There's a political aspect of this which hasn't been addressed. While the addition of a new right leaning state won't likely affect the U.S. House Of Representatives much, it will add two presumably Republican Senators to the Senate. I don't believe the Democrats will allow that without adding a new left-leaning state that would maintain presumed parity in the Senate. So my bet is that if this ever got to the point where it might likely happen, they (Dems) would push statehood for Puerto Rico.

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Originally posted by Il Cattivo:There's only so much you can do with oil, and only so much the part of California that's left will do with oil.

Exporting

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The wine industry can be expanded; Napa isn't the only place wine is grown in California now.

Napa Valley currently produces only 4% of CA wine, however it's the most well known, thus a giant tourism revenue stream. Sonoma & Mendocino Co already get spill-over tourist from Napa, wouldn't take much to crank up Sonoma, Healdsburg and Alexander Valley. Also, Amador and Calaveras have very robust wine scene as well.

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The fun part is going to be ports...

San Diego and Eureka would be the only natural ports large enough to handle international ship traffic. Fort Bragg and Crescent City could get upgraded to handle a few moderate sized ships but, road and railway infrastructure would need upgrading.

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Originally posted by Gustofer:
So...their "Declaration of Independence" is essentially a plagiarized version of the U.S. Declaration of Independence?

They're not off to a good start.

Oh, I don't know--the original version has stood us well, I think.

I will join those who are very skeptical that a splitting of California into 2 or more pieces will happen any time soon, just because there are too many factions who stand to lose too much if it were to occur.

flashguy

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Originally posted by Storm:
So my bet is that if this ever got to the point where it might likely happen, they (Dems) would push statehood for Puerto Rico.

I take comfort in the thought that there wouldn't be much of a comparison between New California and Puerto Rico. I think Puerto Rico's financial and infrastructure problems make it a special case when it comes to becoming a state. If New California doesn't have anywhere near the same level of problems, I think the idea of trading statehood for one for statehood to the other is going to be a hard sell to the average American. Without the idea of trading, Puerto Rico may become a non-issue rather than a deal-killer.

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Originally posted by corsair:
[R]oad and railway infrastructure would need upgrading.

Financing should be at least feasible if the potential buisness is there.

This has been a problem in general in that region for decades, if I remember correctly. I still think that their goods can't be kept out of either ports or markets in what's left of California, but I bet that statehood would be great for their infrastructure development.

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Originally posted by Il Cattivo:
Why would the existing state have to approve? Virginia never approved the creation of West Virginia, did it?

While the split was quick, it wasn't until April Fools day 1919 before the debts were settled.not surprisingly, Virgins paid nothing on its debts 1861-1865.

No doubt a breakup of California will give lawyers a gurenteed income into the next century.

https://www.encyclopediavirgin...roversy_The_Virginia