Last week there was much attention regarding the introduction of a 51st state. The Greeley Tribune reports people from Weld, Morgan, Logan, Sedgwick, Phillips, Washington, Yuma and Kit Carson counties Colorado are preparing to present themselves as North Colorado, the 51st state of the union. “I think people, when they feel disenfranchised, when they feel that their voices are not being heard, I think that’s a problem in a representative form of government,” Weld County commissioner Sean Conway was quoted as saying. “We believe there’s an attack on oil and gas,” commissioner Barbara Kirkmeyer said. “We believe there’s an attack on agriculture. I don’t think those [people] down in Denver understand any of it.” The commissioners have also expressed concern about the lack of funding for infrastructure and education. They claim there is a disconnect between rural voters and legislators on issues such as water and energy production.

Other trends have been emerging that make you ask the question, are we about to see a major change in the US, rural states and city states?

Density of population in cities create different issues than the less populated rural areas. Let's examine a few trends.

• Presidential elections of 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 reveal and pattern of 11 cities, metropolitan areas, consistently voting Democrat. The rest of the country voting Republican. You can see it in these two maps, one by county the other by state (electoral college) Here is the breakdown in Colorado.

• The number of Catholics in the United States has increased by 17 million since 1975. There has been a demographic shift in this growth and also a widening secular difference between urban, suburban and rural lifestyles. Nearly half of Catholics under age 40 are Hispanic-47%. In 1950, nearly half of Catholics could be found in the NE - not any more.

• Gun control a hot button in cities, while support for the Second Amendment is a hot button everywhere else.

• Traditional family values, still strong in rural America. Not so much in American cities where anything goes.

• Detroit files for bankruptcy, yet neighboring Oakland County is a boom area.

The Founders recognized the controlling threat from densely populated areas. They feared the country being controlled by the larger, more densely populated states, at that time Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. To accommodate for this, they structured the Constitution with two chambers of Congress and the electoral college. Since then cities within states have grown to be the densely populated areas with more special interests of their own very different from those of rural America. And, these cities

Virginia is still an example in the 21st Century. The Washington DC suburbs of Arlington, Alexandria, Vienna, McLean and others are very different than the rest of the state. However, they share similar traits with Richmond and Norfolk, the largest cities outside DC in the state. The rest of Virginia has more in common with North Colorado than with Northern Virginia. But, if the Commonwealth ever did split into two states, it would be the Northern Virginia 'state' that would have the characteristics of the 'city states'.

Keep track of the 51st state movement in 'North' Colorado. If any traction develops here, you may see others follow suit.