talk, etc. would all tip me off immediately.

As regards the ongoing debate, I think it's almost as if Philly should ideally be it's own state, and just annex everything out to Lancaster and Allentown, and then all the way to the Atlantic City and then down the coast until Maryland, but if I have to pick between PA & NJ, it's a Pennsylvanian city and feels like it, it's often dysfunctional relationship with the rest of the state notwithstanding.