Citizen Reaction to a Proposed Time Zone Boundary Change in Kentucky: Juxtaposing Boundaries on the Land / In the Mind

Changes in time zone boundaries are rare but are the result of initiatives at local levels where businesses and employees have stronger linkages to counties and cities in a time zone other than their own. I investigate the October 2000 change in Wayne County, a rural county in southcentral Kentucky that petitioned the U.S. Department of Transportation to join the Eastern Time Zone. Public meetings, letters and petitions demonstrated the divided sentiment regarding the change. Almost 70% of the 2500 signatures supported the change. I investigate the content of 660 individual letters to identify the major reasons supporting and opposing the change. Linkages to places of employment and shopping and visits to physicians were major reasons in support of the change. Objections were a dissatisfaction with no referendum, concerns about children's safety waiting for buses in the dark, "liking it the way it is," and inconveniences for farmers.