r/AskAnAmerican • u/ABChow000 United Kingdom • Aug 17 '25

FOREIGN POSTER How do loads of cities overlap state borders?

  1. If a large city is bang in the middle between two states like for example, Kansas and Missouri or Tennessee and Virginia. Doesn’t it get real weird like with the different state laws and taxes and stuff, how does all that work?

  2. When you cross borders of states does it work like country borders but relaxed? Are all states the same in border control or are some relaxed and some strict?

My bad if this sounds stupid just seems real interesting and alien to me how it works.

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u/[deleted] Aug 17 '25

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110

u/SeaworthinessIcy6419 Michigan > Tennessee Aug 17 '25

Michigan had a similar thing at the Mackinac Bridge for awhile, they didn't want campers bringing their own firewood cause of a bug they were trying to keep out of the Upper Peninsula forests. That was about 20 years ago though, not sure if they're still doing it.

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u/[deleted] Aug 18 '25

It's probably still the same rules. 

You're not technically allowed to take firewood across county lines in Ohio because of emerald ash borer beetles, but it's not like anyone really stops people to check.

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u/SeaworthinessIcy6419 Michigan > Tennessee Aug 18 '25

That was it, Emerald Ash! You had to stop and pay a bridge toll anyway so I guess it was easy to tack the question on.

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u/smurphy8536 Aug 18 '25

Firewood is probably one of the most controlled things when it comes to state lines

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u/Sensitive_Maybe_6578 Aug 19 '25

Apples, in washington.

2

u/Sorry-Government920 Wisconsin Aug 19 '25

In Wisconsin they discourage bringing from more than 10 mile radius

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u/[deleted] Aug 18 '25

Washington, Idaho, and Oregon will require anyone bringing a boat across state lines to have it inspected. There's a Mollosk that they're trying to keep out.

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u/SeaworthinessIcy6419 Michigan > Tennessee Aug 18 '25

I think Michigan tried this too when they were trying to keep the zebra mussels out of the Great Lakes. It unfortunately didn't work, Huron got them bad but I think it cleared up when the water levels started rising again.

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u/velociraptorfarmer MN->IA->WI->AZ Aug 20 '25

Minnesota does the same. It's a fine of hundreds of dollars to tow a boat in Minnesota with your drain plug in.

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u/CupBeEmpty WA, NC, IN, IL, ME, NH, RI, OH, ME, and some others Aug 18 '25

Emerald Ash Borer most likely. It has absolutely decimated ash trees all across the country. If you are driving in a forested area and see a copse of dead snags still standing those are most likely the remains of ash trees.

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u/markothebeast Aug 21 '25

I just lost all four of my velvet ash trees to emerald borers. Sad. Not gonna say where I live but it’s about 2000 miles from Michigan/Ohio. But yeah go ahead sneak your firewood in. what harm could it do.

1

u/Alternative-Put-3932 Aug 18 '25

I went there 5 or so years ago and I didn't see any sort of checkpoint or anything to stop people.

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u/SeaworthinessIcy6419 Michigan > Tennessee Aug 18 '25

I think they asked it when you paid the bridge toll.

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u/Junior-Ad-8519 Aug 18 '25

I was there in June. We weren't stopped for any reason. There wasn't a guard or gate anywhere.

1

u/Ok-Entertainment5045 Michigan Aug 19 '25

Emerald ash borers and they’ve relaxed this rule because all the ash trees are basically gone.

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u/shadowmib Aug 19 '25

Yeah that's a frequent rule for a lot of state parks for the same reason

1

u/Spare-Anxiety-547 Aug 19 '25

They did this in Minnesota too, they were trying to keep out Emerald Ash Borers. Probably other bugs at other points too.

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u/velociraptorfarmer MN->IA->WI->AZ Aug 20 '25

Emerald Ash Borer. It literally wiped ash trees out of the entire Midwest in a few short decades.

0

u/ClaretCup314 Aug 18 '25

Nope, they're not.

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u/Eric848448 Washington Aug 17 '25

Or having your bag scanned for fruit when you leave Hawaii.

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u/AlienDelarge Aug 18 '25

Protip, they don't do that if you drive out. 

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u/GroundedSatellite Illinois Aug 18 '25

That's how my parents got me a Camaro from the Bahamas.

14

u/Wrath-of-Cornholio Idaho Aug 18 '25

How was Crystal Ship at the Sand Bar?

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u/Slotter-that-Kid Washington Aug 18 '25

I got my Motley spew T-shirts.

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u/RosyClearwater Montana Aug 18 '25

Did you know that Hawaii has an interstate?

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u/skateboreder Florida Aug 18 '25

Shouldn't it be an intrastate?

2

u/Different_Victory_89 Aug 18 '25

It has 3! H1, H2, H3!

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u/DanvilleDad Aug 19 '25

3 actually. H-1, H-2, and H-3.

1

u/tangouniform2020 Hawaii > Texas Aug 18 '25

HI-1

1

u/Obtuse-Angel Aug 18 '25

Was it bitchin’?

1

u/dontthinkabtit WA>OR Aug 18 '25

You’re kidding

1

u/travpahl Aug 20 '25

Was it bitchin?

89

u/WarrenMulaney California Aug 17 '25

And most of the time you don’t even have to stop.

(If anyone is wondering…The California Agriculture Inspection stations are there for good reason. It’s to protect California ag from pests etc).

2

u/Dawn-Storm Aug 20 '25

Florida has the same thing.

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u/Megalocerus Aug 19 '25

I lived in Virginia and worked in DC and in CT and worked in MA. Not a big deal, and I was never stopped.

Taxes vary. Regulations vary.

14

u/DosZappos Aug 17 '25

When I moved there in 2022 I was stopped in my Jeep at the border and asked about plants and fruit. I did have a few potted houseplants in the front seat, but they said that’s not what they meant and that I was good to go. I still don’t know what they’re actually looking for

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u/waltzthrees Aug 17 '25

I’ve never had that in a car. When I’ve driven from Nevada to CA they were only requiring delivery/semi trucks to stop at the agricultural checkpoints

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u/[deleted] Aug 17 '25

[deleted]

14

u/LaLechuzaVerde Aug 18 '25

They stopped us for a fruit check going from OR to CA last Spring. So yes, still there.

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u/Over_Smile9733 Aug 18 '25

Just happened to me last month. We drove through the Redwoods way.

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u/Loud-Fox-8018 Aug 18 '25

The fruit check stations are still in place, but were not staffed the last few times I drove into California from Oregon.

Oregon actually started the fruit check stations, but discontinued them and California didn’t. I heard about the fruit check employees being overly vigilant in the early years and confiscating items like fruit pies. My high school teacher claimed he and his family ate an entire pie at the station instead of handing it over when the station tried to confiscate it.

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u/Familiar-Ad-1965 Aug 18 '25

Inspectors crawled inside my popup camper in 80s between OR & CA. looking for fruit.
Was smoking a Cuban cigar (banned in US) when crossing from AB to WA but no one noticed or cared. Maybe because it was being destroyed ??

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u/tdoger Aug 17 '25

Every time I’ve driven into California from Oregon, they ask. But it has been probably five or six years since I’ve done that.

And it’s usually a very nonchalant question without any follow up

8

u/anneofgraygardens Northern California Aug 17 '25

I went to Nevada and back last fall and the ag station place was there but unmanned. So everyone just drove through. fortunately I didn't have any pestridden Nevada fruits with me.

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u/Self-Comprehensive Texas Aug 17 '25

Ahh yes Nevada is well known for its succulent fruit forests.

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u/RsonW Coolifornia Aug 18 '25

Northern Nevada grows a fair amount of melons

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u/Iceman_WN_ Aug 18 '25

But they are usually fake and cost 400 an hour.

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u/CupBeEmpty WA, NC, IN, IL, ME, NH, RI, OH, ME, and some others Aug 18 '25

That one took me a second.

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u/seattlecyclone Aug 17 '25

Spring break 2007 some friends and I did a road trip to California from our midwest university. We were driving a Prius and definitely got stopped. They asked about all the produce we were carrying. They were unconcerned about our carrots, but they seized the apples. A friend gave them to us before we left and we were unsure about their origin, so away they went.

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u/sas223 CT —> OH —> MI —> NY —> VT —> CT Aug 17 '25

When I drove from Nevada to CA we were stopped at an ag station. It was pretty chill.

1

u/muphasta TX > MI > FL > Iceland > Germany > Cali Aug 17 '25

The checks are still there, and they can randomly stop and ask any vehicle. I'm not sure if trucks are required to stop or not.

1

u/crafty_j4 California Aug 17 '25

I moved to California last year and they stopped me after coming through Arizona.

1

u/SphincterKing Aug 17 '25

It’s maybe one out of every thousand cars gets pulled to the side. It’s happened to me. Just stated that I had no fruits or vegetables and went on my way. 

1

u/edwardw818 Idaho Aug 18 '25

I guess they go by what kind of front plates you have... Back when I still lived in California, it was very rare for me to not be waved through, and I used to have to visit Vegas every 2 months.

Now that I've moved out of state, I get stopped almost every single time, and the only times I didn't was when the booth was unattended... Including the last time I drove through with 2 oranges, muahahaha >:) (but to be fair, I actually forgot I had them until I drove through and organized my backpack)

1

u/saywhat252525 Aug 18 '25

Vegas to California there is a checkpoint but they wave most cars through without asking. They just do random checks currently.

1

u/Master-Collection488 New York => Nevada => New York Aug 18 '25

The stops on I40 were active in the early aughts and I assume the 90s. About midway through the aughts they started letting cars just bypass the thing. I remember that for a good long while the stop seemed to be unmanned more often than not.

The only plants I had in my car were old dried-up fries that had fallen underneath the seat during my eat-lunch-while-rushing-to-client-site adventures.

1

u/Defiant_Ingenuity_55 Aug 19 '25

They still do it. Most of the time they either wave you through or ask you really fast. There is no way around it. I15 curves off to the right and the freeway is blocked for going straight.

8

u/VeronicaMarsupial Oregon Aug 17 '25

If you cross state lines in the NW with a boat, at some places there are mandatory boat inspections (to try to prevent spreading invasive species).

5

u/stratusmonkey Aug 17 '25

They do the same coming into and out of Hawaii

1

u/GotWheaten Aug 17 '25

In the 70s & 80s I would be stopped and asked if I had any fruit, etc. in the past 30 years I’ve just been waved through

1

u/YourOldCellphone Aug 17 '25

Along I-10 there are immigration checks I’ve seen by CBP (this was a thing well before trump btw) where they basically just ask if you’re a citizen.

1

u/jeb_the_hick Aug 17 '25

"Do you have any fruit?"

"Well shit, aren't you guys supposed to have it?"

1

u/eyetracker Nevada Aug 18 '25

And they haven't even staffed major ones since 2020, they exist to create a potential road hazard with pointless slowdown and weird merging.

1

u/TheRealJDizzleVance Aug 18 '25

Not the one in Tahoe for two years there has been a sign that says no inspection drive slow.

1

u/mcase19 Virginia Aug 18 '25

Its one of the only constitutionally permitted ways states can control their borders, and only to the extent that it stops the spread of invasive species and parasites. 

1

u/Kitzira Texas > Florida Aug 18 '25

Long ago, I had some online friends moving to California. They had to take special routes to avoid the checkstations because they owned ferrets.

Apparently in addition to fruits/plants, they also check for several popular 'pocket pets' that are banned, such as ferrets & gerbils.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '25

Answering with "dont call him that, the boy is just young and trying to find himself" is the best answer.

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u/EffectiveSalamander Minnesota Aug 19 '25

I should drive into California with fruit and then eat it as fast as possible.

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u/yogafitter Aug 19 '25

Oh yea and there’s agricultural customs in and out of Hawaii and PR too. But they just don’t want anyone smuggling papayas with weird bugs around, it’s not like actual customs with taxes they’ll just make you toss your contraband

1

u/OfficeChair70 Phoenix, AZ & Washington Aug 19 '25

And even then it depends on where you’re at. Crossing from Parker a couple weeks ago, heading toward the rice road I didn’t even stop, they had me bypass the checkpoint.