# Alternate history - what if the U.S. capital was in L.A. instead of Washington? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 19, 2012, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188 "2012-10-19T01:54:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/1 "2012-10-19T01:54:10Z")
Would you enjoy it if the U.S. was run from L.A.? I get the feeling the government would run better, because everyone would be more laid back and cooperative than in the boiler rooms of the Northeast. It would also balance things so that the West Coast gets more political clout. I’m imagining that Congress would take surfing breaks. Immigration and shark attacks would be the hot button topics of the day. There would be many more ties between Congress and movie stars. Warren Beatty would at least be a senator, if not president. I’ve never been to L.A. though, so I’m only going on stereotypes 😉 ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/2 "2012-10-19T02:01:52Z")
First of all… Washington D.C. is not in the “northeast”… it’s in the South (Maryland and Virginia are southern states). Second of all, LA is a hellhole, possibly the worst place on earth. I hear DC might be as bad in some ways but… let’s not make our nation’s capital any worse! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/3 "2012-10-19T02:01:55Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > Would you enjoy it if the U.S. was run from L.A.? I get the feeling the government would run better, because everyone would be more laid back and cooperative than in the boiler rooms of the Northeast. California Legislature. Case closed. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/4 "2012-10-19T02:13:35Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Second of all, LA is a hellhole, possibly the worst place on earth. Sez you! Although anyone who lives in Tejas has some experience with Hell, I’ll admit. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/5 "2012-10-19T03:26:27Z")
Were. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/6 "2012-10-19T09:38:58Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > It would also balance things so that the West Coast gets more political clout. I’m not sure how you could give us any more political clout, short of re-instituting feudalism and declaring the Mid-West our serfs. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/7 "2012-10-19T09:50:51Z")
California would be even _stranger_… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/8 "2012-10-19T11:01:36Z")
Los Angeles is already dealing with drought, earthquakes, and the entertainment industry. It wouldn’t be fair to dump politics on them as well. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/9 "2012-10-19T13:14:33Z")
If the US capital was in LA instead of DC, it would stand to reason that the New World was conquered, and settled in, from the opposite direction. So our major influences would be Asian instead of European. Let’s see, Buddhism would be the predominant religion, our math scores would be through the roof, and we’d all be singing about paddy fields instead of waves of amber grain. (Did I manage to hit every stereotype?) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/10 "2012-10-19T14:14:58Z")
I think you’d have to assume the capital was moved sometime after around 1910. Before that, L.A. wasn’t significant enough to bear the nation’s capital, either geographically or politically. From 1848–1906 you might have moved it to San Francisco, though it would be strange to put it in newly conquered territory and awkward when California wasn’t contiguous with any other state. Before 1848, it’s just inconceivable to put the US capital in Mexico. So let’s say it was moved in 1940 as World War II loomed on the US horizon. Honestly, I don’t think much would change. Better investment in the nation’s railroad infrastructure, and better attention to the issues specific to the Southwest such as water management and relations with Mexico. Perhaps a more sensisble immigration policy. With greater awareness of Asian and Latino citizens, perhaps the black / white issue wouldn’t have been so polarizing and Civil Rights legislation would have been considered earlier, immediately after WWII rather than 20 years later with slow implementation. Otherwise, no big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/11 "2012-10-19T14:19:22Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > First of all… Washington D.C. is not in the “northeast”… it’s in the South (Maryland and Virginia are southern states). That’s historically. Culturally, economically, and politically, Maryland and Delaware have been northeastern for decades now. And Northern Virginia becomes less and less southern by the moment. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/12 "2012-10-19T15:43:22Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > That’s historically. Culturally, economically, and politically, Maryland and Delaware have been northeastern for decades now. And Northern Virginia becomes less and less southern by the moment. I’ll go with Washington DC being in the MidLantic. They don’t have a clear Northern or Southern identity in the land of my birth. But technically it is south of the Mason-Dixon line. ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/13 "2012-10-19T15:56:24Z")
Wahington DC, a city with the charm of the North and the efficiency of the South. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/14 "2012-10-19T16:01:38Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > If the US capital was in LA instead of DC, it would stand to reason that the New World was conquered, and settled in, from the opposite direction. So our major influences would be Asian instead of European. > > Let’s see, Buddhism would be the predominant religion, our math scores would be through the roof, and we’d all be singing about paddy fields instead of waves of amber grain. > > (Did I manage to hit every stereotype?) Hmmm I thought we’d all be speaking Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/15 "2012-10-19T16:23:13Z")
> [@Wargamer](#): > > Wahington DC, a city with the charm of the North and the efficiency of the South. Well said. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/16 "2012-10-19T17:03:36Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > (Did I manage to hit every stereotype?) \ ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/17 "2012-10-19T18:32:08Z")
> [@Wargamer](#): > > Wahington DC, a city with the charm of the North and the efficiency of the South. That is brilliant, and I’ve never heard it before. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/18 "2012-10-19T19:42:07Z")
I don’t think too much would change, all told. What _might_ change things would be if all the different cabinet departments were spread out in different cities. I read that suggestion in an OpEd sometime back, and the argument was that decentralizing all that power - Department of Agriculture in Omaha; Department of Education in Boston; Department of Transportation in Detroit - would slow the growth of the massive, incestuous political machine in DC. That might make a difference, for good or ill. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/19 "2012-10-19T19:49:19Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > California Legislature. Case closed. Like the earlier poster who called LA a hellhole, I think you have confused the delightful City of Angels with God-forsaken Sacramento. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/20 "2012-10-19T20:02:09Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > What _might_ change things would be if all the different cabinet departments were spread out in different cities. I read that suggestion in an OpEd sometime back, and the argument was that decentralizing all that power - Department of Agriculture in Omaha; Department of Education in Boston; Department of Transportation in Detroit - would slow the growth of the massive, incestuous political machine in DC. That might make a difference, for good or ill. (Underline emphasis added.) Now that would create, or more correctly perpetuate, a different massively incestuous relationship. :dubious:😛 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188.md?page=2)