Have you seen the shape of California? I mean, it's implausible at best. :-)
But seriously, it's kind of fun to imagine what life would be like if U.S. states were shaped like House districts. Maryland is probably the closest, geometrically.
There's a cool exhibit in the Oakland Museum of California about proposals for the shape of the eastern border of California!
Interestingly, some of the motivations for the proposals did involve something like gerrymandering, in terms of arguments about how many Mormons who had emigrated to the west would end up being included in California's territory.
Another interesting thing about the California-Nevada border that ended up getting adopted is where the northwest line turns north (where the bend is): it's inside of Lake Tahoe. That makes it a lot easier to remember!
Did you know that Reno has been gerrymandered so far it's now west of Los Angeles? That has to be some kind of conspiracy. Otherwise it would just be impossible.
California was stretched so far that it covers the full distance from the lowest elevation in the lower 48 to the highest summit in the lower 48.
It was also shaped so that it encompassed the driest point in the U.S.--Death Valley--and one of the wettest: 100 feet underwater below the Golden Gate Bridge.
Also, if the state of California were its own country, it would be referred to as the nation of California. True story.
But seriously, it's kind of fun to imagine what life would be like if U.S. states were shaped like House districts. Maryland is probably the closest, geometrically.