the last book I ever read (Jamie Quatro's I Want To Show You More, excerpt three)

from Jamie Quatro's I Want To Show You More: Stories:

Unless there’s a truck in front of you, it takes seven minutes to drive up from Chattanooga to the top of Lookout. When you cross the Tennessee/Georgia line, the trees open up so you can see the view beyond the rusted guardrail. WELCOME—WE’RE GLAD GEORGIA’S ON YOUR MIND, the sign says. But Georgia isn’t on my mind. What’s on my mind is the cliff on my left and the sheer limestone wall on my right.

At the top is the town of Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Turn right, drive four blocks, and you’re in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. Two states, one town. Population, just over five thousand. The two-state thing was a selling point with the kids. “You can trick-or-treat in Georgia and Tennessee,” we told them.

Some houses span the border. In these cases, state of residence depends on the master bedroom: if it’s in Georgia, then you live in Georgia, even if the rest of the house is in Tennessee. The story goes that one man spent a year converting his garage into a master suite because he wanted to live in Tennessee, where there’s no state income tax. After he’d changed his address and moved his furniture, he found his property taxes had doubled.