Is there any hope of the 3C's ever splitting off into separate states (Columbus: move to, oil)

[Cleverfield]

As a counter to the other post, I would like to ask if anybody thinks it would be a good idea to split the 3 c's into 2 or 3 separate states. It seems to me that the C's are so disparate in their histories, economies, and cultures that their being together produces nothing but political conflict, to the detriment of all cities involved. I think Cincinnati would be much better off joining Kentucky, Cleveland would be better off joining Western PA, and Western NY (which would each have to split from their respective states), and Columbus would be better off joining Indiana. What do you all think?

[natininja]

I think you have a distorted view of reality. Maybe Ohio could be split into sub-states and that could make some sense in terms of making more homogenous regions (but I don't think it would be advantageous to anyone). But all of Ohio's cities are more Ohioan than they are appropriately members of any other state.

Thinking a city with strong German and Catholic roots would fit well into the south, for example, is ignorant. Thinking Cleveland should be absorbed into a state whose core is part of Appalachia is also silly in my eyes. Columbus and Indianapolis might be similar, but they are also similar to some cities like OKC and other sunbelt cities. Should all those cities form a non-contiguous state?

I think you're just embarrassed to be from Ohio, honestly. So move to the Northeast if you think you're a better fit there. Maybe we could be neighbors.

[TomJones123]

These threads keep getting more ridiculous.

[Cleverfield]

I'm not embarrassed to be from Ohio, I just find it hard to fathom that cities as different as Cleveland and Cincinnati exist in the same state. What other state in the country do you find 2 major cities with such fundamental differences? It creates political havoc, because of the different desires and agendas of each city. If you don't think that Cincinnati is similar to parts of Kentucky then you're deluding yourself. Similarly, if you can't see the similarities between Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh, you're also deluding yourself. NEO has more connection with appalachia than you might think. It sits on the appalachian plateau, and originally was the port city for the pennsylvania oil fields that sat in Appalachia. Lots of West Virginians resettled in Akron and Canton in the 20th century as well. I honestly feel much more similarity when I travel to West Virginia, Western PA, or Western NY from Cleveland than I do with areas South and West of Cleveland.

[jbcmh81]

I don't really think they're that different culturally. Cincinnati may be more conservative on the whole, but it's still pretty much Ohio in the same way that Cleveland and Columbus are. Cincinnati never felt like Kentucky to me, and Cleveland never felt like Buffalo. Indy never felt like Columbus. Having some similarities does not make them the same as those places. Breaking up the state would be disastrous economically, in any case. It's a dumb idea. The 3-Cs work together just fine, even if a few forum posters don't get or see that. We may argue which one is better than the other, but they're all better because they're in the same state.

[Cleverfield]

You're crazy if you don't think Cleveland feels like Buffalo. They're practically a part of a single long city that runs along the southeast coast of Lake Erie. And you can say that the cities/regions work together just fine, but you probably only feel that way if you are a conservative. Because of populous conservative strongholds like Southwest Ohio, Ohio has had a republican led congress for decades, which makes it difficult for more historically liberal areas like NEO to get things that they want accomplished.

[Chemistry_Guy]

What about Denver and Colorado Springs? Chicago and Springfield? Austin and Dallas? Roanoke and Alexandria? I think you could make a case for all of those cities being less similar than anything in Ohio.

[Cleverfield]

I thought somebody might bring those up. The difference there, is that those "different" cities are relative lightweights compared to the other major cities in their state. Austin is very small compared to Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth. Springfield is very small compared to Chicago, Colorado Springs is small compared to Denver. The one city dominates, and the other is a subordinate to the larger ones demands. This at least allows things to be accomplished, even if the smaller city isn't so happy about it. The problem with Ohio is that we have essentially an equal balance of regions with different polarizations, which results in political deadlocks. Again, Ohio is a microcosm of the US as a whole, and we see how effective this US congress has been.

[motorman]

^ (SF and LA) ?

[TomJones123]

Let's just realign all the states around similar cities.