# Are You Happy With Your State Capital? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 25, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-capital/500994 "2009-06-25T22:54:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-capital/500994/21 "2009-06-26T02:36:32Z")
People bought up land in Willow to try to make a fast buck. They ended up with basically worthless land. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-capital/500994/22 "2009-06-26T03:10:56Z")
Phoenix is the only reasonable place to have the Arizona state capitol. It is centrally located and the vast majority of the state’s population lives in the metro area. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-capital/500994/23 "2009-06-26T03:13:32Z")
Jefferson City is centrally located and on the Missouri River so it seemed like a pretty good choice at the time. Then the railroad went through there and it seemed like a really good choice. But 30 miles away Columbia got the university, then the big highway, then the Interstate and now it’s twice as big as Jeff City AND more convenient to KC and St. Louis, and not much if at all less convenient to anywhere else, so I say move it. And not that it’s my state, but Illinois should move the capital to Bloomington. The downstate politicians would never let it be moved to Chicago, ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-capital/500994/24 "2009-06-26T03:18:50Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > The capital of NSW is Sydney. It seems pretty sensible to me. Australia is much more centralized than the US; every state & territorial capital is also it’s largest city and seems to be home of the majority of the population. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-capital/500994/25 "2009-06-26T03:36:00Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I don’t mean that downtown Boston is an abomination unto the Lord although it is in some ways. I mean that it isn’t fair to place the state capital in the state’s largest city especially if there is only one dominating city and it is near the easternmost point. MA is small for a U.S. states but it takes well over three hours to drive all the way from the west into Boston proper. Having the capital in Boston results in inbreeding so bad that they may make a remake of Deliverance based on it some day. Most other states had enough sense to move their capitals so that the entire state is fairly represented. New York has theirs in Albany and the U.S. capital in Washington D.C. was built on neutral ground from scratch in order to be as fair as possible at the time. That is the only fair way to do it. Fair to whom? Is there some reason that rural people need to be both over represented per-capita in the state senate and then have the capital in a place that is less convenient for the majority of the population? ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-capital/500994/26 "2009-06-26T03:41:46Z")
I love my birthplace, workplace and closest big town – Frankfort. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_Clock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Shot\_Clock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_Clock)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-capital/500994/27 "2009-06-26T04:08:10Z")
**Zsofia** is right about Columbia’s convenient location. That said, Columbia has a couple of things not in its favor. 1. It is located on an ancient beach (the Fall Line). The sandy soil reflects the sunlight. When combined with a complete lack of a breeze, this factor makes for some oppresively hot and miserable days in the summertime. 2. Something in the air makes people stupid when they enter the city limits. Seemingly rational, well-meaning people turn into blithering idiots when they go there, particularly if they are conducting the state’s business. 3. People in Columbia can’t hold their liquor. At all. Saturday night in Five Points has more drunken idiots per square foot than any place in America outside of Boston. Interestingly enough: Columbia was the second choice for the state capitol. The early pick was [Fort Motte](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Motte), located about 30 to 45 minutes away, depending on whether you drive like a Columbia resident or a Sane Human Being. Fort Motte today is a small, sleepy rural place with next to nothing there, and Columbia is, well, Columbia. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-capital/500994/28 "2009-06-26T04:10:16Z")
The capital of Ontario is Toronto. It is the centre of gravity of Ontario: it has the largest population, hospitals, banking, media, research, law, traffic jams, train system, etc, etc, in the province. And it’s smack-dab in the middle of the largest population area. Logical choice for the capital. This doesn’t stop people a thousand kilometres away in far parts of the province from complaining that Toronto is too far away for accurate and responsive representation of their concerns to the provincial government. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-capital/500994/29 "2009-06-26T04:51:24Z")
No problems with Santa Fe as the capital for almost 400 years. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-capital/500994/30 "2009-06-26T04:57:30Z")
Jackson is in an OK location I guess. It is a little too far south to be centered in the middle of the state, but MS isn’t square anyway. It’s in a good location now, since two interstate highways meet there (I-55 and I-20). It was originally founded as a trading post at LeFleur’s Bluff, along the Pearl River, considered a good location due to its proximity to the Natchez Trace. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-capital/500994/31 "2009-06-26T05:03:06Z")
It’s good that California’s capital isn’t San Francisco or LA, which already dominate the state too much anyway. Possibly Fresno or someplace would be a bit more central, but CA is just too big. Everything north of Sac gets forgotten no matter what you do (hey folks, did you know there’s a big ol’ chunk of California _north_ of Sacramento? It’s where half your water comes from!), so it’s probably just as well that it’s as far north as it is. ---
**Author:** ![Neptunian\_Slug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Neptunian\_Slug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptunian_Slug)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-capital/500994/32 "2009-06-26T05:10:26Z")
Harrisburg, PA is probably about as good a choice as anything. Its not right in the center of the state. Its close to a larger share of the population in Eastern PA, but far enough from Philadelphia that Western PA doesn’t secede. The city itself is OK. In the region, you’ve got Hershey and Pennsylvania Dutch Country. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-capital/500994.md?page=1)