# US city **URL:** \ **Category:** The Show\ **Created:** [May 24, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325 "2010-05-24T20:30:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rjhike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ebca7d/32.png) [@rjhike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/rjhike)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325/1 "2010-05-24T20:30:22Z")
Carter Lake, Iowa is a better choice than Stamford. The city of Carter Lake was formed when the Missouri River changed its course. Take I look on a map, the city of Carter Lake is surrounded by Nebraska. Not like Stamford where you would have to travel by boat to get to the other side of Long Island. I say Stamford is BOGUS!! ---
**Author:** ![dakooz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/fbc32d/32.png) [@dakooz](https://community.cartalk.com/u/dakooz)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325/2 "2010-05-24T20:47:31Z")
Agree 100%. There are a number of other towns/cities that would also qualify as they lie in that thumb of CT that borders NY, but Carter Lake is all by itself and is a much better fit. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325/3 "2010-05-24T20:52:55Z")
Isn’t there part of Carter Lake that is due north of Iowa? So not 100% of Carter Lake is surrounded by NE? ---
**Author:** ![Docnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Docnick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Docnick)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325/4 "2010-05-24T21:19:45Z")
For a new twist on that subject; which town on the lower 48 states is not accessible from the US and yet is not an island??? ---
**Author:** ![mrwinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@mrwinky](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mrwinky)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325/5 "2010-05-24T21:48:07Z")
Yeah, sixty 60 miles east over open water is a little far-fetched. I submit Marlowe, West Virginia, as a cleaner answer. It’s prettty easy to travel to the “next” state. See: [http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&where1=Marlowe%2C%20WV&encType=1](http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&where1=Marlowe%2C%20WV&encType=1) ---
**Author:** ![radardon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@radardon](https://community.cartalk.com/u/radardon)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325/6 "2010-05-24T22:40:58Z")
I agree that Carter Lake, Iowa is the best candidate I’ve seen. That’s why I submitted it and should now be $26 richer! Stamford is WAY BOGUS, and I am sadly disappointed by the boys. Marlowe WV, as mrwinky points out certainly fills the bill and I’d say is the second best one so far mentioned in these two threads. I bet there are other legitimate ones, and wonder what all answers were submitted. I’ll be working on Docnick’s puzzle next! ---
**Author:** ![wondernerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/58f4c7/32.png) [@wondernerd](https://community.cartalk.com/u/wondernerd)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325/7 "2010-05-25T03:18:53Z")
I can’t believe that no one else has suggested Washington, D.C.! If you are in the Northeast corner of the city, if you drive in every direction, you will wind up in Maryland. We learned this in my fifth grade class. I thought so many people would know this that I did not bother to enter an answer. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325/8 "2010-05-25T03:22:38Z")
DC was suggested on the previous thread about this, but the question says ‘city’, not ‘part of a city’. Most of DC fails the test, as does a small part of Carter Lake. ---
**Author:** ![ZombieWoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/91b2a8/32.png) [@ZombieWoof](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ZombieWoof)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 3:43am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325/9 "2010-05-25T03:43:15Z")
Not true. Most of DC passes the test. And the question did not say “any part of the city”. Thank you for playing our game. ---
**Author:** ![ZombieWoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/91b2a8/32.png) [@ZombieWoof](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ZombieWoof)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325/10 "2010-05-25T03:50:26Z")
None. Unless you want to explicitly rule out “accessible by air”. I don’t know where you’re going with this, so don’t know if you need to rule out either “land” or “water”. Guantanamo, of course, is not in the lower 48 states. And here we say “in the lower 48” not “on the lower 48”. Please to be defining “town”. All of which is to say, I’ll be interested in the answer. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325/11 "2010-05-25T03:51:15Z")
About 70% of DC fails. As you can see, any part south of a horizontal line through the words ‘of Columbia’ fails, as does any part west of a vertical line through the White House. 70%, easy. [http://www.adventureassoc.com/us/washington-dc.gif](http://www.adventureassoc.com/us/washington-dc.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Docnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Docnick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Docnick)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325/12 "2010-05-25T04:07:59Z")
Sorry, I meant accessible by LAND. When the 49 parallel was chosen as the border between the US and Canada a small appendage from the Canadian mainland in Pudget Sound was below the 49th. As a result Point Roberts, Washington is only accessible by land from Canada (British Columbia), but the residents normally take the ferry to get to other places in Washington. Don’t know the population, but it doubles on the weekend when Canadians come down for cheap booze, shopping, and, in the past, X-rated movies. ---
**Author:** ![bcbcbc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@bcbcbc](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bcbcbc)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 12:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325/13 "2010-05-25T12:56:09Z")
Yes, if you go south from much of Carter Lake you are still in Iowa. Keep going and the first new state is Nebraska. Carter Lake is still a correct answer. I think both north and south you have to cross the river, and there is no road bridge, so it’s not like you can drive in any direction, but the quiz said “travel”. Stamford is just as correct as Carter Lake. Is Carter Lake a city? It’s incorporated, and they call themselves a city, so yes it is. If you want to limit it to “real” cities, they should’ve put a population minimum on it. Omaha also qualifies if you are in the part south of Eppley Airfield. To the west is Carter Lake IA, and across the river in the other 3 directions is mainland Iowa. So if you don’t require the whole city to pass the test, Omaha is correct as well as DC. Boo on CarTalk for not recognizing the valid Carter Lake answer that it sounds like a few of us submitted, and for not being specific on whether all or part of a city is required. Most if not all of Marlowe WV looks right too. ---
**Author:** ![Ranck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@Ranck](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Ranck)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 1:34pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325/14 "2010-05-25T13:34:19Z")
No, Carter Lake passes the test at least as well, if not better than Stamford. If you follow a straight line due South from Carter Lake it stays in Iowa for a few miles, but then crosses into Nebraska after about 10 or 12 miles. Expand the scale on Google Maps and look at it. Here is a link: [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s\_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=carter+Lake+ia&sll=38.048801,-84.501944&sspn=0.337952,0.579529&gl=us&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Carter+Lake,+Pottawattamie,+Iowa&ll=41.235737,-95.923004&spn=0.161362,0.289764&z=12](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=carter+Lake+ia&sll=38.048801,-84.501944&sspn=0.337952,0.579529&gl=us&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Carter+Lake,+Pottawattamie,+Iowa&ll=41.235737,-95.923004&spn=0.161362,0.289764&z=12) ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325/15 "2010-05-25T14:00:25Z")
You’re right, I didn’t look far enough south. So Carter Lake’s a winner! ---
**Author:** ![ZombieWoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/91b2a8/32.png) [@ZombieWoof](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ZombieWoof)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325/16 "2010-05-25T19:11:16Z")
You are 70% right. Okay, 100% right. At least DC fills the requirements of the actual Puzzler. ---
**Author:** ![AstroDave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e99b99/32.png) [@AstroDave](https://community.cartalk.com/u/AstroDave)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325/17 "2010-05-25T21:10:02Z")
I like Carter Lake, Iowa and Marlowe, West Virginia. I had already figured Washington, DC was the right answer (although technically you were not leaving one state for another, which was at least implied). The Iowa and WVa answers are part of a more general set of solutions: There are any number of non-city places in the US where this condition is fulfilled. The ones I?ve found are very near state boundaries which are defined by rivers. The meanderings of the waterways create loops that are nearly surrounded by the adjacent state. If you look with mapping software (I use Delorme Street Atlas), you can find lots of these. One with a town (if not a city!) is at Letart Falls, Ohio - you wind up in West Virginia when you head N/S/E/W. Other state boundaries where this occurs include (at least!): ``` New Hamphire / Maine Pennsylvania / New York Pennsylvania / New Jersey West Virginia / Ohio (in addition to what?s noted above) West Virginia / Kentucky Indiana / Kentucky Indiana / Illinois Arkansas / Tennessee in fact, probably any pair of states across the Mississippi River from each other Texas / Arkansas Texas / Oklahoma Idaho / Montana ``` ---
**Author:** ![AstroDave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e99b99/32.png) [@AstroDave](https://community.cartalk.com/u/AstroDave)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325/18 "2010-05-25T21:19:37Z")
Angle Inlet, in the northern tip of the Lake of the Woods park of Minnesota, appears to be in a similar situation. There is no overland route from the rest of Minnesota - only via Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Docnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Docnick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Docnick)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 11:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325/19 "2010-05-25T23:24:42Z")
Forgot about that one; thanks for reminding me. ---
**Author:** ![radardon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@radardon](https://community.cartalk.com/u/radardon)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325/20 "2010-05-26T20:05:16Z")
The question as written on the website seems to imply that one is starting in a state, which would be a vote against DC as being the best solution. But I think that it’s okay to have just part of the city pass the test, since the person is starting at their house. Also, wouldn’t a complete city that passes the test have to be isolated from its own state, e.g. an island? [Next page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/us-city/49325.md?page=2)