Why does the government allow a state to be in 2 different time zones?

[Sephirstein]

China prevents the whole fucking country from being in multiple time zones, so is it that hard to keep every state in only one time zone? (i.e. Florida...Even silly little things like timezones can be used by the mediawhores to **** us all over.)

[carpetbagger]

1. Railroads, not states, set up the system.

And it's the federal government that makes the changes.

[Sephirstein]

2. Then why doesn't it?

Wouldn't it make life a bit easier?

[charlie]

9. Not always easier

I lived in El Paso, the only major city in the sliver of Mountain Time in Texas, in the 70s. As an energy-saving measure, the whole country went on Daylight Savings time one winter. Elementary school-age kids had to walk to school in the predawn dark. Heating costs that were saved by extended daylight at the end of the day were wasted in the morning chill. Putting El Paso into Central Time would effectively put in permanent DST. Texas is too spread out to be in one time zone.

[Piltdown13]

10. That's true...way too spread out

Besides, it just makes more sense for El Paso to be on the same time as Las Cruces and Albuquerque than Dallas and Houston. (I grew up in El Paso :-)).

What was really weird was how for the longest time we'd be on the same time as Ciudad Juarez for half the year, then be an hour different for the other half.

[Andy_Stephenson]

15. Where did you go to High School?

wow another El Pasoan

[Andy_Stephenson]

14. I went to grew up in El Paso went to Coronado

High School...El Paso SUCKS!

[charlie]

16. Andress

No argument, El Paso sucks out loud.

[Piltdown13]

21. El Paso High

Gee...you talking about the city or the high school? LOL

Actually have my ten-year reunion coming up in November...still can't decide whether or not to go. My folks still live there, so I'd have a free place to stay.

[Mudcat]

3. "Why does the government allow a state to be in 2 different time zones?"

As a resident of Hawaii, I must protest! 8 am on the East Coast is only 2 am here.

[KCDem]

5. he means one state.

All of Hawaii is in one, I assume, right?

A few states are split down the middle.

[newyawker99]

25. Hi Mudcat!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[slackmaster]

4. Oddly, Texas is in only two time zones

Most of it's in Central Time. Just the far Western corner (El Paso) is in Mountain Time.

[Wonk]

6. You're a Canuck. Why does your government allow a province to

be it's very own time zone half an hour off from everyone else? Why does your government allow the North West Territories to be in 3 different time zones?

BTW, using profanity in posts that initiate threads is against the rules now. I guess you won't be posting threads much anymore ;-)

on edit: I just noticed that Ontario is in 2 different time zones, too :shrug:

[Sephirstein]

23. Don't remind me...

Some of this is utter nonsense...

The Westernmost point of Newfoundland is West of the Easternmost point of Cape Breton, and guess which one is 30 minutes later.

And the second you go out to see, you go from Newfie time to AST, which makes me wonder why the Hell Newfie time even exists.

And look at that oddity in British Columbia.

Explain that one...lol

[HalfManHalfBiscuit]

7. So the Chinese dismiss the rotation of the earth

I think astronauts in their budding "space program" should be more than a little concerned.

[izzie]

13. So what ,most of the GOP think the earth is flat

:wow:

[Wwagsthedog]

8. Have you ever driven between Arizona & California in the summer?

The time difference is 2 hours. Arizona doesn't have daylight savings time. Texas, Oregon, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Tennessee, Kentucky & Michigan have more than one time zone too. Indiana may have local option on daylight savings time. Yeah, I could go on about the influence of the railroads on improving a messy situation regarding time in the USA before the second half of the nineteenth century. And then there were sundials. Eom, finally, for post 333.

[izzie]

11. Alaska has 3

What a job to do business with the capital over the phone.Some states do no do the day light time either.

[even]

12. Time zones.

Times zones were created by seafarers. The Earth is about 25,000 miles in circumference so we have 24 time zones. Ships used very accurate clocks to find out where the were on the East/West axis.

Railroads established the time zones in the USA.,so they could have accurate schedules. Russia has 11 time zones. If they had only one time. One time zone could never work.

As far as I know TN. and Fla. are the only states with 2 time zones.

Your reference to mediawhores**** is baffling. What do you mean? I really don't think that we need to copy the PRC. I hope this will be a lifting experience from ignorance.

[dofus]

17. Time zones weren't created

by anyone. They exist. Where the precise lines are drawn can be somewhat artificial.

Part of western Kansas is in Mountain time, while the rest of the state is in Central time. Western Kansas is closer to Colorado economically, and so it makes sense. Along I-70 in Kansas are signs letting you know when you've crossed the time zone, which is nice.

Arizona went on Daylight Savings Time once, and once only, in 1967. It's so frigging hot there in the summer, that there's no incentive to have a longer, hot evening in the summer, so they never did it again. (I know because I was living out there then)

[Sephirstein]

18. lol...It's one of the few things that remotely works there...

But I don't think it would be logical for one time zone to cover the entire country.


But I do think that not putting multiple timezones in a state would be better.

[T Bone]

19. People in East Chicago live 2 minutes east from Chicago

and it would be ok for the government to tell them they had to be on Eastern time with NY ?

People live 2 minutes west of Cincinnati and it would be ok for government to mandate they agree with Chicago time.

See how well your idea would work?

[damnraddem]

20. Why should the state make the difference?

Where populations orient, where the sun is relative to a locality, and so on are more important. The only reason you offer for states to be on a single time has to do with our presidential elections -- but the problem there is not with time zones, it's with the damn Electoral College. Work on that, not on time zones.

[mermaid]

22. Indiana Is EVEN WORSE.....

I used to live in Kentucky, and I can tell you, where Time Zones are concerned, Indiana is even worse. Any Indiana DU'ers can vouch for this...they know what "fast time or slow time?" means!

See, in Indiana...the whole state doesn't do Daylight Savings Time. Some counties do, and some don't.

Example...the part of Indiana around Louisville is on Eastern Time and does Daylight Savings Time, so that they are always the same time as Louisville. Simialrly, the counties surrounding Chicago are on Central Time, and do Daylight Savings time so that they are always the same time as Chicago.

Indianapolis, on the other hand...is on Eastern Standard year-round. They do not do Daylight Savings time...so half the year, they are the same time as Chicgao, the other half...same as Louisville....it's REALLY SCREWED UP in Indiana...

[Cascadian]

24. Oregon has the same thing.

Most of the state of Oregon lies in the Pacific Time Zone. However, there is a chunk of land around Malheur County in eastern Oregon that falls in the Mountain Time Zone. I don't know why that is but it makes no sense to me.

John