I can see the cleveland to chicago belt, but get 70 miles out and it changes quick.
Other option I see is a split City/Country along what your hinting at. So Seatle to San Diego but nothing inland, Boston to DC/Baltimore maybe Richmond with a finger to Chicago through central PA - though the PA T may have something to say about it. Then it would end up like 3 with maybe a few short-lived city-states like Miami, St. Louis, NO, and Denver thrown in for measure.
Definitely got that right. Might seem like a good idea at the time, but no viability. Short-lived indeed!