Ask Lemmy

There often aren't major cultural differences, not the abruptly, but there still can be changes. Sometimes the road will be 2 lanes on one side and 4 on the other. Sometimes you'll see a ton of new billboards on one side and not the other because they just bought a bunch in one state. Architecture? Not so much, I don't think, though it could be in some areas. Generally if someone is actively picking something while they're there,like building a house, it won't change, but if it's someone picking or choosing something from afar like what a road should be like or what to advertise it can change abruptly.

A good example is that in the past (not so much now), I-75 going south into Georgia began to have a ton of weird pro life billboards and Christian billboards once you cross the state line. Since then they have passed the line, but for real, it was a very abrupt change from none to tons of pictures of fetuses and talking points about when "your baby's" heart beat begins. As well as weird pictures of an apocalypse and Jesus that just sort of says "do you have a decision to make?" With no context.

I actually signed that last one's website's guest book to tell them the domain name on their signs was wrong, which was hilarious to me. It seems like the site would come before the billboards, so why wouldn't they notice the billboards had the wrong site? It was something like org instead of com, pretty minor. But sure enough they changed the billboards next time I went to Florida. So clearly someone is maintaining that site and those billboards. I just checked and it's still up, but it looks like they have some redirects now. So, maybe they fixed some stuff or my memory is fuzzy, this was probably about 10 years ago, definitely pre COVID though.

When I lived in the Midwest one of the clearest signals (aside from the obvious signage) was the college football team swag on cars and in front of houses.

I once lived in a small city right on that state's border. It was sort of a suburb tho to a very large city in the neighboring state. The major roads would have signage, but on the smaller roads there really wasn't any way to tell. The main difference tho was that the large city's public transit options extended pretty far out even into the small towns along the border, but wouldn't at all come into my small city..

Where I live now, you have to cross a very large river to get into the neighboring state. What's worth sharing here tho, is that there is a nearby county line, where even tho there's a sign, you don't need it at all. The landscape/biome changes pretty much at the county line.
It goes from a sort of temperate rainforest-like climate, to arid grassland/high desert climate. You'll be driving thru areas with large, old growth evergreens and lots of ferns underneath, and then it turns to dead, dry, brown grass and sagebrush shrubs everywhere. Like, it could also even be raining the whole first part of the drive there, but once you get to this county line the rain almost always dissipates. It's pretty wild.

this is such an adorable question.

State line road. If I'm driving north I'm in Missouri. If I'm driving South, I'm in Kansas. (Kansas City, Missouri)

The time on my phone changed.

When driving through the Kansas City metro area, the road that splits the two states is literally named State Line Road. Everything looks the same on both sides of the road.

Otherwise there tend to be signs on roads welcoming you to whichever state depending on the direction you are going. Those signs used to match up with a change in road maintenance quality but Kansas decided to join the race to the bottom so it isn't as noticeable anymore.

In most cases it isn't apparent and doesn't matter. But there are some that are* noticeable and do matter. Having traveled to most states via car, it's been interesting to see the ones that stood out.

Highways go from being free to costing money (Illinois 😒)

Well, there's a big fucking river—so that helps.

Max speed limits can vary by states.

More bumps on the road after crossing the state line.

Store brands are mostly about distance from the warehouse.

culture and language changes but there isn't normally a clear line of where one starts - it is a continum. (the minnesota accent is only spoken by a minority in mn)

I don't live near the border, but one difference I notice when crossing over is the roads are always better. Doesn't matter which state I cross over into; roads a better (ours are shit).

I live in New Jersey, so I usually notice I've left the state because I've driven over a bridge into a large city - that's usually my first clue.

I knew a family who's house was in New York and the backyard was in New Jersey. No, you couldn't tell.

I cross a bridge over a river

West Coast perspective:

• Siskiyou Pass is both the biggest change in elevation and steepest grade on I-5
• the grass is literally greener on the OR side. CA is known for its golden grass that is much dryer (hence the Golden Gate. As a child I was disappointed that it is painted orange and not gold)
• Agricultural Inspection Station mentioned in another comment (only when traveling into CA)
• not a huge cultural difference between upper NorCal and Southern Oregon though

Further north...

• crossing the Columbia, the biggest river in the region, also has one of only several interstate draw bridges in the US. Prepare to be stuck in traffic if you're remotely close to rush hour
• No sales tax in OR means there are large malls immediately off the first OR exits. Likewise there isn't a single Best Buy in Vancouver because everyone drives across the river to dodge sales tax for big ticket items

Most major roads have a sign. If I'm using Google Maps, it will yell at me: "WELCOME TO [STATE NAME]".

NM perspective: Border crossing at Anthony - immediate cattle feed lots, huge freeway, and then the pile of cookie-cutter houses that is El Paso.

North into Colorado: Seems pretty much like NM, but the food gets blander and more expensive as you enter Boebert's district. Denver is ok, but it's like Los Angeles at a little higher altitude. If Denver had a culture, it probably died in traffic.

East into Oklahoma/Texas: There's like... nothing there. For miles. It's really pretty, actually, but don't get a flat tire.

West into Arizona from Gallup: It's like a portal into the 1950s, all abandoned route 66 stuff and super offensive 1950s native american stuff.

Culturally, I'd say most of the 4 corners zone is pretty similar "southwest", though Texas is really obsessed with big box stores and Arizona is a bit obsessed with unmarked police cars. Colorado culturally is as bland as their chiles :D

The biggest cultural shift is traveling through the res lands between NM/AZ where you can actually go to grocery stores with local language signage.

The lines on a map are actually painted on the ground. It's amazing to see the one running along the bottom of Lake Tahoe. 😊