Here's something you don't read about every day. Apparently a group out of Los Angeles known as Valley VOTE (Voters Organized Toward Empowerment) is pushing for a referendum to be added to the November 2002 ballot that would allow for the city of Los Angeles to split into two different cities - Los Angeles and Valley City. How's that for different? As it stands, L.A. has a population of 3.7 million people and is the second largest city in the U.S. behind NYC and followed by Sweet Home Chicago. A study has recently been carried out which has determined that splitting the city would create serious financial damage to what would be both cities. However, Valley VOTE and its chairman Richard Close contend that the L.A. city government does not serve the interests of the more suburban areas of L.A. and they feel they are treated like L.A.'s "step child" (yes, the quotes are necessary). Should the split happen, though, the suburban area, currently known as the San Fernando Valley, would not be entitled to water rights from L.A. which currently provides their water. This could get interesting. By the way, here's a map of how the city is currently laid out if you're interested. Doesn't this sound eerily similar to Quebec's repeated (and failed) attempts to secede from Canada and create its own country?