Big NYT feature takes up Oregon's rural-urban divide and the prospect of "Greater Idaho"

A student blogger, Christian Armstrong, wrote about the "Greater Idaho" movement a few weeks ago, and now the New York Times follows in his footsteps with a major feature on the growing acrimony between eastern (rural) and western (urban/coastal) Oregon.  Here's an excerpt featuring a 52-year-old woman named Corey Cook who lives in Cove, Oregon, population 620: 

“Oregon is not a unified state to me anymore,” [Cook] said. “To say that I’m an Oregonian is a geographic truth, but it doesn’t really have meaning to me the way that it did before I lived in eastern Oregon.”

The broad sense of estrangement felt across rural Oregon has led conservatives in recent years to pursue a scrupulous strategy to open a theoretical escape hatch, gathering thousands of signatures for a series of ballot measures that have now passed in 11 counties. Those measures require regular meetings to discuss the idea of secession. In those places, including Union County, Ms. Cook’s new home, county commissioners in rooms adorned by Oregon flags and maps are now obligated to talk about whether it would one day make sense to be part of Idaho.

The “Greater Idaho” movement joins a long history of U.S. defection struggles. In California, for example, there have been more than 200 attempts over the years to break up the state. Greater Idaho sees its solution as more simple — a shift in an existing border that would claim the entire eastern half of Oregon without creating an entirely new state. Despite being a political long shot, the sustained and growing interest from residents in the area and attention from politicians in Idaho have illustrated how much the state is already divided in spirit.

The story quotes John Lively, a Democratic state representative in one of the eastern counties:   

It’s got worse over the years.  It’s really reflective of the divide we have in our country.

Some other stories out of eastern Oregon, including about the "Greater Oregon" movement are here, here, here, and here.  

Here's a recent LA Times story about how Portland has changed in recent years.