This is true? - Geographic oddities that defy conventional wisdom

[Brandon]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._municipalities_in_multiple_counties

Wow This defies logic for me that in many states in the United states some cities are allowed to be in multiple counties not just New York or Atlanta though.

By Illinois standards, that's not weird nor odd at all.  We have a bunch of municipalities that cross county lines, including some of the biggest in the state (Chicago, Aurora, Joliet, Rockford, Elgin).

[Brandon]

Wow This defies logic for me that in many states in the United states some cities are allowed to be in multiple counties.

In WV it can cause some issues, as both courts/serious law enforcement and schools are operated on a county basis. 

A bit different than Illinois, where the only issues caused are due to the court system.  School districts common cross and ignore county lines.  Policing is done within a municipality by the municipal police department.  County sheriff police only police the unincorporated areas.  The only things county sheriffs do within municipalities (unless contracted for policing) is to serve papers.

Example: Joliet is the county seat of Will County, but extends well into Kendall County.  The Joliet PD police the areas within the city, both within Will and Kendall Counties.  Those west of County Line Road will go to Yorkville for their courts, while those east will go to downtown Joliet.  The school district, Plainfield CUSD #202 also crosses the county line here.  Plainfield South High School is in Kendall County and in the City of Joliet, about a mile west of County Line Road.  It serves students from both sides of the county line.

[empirestate]

LA-Singapore was once the second longest flight behind NYC-Singapore, but there is LA-Sydney and NYC-Sydney is impossible. Source: an airfan.

That actually seems to fit quite well with conventional wisdom.

Maybe I just don't get geography.

Well, what was it you found surprising about this? Perhaps that LA and Singapore are so far apart despite being "just across the Pacific" from each other? It's true that many maps break in the middle of that ocean, so we don't always grasp its immensity.

I think most people are more surprised that routes between Asia and North America are often shorter across the North Pole than over the Pacific (or Atlantic) Ocean.


iPhone

[english si]

^^ I've enjoyed looking out of a plane at what was about midday local time somewhere northwest of Iceland and seeing darkness out the northern side as it was midwinter, and bright sunlight out the southern side as I was able to see past the normal horizon and we were only just scraping the arctic circle. This was LAX to LHR, so 33 degrees north to 51 degrees north, but here we were at 66 degrees north having flown over Greenland (which looks white even in summer when flying over it). The world is spherical and our maps make things confusing!

Auckland to the Persian Gulf has the two longest, with Dallas to Sydney in third place. SF to Singapore is 4th longest, and Joburg to Atlanta 5th. The Gulf/Arabia to LA take 6th-9th and Dubai-Houston rounds out the top 10. Simply put: the Pacific is BIG and the Atlantic is too.

The former LA to Singapore flight beat Dallas to Sydney by 300km.

[CtrlAltDel]

Simply put: the Pacific is BIG

It's big enough that there are lines going straight through the center of the earth that connect parts of the Pacific Ocean to other parts of itself.

[kkt]

^^ I've enjoyed looking out of a plane at what was about midday local time somewhere northwest of Iceland and seeing darkness out the northern side as it was midwinter, and bright sunlight out the southern side as I was able to see past the normal horizon and we were only just scraping the arctic circle. This was LAX to LHR, so 33 degrees north to 51 degrees north, but here we were at 66 degrees north having flown over Greenland (which looks white even in summer when flying over it). The world is spherical and our maps make things confusing!

Auckland to the Persian Gulf has the two longest, with Dallas to Sydney in third place. SF to Singapore is 4th longest, and Joburg to Atlanta 5th. The Gulf/Arabia to LA take 6th-9th and Dubai-Houston rounds out the top 10. Simply put: the Pacific is BIG and the Atlantic is too.

The former LA to Singapore flight beat Dallas to Sydney by 300km.

If I was on one of those epic 15 hour flights, I might just as soon stop in the middle.  Stretch my legs, do some jumping jacks, use a bathroom bigger than a telephone booth.

[PColumbus73]

Miami is closer to the capitals of Cuba and The Bahamas than Tallahassee

[GenExpwy]

LA-Singapore was once the second longest flight behind NYC-Singapore, but there is LA-Sydney and NYC-Sydney is impossible. Source: an airfan.

That actually seems to fit quite well with conventional wisdom.

Maybe I just don't get geography.

Maybe the point is that LA—Sydney is shorter than LA—Singapore (because it didn't crack the top two), but NYC—Sydney is longer than NYC—Singapore?

[Roadgeekteen]

LA-Singapore was once the second longest flight behind NYC-Singapore, but there is LA-Sydney and NYC-Sydney is impossible. Source: an airfan.

That actually seems to fit quite well with conventional wisdom.

Maybe I just don't get geography.

Maybe the point is that LA—Sydney is shorter than LA—Singapore (because it didn't crack the top two), but NYC—Sydney is longer than NYC—Singapore?

Yes, that's the point. Planes fly in very weird arcs.

[english si]

Yes, that's the point. Planes fly in very weird arcs.

You mean straight lines?

[kalvado]

Yes, that's the point. Planes fly in very weird arcs.

You mean straight lines?

I prefer to view that in gcmap..
http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=LAX-SYD,+JFK-SYD,+JFK-SIN,+LAX-SYD

[kalvado]

Yes, that's the point. Planes fly in very weird arcs.

You mean straight lines?

However, planes still DO fly in very weird arcs - primarilly because winds can make certain paths longer than they are when measured on the ground. While car speed is measured with respect to the road and rarely affected by the wind - plane speed is with respect to air, and 50 mph talwind or headwind can easily make eastbound flight much shorter than westbound - between exact same airports. A funny example is last week flight from NYC to SFO being routed through western MA and north of Great Lakes - that being the short route because of strong jetstream over central US (many flights went with similar detour)
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL1885/history/20170519/2030Z/KEWR/KSFO

[empirestate]

LA-Singapore was once the second longest flight behind NYC-Singapore, but there is LA-Sydney and NYC-Sydney is impossible. Source: an airfan.

That actually seems to fit quite well with conventional wisdom.

Maybe I just don't get geography.

Maybe the point is that LA—Sydney is shorter than LA—Singapore (because it didn't crack the top two), but NYC—Sydney is longer than NYC—Singapore?

Yes, that's the point. Planes fly in very weird arcs.

Ah, ok, now I see. Yes, it's similar to how the closest point of land to the U.S. East Coast is often in Africa.

[kalvado]

Ah, ok, now I see. Yes, it's similar to how the closest point of land to the U.S. East Coast is often in Africa.

Not sure what you mean here. Iceland  and UK are closer to most points on the coast. Or you mean mainland Europe?
Best one I could find - Ireland and Mauritania are approximately same distance from Miami:
http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?R=3600nm%40MIA

[empirestate]

Ah, ok, now I see. Yes, it's similar to how the closest point of land to the U.S. East Coast is often in Africa.

Not sure what you mean here. Iceland  and UK are closer to most points on the coast. Or you mean mainland Europe?
Best one I could find - Ireland and Mauritania are approximately same distance from Miami:
http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?R=3600nm%40MIA

I should have said, the closest point in the U.S. to Africa is in the Northeast (specifically Maine), rather than due west across to Florida.

[inkyatari]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._municipalities_in_multiple_counties

I note Minooka, IL isn't on the list. Minooka resides in Grundy, Kendall and Will.

Come to think of it, I think Channahon is now in Will and Grundy also, given that both communities extended all the way to Brisbin Rd. since the exit on 80 opened.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minooka,_Illinois

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channahon,_Illinois

[SP Cook]

Wayne County's whole existence puzzles me. It's not very wide, and could easily be swallowed up by Cabell, Lincoln and possibly Mingo counties, although Mingo seems to be a bit unwieldy and probably too large geographically.

I've always thought a number of West Virginia's counties were either too big or not well thought out in relation to towns.

It all comes down to history.  With a tiny number of exceptions the counties of what is now WV, as well as southwestern VA, were drawn by a continual subdividing of previous counties over about 100 years, mostly be people in Richmond who had never been much west of Charlottesville in their lives, working from inaccurate maps and without an appreciation for the topography.    The counties weree formed too early in the settlinng of the areas and do no reflect how things turned out, relative to travel and culture.

As to Wayne, it is a fascinating, at least to me, political entity, as the north of the county is Huntington and its suburbs with quite a bit of industry, but very quickly becomes very rural and poor as you go south.  The transition is quicker than other places in Appalachia.

As to Mingo, I'm sure you have driven it, but the south end of the county, around Gilbert, has a huge mountain with a very poor road seperating it from the rest of the county.  In driving time it is closer to the county seats of at least 4 other counties than its own.

[hbelkins]

As to Mingo, I'm sure you have driven it, but the south end of the county, around Gilbert, has a huge mountain with a very poor road seperating it from the rest of the county.  In driving time it is closer to the county seats of at least 4 other counties than its own.

My preferred route to Gilbert and any areas beyond on US 52 or WV 97 -- cross at Kermit, US 52 south, WV 65 south, US 119 north, WV 73 south, WV 10 south, WV 80 south. Yes, through Logan and Man.

[bing101]

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

New Orleans is south of San Diego.

[Max Rockatansky]

Here's a California one; Minaret Summit and the Devils Postpile are located in Madera County despite being on the eastern flank of the Sierras.

[US 89]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._municipalities_in_multiple_counties

Wow This defies logic for me that in many states in the United states some cities are allowed to be in multiple counties not just New York or Atlanta though.

Before 2001 Broomfield, CO was in parts of four separate counties: Boulder, Weld, Adams, and Jefferson. They got so tired of it that they became their own consolidated city-county.

[tckma]

Before 2001 Broomfield, CO was in parts of four separate counties: Boulder, Weld, Adams, and Jefferson. They got so tired of it that they became their own consolidated city-county.

The town of Mount Airy, MD is similarly in parts of four separate counties: Carroll, Frederick, Howard, and Montgomery.  It sits at the corner of those four counties, and Maryland doesn't seem to believe in actually incorporating towns and cities.  A lot of stuff there is named things like "Four County Baseball Association" and the likes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Airy,_Maryland

[NWI_Irish96]

Not sure if there is another place where this occurs, but the town of Clarksville, Indiana, shares municipal boundaries with three different county seats. 

[thenetwork]

Watson, MO, and the extreme northwest corner of the Show Me State is WEST of Houston, TX...barely.

[Roadgeekteen]

Watson, MO, and the extreme northwest corner of the Show Me State is WEST of Houston, TX...barely.

Can't really see it.