Project - Re-Imagining the United States

[Veluux]

Pretty interesting idea you've got going on here.

A small note from a Colorado Native: For the new version of Colorado (the western half, not Arapahoe) I wouldn't suggest Glenwood Springs as the Capital. It's true that it is quite centralized and may draw more attention (due to its value as a tourist site)... but I think Grand Junction would make a much more logical and practical choice for the capital of that region. For a few reasons:

It's got a major set of railway intersections, as well as having some major highway intersections. The highways that pass through Junction are the main entry points for the surrounding valleys that border the Grand Junction valley. You really can't get down into the southern part of the new version of Colorado (Delta, Mesa, Montrose counties) without going through Grand Junction. Add the fact that it's got a lot of major businesses and buildings in it - including all of the surrounding agricultural products basically get shipped and distributed through it.

Glenwood Springs is more of a tourist location. It's full of hot springs, novelty shops - and is packed into a narrow canyon valley with only two useful entry points - compared to Junction being surrounded by offshoot highways into the surrounding region's valley network.

Just my thoughts.

Great work so far though - extremely interesting.

EDIT: Grand Junction also has a fairly decent sized airport (for a non-major city). I'm not even sure if Glenwood has an airport that will take anything other than personal planes/jets and very small aircraft. Junction's takes smaller jet-liner transit planes. Something that's pretty important to have in a capital city.

[ceiiinosssttuu]

Veluux, thank you for your comments - this is EXACTLY the kind of information I'm looking for. I considered Grand Junction originally, but hesitated because it wouldn't be very centrally located. But I definitely see your point, so I changed it. Revised map will be uploaded soon.

[ceiiinosssttuu]

Updated map:

[ranger]

This is a neat idea! Good Job!

Wyoming capital should be Casper btw, its way bigger than lander, and its a major trade hub, river/rail/international airport/interstate - and lander is in the middle of a huge valley hard to get to from any direction but east, Casper is is relatively accessible (and I live there )

[ceiiinosssttuu]

Thanks, Ranger. Updated map (with a few other changes I added). I had initially chosen Lander because it was more centrally located, but I get your point. What do you think of the "new" Wyoming area? I couldn't quite decide how to divide up Eastern Wyoming, Western SD, Northern Colorado, and the Nebraska panhandle. Let me know if you think there is another way that makes more sense.

[ranger]

Well....it may be better to go straight up from natrona county (casper) up into big horn, then over west, and give part of that montana area north of yellowstone to wyoming or just merge the 2, and take out a bit of the southern counties of wyoming to the colorado, as that would be a big hunk of the "mountains" some of the largest mountains in the us, the wind river range is i think has the highest continual elevation in the us rather than just a high peak like alaska has. By going straight north you snag the big horns as part of the "mountain state" but right north of wyoming is the large yellowstone river network so its fitting to be part of that other state. wyoming has some of the most varied terrain of all the states, so would be divided heavily by the terrain, the only reason it has those straight lines is because of history when it was a territory and how the feds laid out the land in a grid for the old homestead system. Casper actually sits between 3 of those major terrain divisions, the great plains to the east, the mountains to the south, and a weird land formation of semi flat area but not part of the great plains to the north and west (though the north part of that is relativly small until you start getting into the foothills of the bighorns. I grew up in the military so have lived a bit of places, and traveled to 80% of the us so will try and look things over more for you, though I saw a map the other day that does what your trying with a twist - Population here is a link Electoral college reform (fifty states with equal population) / fake is the new real