Cities that span two or more states
August 26, 2005 10:54 AM   Subscribe

I am trying to find a list of cities that span two or more states (e.g. Kansas City MO/KS). Anyone?
posted by xmutex to Society & Culture (42 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
the quad cities (moline, rock island, bettendorf and ???) straddle the Mississippi, not sure if that counts. (illinois & iowa)
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 11:00 AM on August 26, 2005


I might be wrong, but I think K.C KS & K.C MO are separate cities, if that makes a difference.
posted by repoman at 11:02 AM on August 26, 2005


You may need to define what you mean by "city." Legally, Kansas City KS and Kansas City MO are two separate cities--each has its own mayor, etc. If you mean legal cities, there may not be any. On the other hand, there are many metropolitan areas which span more than one state, but that may be too broad of a definition.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 11:02 AM on August 26, 2005


Bristol TN/VA.
posted by trox at 11:04 AM on August 26, 2005


St. Louis, MO/IL
Memphis/West Memphis, TN/AR
Texarkana, TX/AR
Florala, FL/AL
Niagara, NY/Ontario

Istanbul spans two continents.
posted by Pollomacho at 11:05 AM on August 26, 2005


In the same state, St Louis goes both ways. Oddly their development is more east-west while Kansas City (due to early 20th Century development of Mission Hills, KS and the Plaza) moved north-south along the state line.

Does the DC/Virginia region count? I assume you realize that KCK and KCMO are the same in name and geographic proximity only.
posted by geoff. at 11:05 AM on August 26, 2005


If you mean legal cities, there may not be any.

There are none, in fact the Kansas City bistate tax was the first of its kind (to renovate the Union Station). This issue is really big in KC actually, as the wealth has generally moved to Kansas, which generally wants all the benefits of a large city but without the taxes and obligation. As of late the suburbs have even tried to compete with KC directly by proposing and building convention centers and courting minor league teams.
posted by geoff. at 11:08 AM on August 26, 2005


Augusta (GA) and North Augusta (SC) might as well be the same city.
posted by grabbingsand at 11:09 AM on August 26, 2005


If you're going by metro area, you can use Fargo-Moorhead (ND/MN), Duluth-Superior (MN/WI), and Omaha-Council Bluffs (NE/IA). You could even get crazy and run with International Falls-Fort Frances (MN/Ontario).
posted by COBRA! at 11:15 AM on August 26, 2005


They aren't named the same, but one might consider Philadelphia/Camden a contiguous metro region separated only by water and the state line. Of course, you would consider it thus only if you were in Camden... Philadelphians pretty much ignore Camden other than to buy cheap(er) liquor and go to the aquarium.
posted by Netzapper at 11:24 AM on August 26, 2005


Ottawa, ON and Hull/Gatineau, QC act like the rest of those even though their names don't correspond.
posted by mendel at 11:25 AM on August 26, 2005


No, St. Louis does not expand over to Illinois. I suppose you could consider the Metro East Illinois area sort of a suburb, but in NO WAY is E. St. Louis part of St. Louis.
posted by pieoverdone at 11:26 AM on August 26, 2005


Lake Tahoe, NV/CA sits onthe border. On one side of the street is shops, on the other is casinos. I found it amusing.
posted by o2b at 11:28 AM on August 26, 2005


Lloydminster Alberta/Saskatchewan is one city but, that's in Canada so I don't know if that counts.
posted by sauril at 11:34 AM on August 26, 2005


Flin Flon, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
posted by myopicman at 11:38 AM on August 26, 2005


McCaysville GA and Copperhill TN are essentially the same city, except for the blue line painted diagonally across the street (and the IGA parking lot) which lets you know which side of the border you're on. That's important, 'cause you can only buy beer and fireworks on the TN side.
posted by spilon at 11:39 AM on August 26, 2005


Since we haven't been very good at providing lists and instead just giving examples, I can join in the fun. I think that Lloydminster is the best Canadian example. It's on the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan, and according to the website, it's a single municipality and counted as a city in each province.

It's a specific point of pain for me, because the retail software I'm currently working on has to be compliant with different provincial legislations. The store in Lloydminster is a special case that often causes problems because of its unique location.

(On preview, beaten to the punch by Sauril. But mine has a link! Nyah!)
posted by flipper at 11:42 AM on August 26, 2005


And yes, they are two separate cities, but Laredo, TX and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico form another border-crossing metropolitan area as well.
posted by BT at 11:45 AM on August 26, 2005


Delmar, Maryland/Delaware.

"Delmar is two incorporated towns: Delmar, Delaware, located in Sussex County and Delmar, Maryland located in Wicomico county. The towns share a central administration, police department, public works department, and sewer/water facilities which are jointly owned and operated."
posted by gnomeloaf at 11:47 AM on August 26, 2005


Wendover, Utah
Wendover, Nevada
posted by neilkod at 12:02 PM on August 26, 2005


Williamson, WV and KY. Although I think technically, it might be South Williamson, KY.
posted by amarynth at 12:05 PM on August 26, 2005


Beloit WI / South Beloit IL
posted by ackptui at 12:07 PM on August 26, 2005


Not what you're looking for but Weirton, West Virginia is a city that borders two states.
posted by m@ at 12:08 PM on August 26, 2005


Newport, WA / Oldtown, ID
posted by samw at 12:39 PM on August 26, 2005


Response by poster: Sweet. Thanks. Keep 'em coming.

And no, I didn't realize KC, MO and KC, KS were really legally separate. Learn something new every day.
posted by xmutex at 12:58 PM on August 26, 2005


Texahoma, TX/OK.
posted by fixedgear at 1:11 PM on August 26, 2005


I don't think Niagara Falls ON/NY should count because though they have the same name, and are located pretty much across the border from one another, they don't function as a single city the way that the other examples do.
posted by duck at 2:29 PM on August 26, 2005


New Pine Creek, Oregon...or California. It's kinda both.
posted by ..ooOOoo....ooOOoo.. at 2:38 PM on August 26, 2005


Dubuque, Iowa
East Dubuque, Illinois
posted by luckypozzo at 4:55 PM on August 26, 2005


Bluefield, VA/WV
posted by dilettante at 6:24 PM on August 26, 2005


Las Vegas, New Mexico
Las Vegas, Nevada
posted by entropy at 7:31 PM on August 26, 2005


Sorry, those 2 don't actually span states.
posted by entropy at 8:29 PM on August 26, 2005


Minneapolis & St. Paul.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 8:36 PM on August 26, 2005


Oh, wait. That's not two states.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 8:36 PM on August 26, 2005


Geneva, Switzerland and Annemasse, France

Ha, two nation states!
posted by blue_beetle at 9:17 PM on August 26, 2005


Lake Tahoe, NV/CA sits onthe border. On one side of the street is shops, on the other is casinos. I found it amusing.

Not just that, but the California/Nevada border runs through the Calneva casino.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:44 PM on August 26, 2005


A couple of notes on the above:
• Apparently, the town of Wendover (NV/UT) is an interesting example of states' rights in action. It is in an area where a variant form of Mormonism allowing polygamy is practiced sub rosa, and of course, Nevada allows gam-, er gambling while Utah most assuredly does not. There are six casinos on the Nevada side of town, and the bulk of their customers do not have Nevada license plates....
Four Corners (AZ/CO/NM/UT) is more a geographical anomaly than a town, but there are buildings there, so perhaps it counts. (The site is within the Navajo Nation, and is administered by the tribe.)
posted by rob511 at 2:11 AM on August 27, 2005


Georgia seems to be racking up an awful lot of these. Let me help...

Columbus, Georgia and Phenix City, Alabama.
posted by Clay201 at 2:19 AM on August 27, 2005


If the towns are in two states they're going to be two different jurisdictions. For some federal purposes, however, something called a Metropolitan Statistical Area has been devised, that creates overlays that often straddle two (or more) states. The Bureau of the Census uses these, as does HUD. Sometimes they don't match, but that's another story.

Here's a .pdf from the Census that lists all Metropolitan Statistical Areas. A quick scroll down the list of names shows quite a few that have two states listed (Wilmington DE-MD-NJ).
posted by Framer at 3:28 AM on August 27, 2005


I agree that you should take Niagara Falls off the list. We never considered the two places to be a single city. The main reason is that there's an international border between them that costs you time and money and a government inspection going and coming back every time you want to visit the other side, so you tend to stay where you are unless exchange rates make shopping on the other side too attractive to avoid. Also, Canadians and Americans don't exactly feel as if they're the same people who just happen to live on different sides of a line.
posted by pracowity at 11:27 AM on August 27, 2005


Nogales, Arizona, United States and
Nogales, Sonora, Mexico
are right across the line from one another
posted by coolsara at 12:28 PM on August 27, 2005


An Australian example: Albury, New South Wales and Wodonga, Victoria -- AKA Albury-Wodonga.
posted by bright cold day at 6:55 PM on August 28, 2005


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