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Do You Know Where You Live?

Posted by michael on from the 1600-pennsylvania-avenue dept.

An anonymous submitter writes "Thanks to GPS, it seems quite a few people are discovering they don't live where they thought. Prior to GPS, state, county and city borders were part law, part measurement, and part guesswork. Now, they're able to go back and discover where actual borders should be, and it's making many people unhappy. Some familes in Rhode Island are finding out they may actually live in Connecticut. Each state, county and city wants as much land as possible, because it means more tax income. The people caught in the middle simply want to know where they'll send their kids for school."

4 of 442 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Borders by Angry+White+Guy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Maybe we could use GPS to get back the portions of Alaska that stretch down our west coast!

    Idiocy at it's best.

    --
    You think that I'm crazy, you should see this guy!
  2. Re:Related problem by gilroy · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Blockquoth the poster:
    the property owners often refuse access to the survey crews
    It amazes me people can refuse access. Even if you believe in the virtual sancitity of private property you own, until the survey is done, you don't know you own it. Couldn't the state argue that, to know where your "denial" begins, they need to get on your land anyway?

    For that matter, say Farmer Johnson thinks the well is on his land. Can't he grant access for the survey team to walk the perimeter of his land, and then see where the well ends up?

    --
    The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach
  3. Re:Reminds me of Four Corners.... by gilroy · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Blockquoth the poster:
    there was nothing special about this location.
    What is special about Four Corners is exactly that there is nothing special. The mid-US states are amazing in the political undertone. Look, those borders were drawn by some guys with a pencil and straightedge. No natural fortification. No concern for defensible borders. No historical or trade mandates. What a wonderful thing to break free of that mindset! Those lines were drawn for administrative convenience only.
    --
    The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach
  4. Re:well... by ckedge · · Score: 4, Insightful


    GPS Coordinates, I'd imagine that they don't account for continental drift, eh?

    One inch a year adds up over a century or two. So by default you can't use precise GPS coordinates, unless you account year by year for all the plate movement.