Difference in mood/feel while crossing state line

[Sctvhound]

Talking about mood and feelings going from one state line to another...

There is a huge difference from SC to GA along with GA to SC. Go on I-95 from well-maintained, 3 and even 4 lane wide I-95 through Georgia, to washboard quality 2 lanes the moment you take the Savannah River bridge into SC. Same on the Talmadge Bridge heading out of Savannah.

SC is so different also depending on what part of the state you're in. It feels like everything from about Brunswick, GA through Wilmington, NC is its own state. Savannah and Charleston are so much alike, and share a lot of things. It feels like home to me pretty much anywhere along that stretch.

Piggly Wiggly, which used to be our largest grocery store chain, had major presences in Savannah and Charleston, and the National Weather Service office for Charleston serves Savannah as well. Once you get west of I-95 though on I-26 things change pretty quick. You go from the flat land of the Lowcountry to hills pretty quick.

The Midlands of SC is in the middle with all the different changes in elevation and with flat + hilly areas.

Upstate SC feels like a different state. Most of the roads (especially in Greenville and Spartanburg) are well-maintained, and the accent is different, plus the barbecue. SC doesn't spend the money on the Lowcountry like they do the Upstate.

What are your thoughts about this?

[Scott5114]

There's a pretty dramatic change of scenery when you from NE Oklahoma to SW Missouri on I-44.

[NoGoodNamesAvailable]

I-84 between Connecticut and NY turns from a 3 lane, well-lit, and well-maintained urban freeway immediately into a 2 lane, unlighted, and pretty inadequate rural freeway with terrible pavement quality.

[sprjus4]

I-95 turns from an older design 60s freeway with a 40 foot guardrail median into a large, 60-80 ft median upon entering North Carolina from Virginia.

And the opposite happens entering North Carolina from Virginia along I-85... wide forested median reduces to a 30 foot guardrail median.

The speed limit used to go from 70 mph to 65 mph on I-85 into NC, but that was increased a couple years ago, maintaining a consistent 70 mph from Petersburg to Durham.

[SkyPesos]

Downtown St Louis skyline vs the dump that is East St Louis crossing from MO to IL on I-64 or I-55

[webny99]

Rural Vermont has noticeably better property upkeep and maintainance than Northern NY.

[Big John]

Ohio to Pennsylvania on I-76.  The Ohio side looker safer and better maintained.

[Angelo71]

Ohio to Pennsylvania on I-76.  The Ohio side looker safer and better maintained.

I mean I-76 enters Southwestern PA which is just a sad area, and so that is why Ohio looks better.

[webny99]

Ohio to Pennsylvania on I-76.  The Ohio side looker safer and better maintained.

I mean I-76 enters Southwestern PA which is just a sad area, and so that is why Ohio looks better.

Eastern Ohio is equally sad if not more so. Ohio's DOT just does a bunch of things better, like signage and freeway widening projects.

[Great Lakes Roads]

Indiana to Michigan on I-94: median changes from a concrete barrier in Indiana to a grassy median in Michigan. Also, it was pretty bumpy leaving Michigan prior to the reconstruction of the SB lanes in 2019.

One more thing to add: when entering Michigan from Indiana, the time changes right away from CST to EST and vice versa...

[OCGuy81]

Entering Washington from Oregon you immediately notice the road underneath you is a lot more quiet.  WSDOT does a far superior job to highway maintenance than ODOT.

[jmacswimmer]

Ohio to Pennsylvania on I-76.  The Ohio side looker safer and better maintained.

I mean I-76 enters Southwestern PA which is just a sad area, and so that is why Ohio looks better.

Eastern Ohio is equally sad if not more so. Ohio's DOT just does a bunch of things better, like signage and freeway widening projects.

FWIW, OTIC & PTC are the 2 agencies in question here (and the legacy of that road maintained by the 2nd one might have something to do with how the road quickly narrows from a grass median to concrete barrier just before the state line )

A very similar state line to this one is I-83 leaving MD for PA - grassy median from MD quickly narrows to concrete barrier at the first PA overpass.

[sprjus4]

I-70 entering Pennsylvania from Maryland.

70 mph to 55 mph, need I say more?

No actual change in roadway conditions however, rural interstate highway with a grass median on either side.

[StogieGuy7]

Rural Vermont has noticeably better property upkeep and maintainance than Northern NY.

The change in mood/feel between Vermont and NY may be one of the most profound anywhere.  Certainly in the northeast. Driving through NY, it's hilly with small towns and roads that are not maintained in the greatest.  The communities you drive through (and homes in them) are pretty average looking and not particularly scenic.  Many are quite dumpy.  And you could just as easily be in PA, NJ or parts of eastern OH as where you really are.  Generic northeast.

As soon as you hit Vermont, you start getting into the Green Mountains, all of the towns have a colonial feel.  It looks like "New England" in a way that upstate NY does not. The roads are better.  Overall, it's far more scenic.  That's not to say it's more prosperous; it's just that Vermont does a better job of hiding it's hippie trailer parks in the woods, down a side road, than New York does. 

[JayhawkCO]

Specifically regarding roads, crossing from New Mexico into Colorado there's a pretty stark difference.

Internationally, coming from Bolivia where it looks like this to immediately seeing a paved highway and regulation signs is pretty stark.

Chris

[Angelo71]

I-70 entering Pennsylvania from Maryland.

70 mph to 55 mph, need I say more?

No actual change in roadway conditions however, rural interstate highway with a grass median on either side.

I-70 in PA/MD from Hagerstown to Breezewood is so scenic and amazing.

[StogieGuy7]

Internationally, coming from Bolivia where it looks like this to immediately seeing a paved highway and regulation signs is pretty stark.

Chris

The thread is about state lines.  International crossings are often (if not usually) very stark, which is why it's not the same thing.  One need look no farther than any crossing between the USA and Quebec province. And, worldwide, even that's nothing.  San Ysidro to Tijuana is like entering a different world - the third world.

[CoreySamson]

I-40 crossing from TN into AR is pretty stark:
Tennessee:
Arkansas:

Entering Arkansas from Tennessee for the first time gave me a weird sense of desolation in Arkansas largely because of this.

[webny99]

Rural Vermont has noticeably better property upkeep and maintainance than Northern NY.

The change in mood/feel between Vermont and NY may be one of the most profound anywhere.  Certainly in the northeast. Driving through NY, it's hilly with small towns and roads that are not maintained in the greatest.  The communities you drive through (and homes in them) are pretty average looking and not particularly scenic.  Many are quite dumpy.  And you could just as easily be in PA, NJ or parts of eastern OH as where you really are.  Generic northeast.

As soon as you hit Vermont, you start getting into the Green Mountains, all of the towns have a colonial feel.  It looks like "New England" in a way that upstate NY does not. The roads are better.  Overall, it's far more scenic.  That's not to say it's more prosperous; it's just that Vermont does a better job of hiding it's hippie trailer parks in the woods, down a side road, than New York does.

Wow, a thousand times this. Very well said, and I couldn't agree more. It's something you need to experience to understand, but I would absolutely put it among the most profound in the country.

[JayhawkCO]

Internationally, coming from Bolivia where it looks like this to immediately seeing a paved highway and regulation signs is pretty stark.

Chris

The thread is about state lines.  International crossings are often (if not usually) very stark, which is why it's not the same thing.  One need look no farther than any crossing between the USA and Quebec province. And, worldwide, even that's nothing.  San Ysidro to Tijuana is like entering a different world - the third world.

To be a contrarian, I would say that the differences at the vast majority of borders in the world are not at all that stark.  There are certain examples (U.S./Mexico, Haiti/D.R., Bolivia/Chile, Singapore/Malaysia, etc.) but in reality, most neighboring countries are probably more alike than they are different.  Think you're going to see a huge difference between Slovenia and Croatia? El Salvador and Honduras? Togo and Benin?  Not really.

Chris

[webny99]

I-40 crossing from TN into AR is pretty stark:
Tennessee:
Arkansas:

Entering Arkansas from Tennessee for the first time gave me a weird sense of desolation in Arkansas largely because of this.

To be honest, both of those scenes look pretty grisly... like a before and after in Bill Peet's "Wump World"... LOL! 

[Rothman]

Rural Vermont has noticeably better property upkeep and maintainance than Northern NY.

The change in mood/feel between Vermont and NY may be one of the most profound anywhere.  Certainly in the northeast. Driving through NY, it's hilly with small towns and roads that are not maintained in the greatest.  The communities you drive through (and homes in them) are pretty average looking and not particularly scenic.  Many are quite dumpy.  And you could just as easily be in PA, NJ or parts of eastern OH as where you really are.  Generic northeast.

As soon as you hit Vermont, you start getting into the Green Mountains, all of the towns have a colonial feel.  It looks like "New England" in a way that upstate NY does not. The roads are better.  Overall, it's far more scenic.  That's not to say it's more prosperous; it's just that Vermont does a better job of hiding it's hippie trailer parks in the woods, down a side road, than New York does.

Nah.  VT/NY just isn't that dramatic.  Crossed that border many, many times.

[Jim]

Rural Vermont has noticeably better property upkeep and maintainance than Northern NY.

Notable exception: Pownal and North Pownal.  Much more like New York to the west than Williamstown, Mass., to the south.

[I-55]

I-65 on either side of the Ohio River. 50 mph, asphalt, elevated, narrow 6 lane in through the skyscrapers of Louisville, KY versus 65 mph, on the ground, concrete, wide 8-12 lanes, flat and suburban Jeffersonville, IN

[Max Rockatansky]

Nebraska