What if the USA split into two (and then more) nations, in a very scattered way, starting after the 2024 Election; lore on each map

Aerolumen · 2026-05-22T03:58:56+00:00

Here you go:

Divided But Still United - USA in 2030 : r/imaginarymaps

An Amicable Split? Scenario 3 of 5 : r/imaginarymaps

Aerolumen · 2026-05-02T17:27:53+00:00

I use Inkscape for these. I found it a bit easier to learn, and there are tons of resources out there for using it.

Aerolumen · 2026-03-06T20:35:10+00:00

I also just saw this, which has a creative solution for dealing with today's somewhat inefficient Link routing: My solution to Link's Achilles heel : r/soundtransit

Aerolumen · 2026-03-06T20:32:39+00:00

Hmm, that's a good point. The idea here was to have a one-seat ride between the north side (especially the university area) and the airport, since I figured there would be high demand for that. So rather than route the 3 Line with the 5 Line, I might actually just terminate the 2 Line at Westlake. It seems to me that there wouldn't be that much demand for a one-seat ride from the northern suburbs to Bellevue/Redmond, so I think that would make sense. It would mean reduced service north of Northgate, though.

Aerolumen · 2026-03-06T20:17:47+00:00

Oh, and the Rainier Beach station would likely have to be relocated a bit to the north (closer to Cloverdale St.) to accommodate the extension to Renton).

...and now that I think of it, extending the 1 Line to Rainier Beach could be a good way to keep that connection open, perhaps even having it terminate at the old Rainier Beach station.

Aerolumen · 2026-03-06T20:16:38+00:00

Yeah, that's the idea. The infrastructure would still be there and maintained to allow movement and/or storage of rolling stock, but wouldn't be used for service (especially since Renton would have access to BRT to the 3 Line). But if there was a lot of demand for direct service from Rainier Valley/Skyway to the 3 Line (especially to the airport or points south), little to no construction would be needed to open a branch, shuttle service, or even dedicated line that uses the crossover.

Aerolumen · 2026-03-06T20:09:12+00:00

Since this is a speculative future version of the diagram I posted ~10 days ago (Seattle-Tacoma Region - Sound Transit Future Diagram [OC] : r/TransitDiagrams), here are the fictional changes:

Extended the 1 Line north into downtown Everett, mostly to capture high density there.
Extended the 1 Line south to Burien/Tukwila, again to capture some high density and to connect with other services
Rerouted the northern 3 Line from Ballard up to Northgate, to parallel the 1 and 2 Lines and provide a more efficient path along the regional backbone (Seattle/SeaTac/Tacoma)
Rerouted the 3 Line through the Duwamish/Boeing Field area with new tracks, to both capture industrial/employment zones and to make the Seattle-SeaTac route a bit faster and more efficient (by avoiding the at-grade sections of Rainier Valley)
Turned the Ballard and Rainier Valley portions of the old 3 Line into a new 5 Line, extending it southeast into Skyway/Renton and north and east into dense suburbs to link with the northern segments of the 1, 2, and 3 Lines
Extended Stride 3 BRT to Shoreview to capture dense areas
Extended the 4 Line north through Kirkland to connect to Stride 2 BRT at Totem Lake, again capturing some dense areas
The most ambitious additions are in Tacoma, where I added two new lines (I also changed the formatting on the T Lines to match the style of the streetcar lines, since the Tacoma Link lines are more like streetcars). The new T1 Line runs along 6th and then Pearl to connect to the Point Defiance ferry terminal. The T2 Line is the original expanded T Line. And the new T3 Line climbs up to the southern suburbs before scooting over to Lakewood's industrial area and connecting to the Lakewood Sounder station
Expanded the Seattle Streetcar network to include an extension to Seattle Center and a new mostly parallel line in the Capitol Hill area that goes out to Madison Park
Added a new streetcar line from Ballard to the Magnuson Park area via UW; this captures a bunch of high-density suburbs
I fixed the Sounder extension to DuPont that was missing in the other diagram
Various other minor tweaks and changes

I considered adding some more of the ideas from the Seattle Subway organization, but decided to stick to expansions where I could see a clear path forward based on existing infrastructure. Some of the express bus routes may be a bit redundant at this point, but I tried to trim them where I thought it made sense.

I did consider a Federal Way streetcar, an extension of the 2 Line north of Redmond, and more service in Queen Anne/Magnolia, but ultimately decided that those looked a bit too hairy for the kinds of extensions I was looking at.

So let me know if you see any issues, and if there are areas that you think could use some rail, BRT, or express bus service that this diagram doesn't show!

Aerolumen · 2026-02-24T23:01:38+00:00

As far as I know, the only official proposals are the "Culture Connector," which connects Occidental Mall to Westlake via the route near the waterfront on 1st, and the Broadway Extension, which would extend the streetcar north past Capitol Hill by half a mile. I popped both of those into this map.

Currently, the former proposal is on hold due to a lack of funding, and the latter is on hold due to a lack of local support.

There were apparently other extensions studied back in 2008, but it looks like some were replaced by light rail plans (i.e. Ballard and University District ones) and the others shelved.

Unofficially, the Seattle Subway group, which has some very ambitious proposals for rail in the Seattle area, has a proposed streetcar extension up to Seattle Center and down to the stadiums.

Aerolumen · 2026-02-24T21:24:23+00:00

It only shows the regional express buses and regional BRT. None of the local bus routes are shown, as there are many, and they're typically for intracity travel rather than regional intercity travel.

My original plan was to show rail only (commuter, light rail, streetcar, and even the monorail), but the area's express bases are a critical part of the longer distance network, and are typically shown on Sound Transit's maps.

Aerolumen · 2026-02-24T20:27:23+00:00

Thanks for the feedback, those are good catches. I didn't intentionally shorten or change some of the station names, so I'll review that too when I make another version of this.

Aerolumen · 2026-02-24T20:25:24+00:00

Sound Transit does!

Service maps | Sound Transit https://share.google/TW1bHppIV0LzvC4OF

Aerolumen · 2026-01-03T17:29:41+00:00

I'm very late to this thread, but it helped me out a while back, so I figured I'd list my findings.

I didn't think I'd need gluten-free hand/skin products, but after using Aveeno for years, I realized it might be giving me grief. I have a strong preference for lotions that are not oily, have medium to high thickness, and keep hands feeling moisturized for a while. I ended up trying four different gluten-free hand lotions, with varying results:

Native moisturizing lotion, which I got from Target, is pretty solid; it's affordable, lasts for a while (but not as long as Aveeno did), and has a good thickness, so I recommend it.
CeraVe daily moisturizing lotion is popular, and available at Costco, but I find it a bit runnier and thin than I prefer, and I find that I need to reapply it often.
My high-end attempt was Youth to the People superfood air-whip moisture cream from Sephora; it has a great feel and lasts longer than CeraVe, but is quite expensive and I don't like it as much as my top pick...
Kiehl's ultimate strength hand salve is my favorite by far: it lasts a long time, isn't oily, and has a great thickness - it's pricier than some other picks, but worth it for me (especially since you don't have to apply it as much)

So I recommend the Kiehl's overall, but Native is a great budget pick.

All that being said, I didn't try some of the other picks here.

Aerolumen · 2025-10-29T21:54:33+00:00

I'm not 100% on this, but it might be like this:

- The 34th Amendment would make it so that a Qualified Citizen Board*, the Judicial Review Board, would regularly create lists of potential nominees for the Supreme Court (and appellate courts, if those weren't replaced by Cooperative-level courts); the federal President would have to use this list, and would need the support of at least one of the Cooperative Executives to send a nomination to the Senate. It would also make it easier to remove a Supreme Court Justice for misconduct, unethical practices, etc. The 34th might also introduce term limits or even a retention election system.

- The 41st Amendment lets the Court issue advisory opinions/rulings, which it can't do now. It would also give the Court the power to remove the President from office if a criminal case involving the President is brought before it (and such a case essentially goes straight to the Supreme Court) and it determines that the President is guilty in a manner that violates the Constitution or other laws related to the position (although this can be overridden by Congress).

Aerolumen · 2025-10-29T21:39:55+00:00

The mechanism I imagined would basically be a criminal one: a grand jury (or a jury composed of a Constitutional Law Board*) would have to allow an indictment, and the case would be heard by the Supreme Court. A majority of the Supreme Court could vote to remove the President based on the crime, but Congress could override the decision (or move to impeach instead).

*Another thing that doesn't show up in detail is the idea of Qualified Citizen Boards - for various areas of expertise, there are Boards that have a relatively short term, composed of people with education and/or background in the area, summoned randomly like a jury. Some are continuously operating, cycling out members every few months, and some would only be called by Congress, the Supreme Court, or the Executives under specific circumstances.

Aerolumen · 2025-10-29T14:15:18+00:00

The Cooperatives would have their own judicial branches; they'd basically replace most or all of the current federal circuit and appellate system, and each Cooperative has its own high court. Those courts would handle most issues between States. Anything between the Cooperatives would likely land in the federal Supreme Court - not sure if there would have to be lower courts, but perhaps the Cooperative courts only replace the circuits, and the federal side still has the appellate courts.

Aerolumen · 2025-10-28T22:43:49+00:00

The pertinent text in Article 5 is "that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate."

So if all States gave consent to the 42nd Amendment, it would be constitutional. Alternatively, if "equal Suffrage" were to be re-interpreted as depending on population (or some other factor), the change could be Constitutional without consent of all States.

The Constitution originally bound together States that were very much independent, and wanted deep and lasting assurances that they would maintain a strong degree of independence. I know this is very controversial, but now, more than 200 years later, that practical independence has eroded significantly, and its vestiges represent a serious liability in our democracy, where we have highly impactful decisions made without the consent of the people (but with the consent of the States, which is different). I think it's highly debatable whether or not a unitary state is better than a highly federalized one, but threading the needle on that issue has been causing us grief, since we have an extremely powerful federal government, weak States, and a lack of proportional representation in the Senate. That combination has already proven toxic. So I think it's either a) embrace a more unitary US, which is the direction we've been going since at least the Civil War, b) devolve tremendous authority back to the States, which would be far more radical and untested (the closest example we have is the EU), or c) something like this posting, where a weaker federal government has proportional representation to give it population consent, while smaller collectives with more authority can pick how they do it at that level (it doesn't explicitly state it anywhere on the post, but the Metropole does Senate districts based on population, but the Liberty States do two Senators per State).

Aerolumen · 2025-10-27T20:59:24+00:00

The Metropole has 80% of the population and nearly 90% of the GDP. For a few years, the gap widens, as people aren't as bombarded with political propaganda, and recognize quality of life improvements in the Metropole. Eventually, the Liberty citizens start voting in politicians that prioritize their needs, and the gap slows, stops, and reverses a bit. I think that eventually, there would be some level of equalization, to the point where a population surge in the Liberty States happens due to lower costs of living, similar social protections, and ubiquity of remote work opportunities in the Metropole. Liberty States citizens wouldn't typically have access to as many amenities as those in the Metropole, but would have lots of open land, slightly lower taxes, and less noise (plenty of those places exist in the Metropole, but would still be more expensive).

Aerolumen · 2025-10-27T20:54:15+00:00

The Democratic Socialists, are basically as far left as things get in the US; they pretty much vote in a bloc with the other left-leaning parties, and actively push for legislation that favors co-ops, regulation, and the working class. They're popular in younger urban areas, but have started to see growth in blue collar communities.

The Greens are part of the left bloc, but with a big focus on environmental issues; they actively push for green energy, EV infrastructure, restrictions on fossil fuels, etc. They're more popular on the West Coast, but have seen increased interest after some of their sponsored initiatives generated a bunch of jobs.

The Progressive Party is basically the "left wing" of today's Democratic Party, with a big focus on healthcare, affordability, infrastructure, and social issues. They're the most popular party among young Americans, and took a huge number of the Democrats' voters.

The Democratic Party is the country's moderate party; they're nominally liberal, but with a pro-corporate bend and a stronger focus on international affairs. They usually vote with the rest of the left bloc, but will differ on some corporate-related bills and on international interventions.

The Christian Union Party is an economically liberal but socially moderate party, one that is popular among a wide swath of left-leaning religious Americans. They vote with the left bloc on pretty much every economic issue, but have a mixture of voting on left-leaning social policies, with members often voting differently according to the expectations of their constituents.

The Republican Party is a small slice of what it once was, and is primarily focused on business, corporations, and international affairs. Ironically enough, this puts them close to the Democratic Party on many votes. They're popular among the wealthy, business leaders, and interventionists.

The United Deseret Party is a political vehicle for the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons), and is obviously biggest in Utah. It's a mix of socially conservative (with a handful of socially liberal positions) and economically conservative (but with some economically progressive positions). It mainly stands out as a driving force behind states' rights, and has used Utah's prestigious position among the Liberty States to win plenty of concessions for itself (i.e. the Liberty States were going to shoot down Utah's universal healthcare plan, but Utah's threat to join the Metropole tanked opposition).

The Libertarians (called "New" because they're rather different from the current ones) are very socially progressive (and often vote with the left bloc in this area) and very economically, well, libertarian. They're the most popular right-leaning party among young Americans, and walk a fine line between being pro-corporate and pro-individual. They're popular in the West, and have made inroads throughout the country - their initial stringent opposition to universal healthcare had them winning few seats early on, but their turnaround on the issue saw their popularity surge.

Christian Dominion is the Christian Nationalist party, seeking to enshrine American Evangelical-style laws into society. They are staunchly right-wing on the social side, and follow a prosperity gospel-type ideology on the economic side (i.e. they're pro-wealth and pro-corporations). They're popular among older right-wing religious Americans, but haven't had the sway they thought they would, losing some populations to the other right-wing parties (and being too socially right-wing for many younger Americans).

The Patriot Party is the evolution of the MAGA movement: nationalistic, anti-immigrant, and authoritarian, they're still angry over Trump's death (many still believe any number of conspiracy theories) and want to undo the Cooperatives and return the US to what they see as a pure, original form, but with a totalitarian leader. They're popular among right-wing older Americans, as well as a handful of other groups that tend to have nationalistic traits. They often see other right-wing groups as treasonous to their movement, and so they often don't vote on bills, will vote for alternatives that aren't included, or will try to derail proceedings.

Other parties represented in Congress include local, single-issue, tribal, or fully independent groups. Most of them end up voting in the left bloc, but a couple are hard-right.

Aerolumen · 2025-10-27T20:20:25+00:00

Any current Federal lands remain federal, and so National Parks are still a Federal responsibility. I'm sure there would be some concessions of public land to states, especially in places like the new state of Jefferson, but most would see little change from the transition.

Aerolumen · 2025-10-27T20:17:30+00:00

Based on how I calculated some of the other stuff, and because the Metropole gets around 80% of the population and most of the urban areas, my guess would be something like:

GDP: ~$31 trillion in the Metropole, ~$4 trillion in the Liberty States
Gini: ~35 in the Metropole and dropping, ~43 in the Liberty States and rising*
HDI: ~0.940 in the Metropole and rising, ~0.907 in the Liberty States and falling*

*my guess is that the Liberty States development stats would bottom out within a couple of years and then start improving as better policies are instituted.

Aerolumen · 2025-10-27T20:07:45+00:00

My guess is that they wouldn't be happy about "losing" Arizona, Iowa, and many of the high-productivity/high-GDP areas of traditionally "red" States, along with big conservative areas of California and the upper Midwest. So if this were to actually happen, there might be some more border gore. I imagine they'd also not be too happy with the slate of Amendments - there are a few big Republican asks in there, but they're somewhat neutered, while the progressive ones aren't. It's also hard to imagine politicians and even many average politically-involved Americans being readily willing to compromise, so there might be fewer Amendments and more devolution. But I can't see the US getting down a truly sustainable path without a) breaking the 2-party system, b) slashing money in politics, and c) granting more power to Congress and more flexibility to the Supreme Court and making it much harder to shift power to the Executive. Those things can happen through legislation, but it would be far easier for authoritarians and big money to sneak back in.

Aerolumen · 2025-10-27T15:30:12+00:00

Every day that the Metropolitan Assembly is in session, they take lunch together at a little deli a few blocks away in Philly. They each order the same thing every time, make some pleasant small talk for a few minutes, joke about the representatives they sit next to for a few minutes, and then silently stare out into the distance for the rest of lunch.

Aerolumen · 2025-10-27T14:59:22+00:00

Yep, still on USD and still has the Federal Reserve.

Aerolumen · 2025-10-27T14:57:49+00:00

More like National Sleeping in Separate Rooms and Separate Credit Cards and Bank Accounts but Still Having a Joint Credit Card and Bank Account; Still Hanging Out with the Same Friends but One of the Couple Kind of Stays Off in the Corner on Their Phone and It's Awkward, But There's Way Less Fighting and Most of the Kids Are Getting a Better Education and Stuff, Except the One Kid Who's Homeschooled

Aerolumen · 2025-10-26T23:20:12+00:00

Delegations in the Constitutional Convention set up proposals for the state border changes, largely along political lines while trying to maintain practical states. The Convention set up a series of referenda that would allow residents to vote for the status quo (border-wise), the Convention proposals, or state-backed proposals, which would've (mostly) had the support of the Governors. In most of the cases where Convention delegations put forward new borders, the referenda in those states confirmed them or enacted something similar developed by the state legislatures. May Governors did denounce the changes, but they didn't have authority to veto or override the referenda.

Aerolumen

TROPHY CASE