# Calling all "Simpsons" fans **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 9, 2003, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-simpsons-fans/147519 "2003-01-09T14:58:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![squid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@squid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squid)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-simpsons-fans/147519/1 "2003-01-09T14:58:43Z")
Where do the Simpsons live (from the TV show)? I know it is supposed to be Anywhere, USA but in one episode Lisa says (to the camera) “you can figure it out if you watch for the clues”. I have noticed that they do show, on road signs, miles to City X and so forth. Is there a Simpsonite who knows? Probably not the most important question of the day I know. ---
**Author:** ![NYR407](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@NYR407](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NYR407)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-simpsons-fans/147519/2 "2003-01-09T15:11:51Z")
1. FYI, this should be in Cafe Society 2. This thread has been done many times. Try the search engine. 3. There is no actual location of the Simpson’s Springfield. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-simpsons-fans/147519/3 "2003-01-09T15:55:17Z")
squid, the “where is Springfield” question is a snipe hunt. Did you ever go to summer camp? The clues are inconsistent and over the y ears they’ve excluded just about every state anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-simpsons-fans/147519/4 "2003-01-09T17:31:19Z")
What I think people fail to understand is that the creators didn’t have a meeting and say “OK, the show is going to take place is Springfield, Missouri, but we’ll never say Missouri and make kind of game out people trying to guess what state”. They simply made a fictional Springfield. ---
**Author:** ![Zagadka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zagadka/32/7272_2.png) [@Zagadka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zagadka)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-simpsons-fans/147519/5 "2003-01-09T17:34:46Z")
Maybe it would be better put “S\_\_\_\_\_, USA” ---
**Author:** ![squid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@squid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squid)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-simpsons-fans/147519/6 "2003-01-09T18:00:46Z")
OK so I’ve been duked (or is duped) by the creator (of the show). ---
**Author:** ![B.Pants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@B.Pants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Pants)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-simpsons-fans/147519/7 "2003-01-09T18:09:08Z")
Ya gotta remember, at one point they go to where five state lines meet at one corner. There’s no place where that happens. That’s when I realized there was no real Simpsons Springfield. ---
**Author:** ![Tree\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9dc877/32.png) [@Tree\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tree_Boy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-simpsons-fans/147519/8 "2003-01-09T18:47:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by squid \* > \*\*Where do the Simpsons live (from the TV show)? I know it is supposed to be Anywhere, USA but in one episode Lisa says (to the camera) “you can figure it out if you watch for the clues”. I have noticed that they do show, on road signs, miles to City X and so forth. Is there a Simpsonite who knows? Probably not the most important question of the day I know. \*\* There is an episode where Homer and Lisa are driving late at night and they pass a highway sign that has 5 different major cities listed (Detroit, Los Angeles, Orlando…I forget) as well as their distance in miles. I don’t know if you could use triangulation to figure it out, and I assume they just randomly assigned values to those cities. As far as the origin of Springfield, the show’s creater, Matt Groening, was born and for themost part raised in Oregon. In central Oregon (near Eugene) there is a medium sized city called Springfield. Groening’s Oregon roots are evident in the names of the shows supporting cast as well. Reverened Lovejoy, Ned Flanders, and Mayor Quimby all have the last names of streets in Portland. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-simpsons-fans/147519/9 "2003-01-09T18:54:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by squid \* > **Where do the Simpsons live (from the TV show)?** I can’t contradict the previous posters, but I can say that it is definately NOT Michigan, since we don’t have a DMV. We use the Secretary of State. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-simpsons-fans/147519/10 "2003-01-09T19:02:12Z")
Springfield is where you want it to be. I could use clues like the Grand chasm to say it’s Arizona if I ignore that in one episode they decided not to visit Arizona because it smells funny. ---
**Author:** ![Protesilaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Protesilaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Protesilaus)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-simpsons-fans/147519/11 "2003-01-09T20:15:13Z")
[The Simpsons Archive: Where is The Simpsons’ Springfield?](http://www.snpp.com/guides/springfield.list.html) A really in-depth look at the question. ---
**Author:** ![Slugworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4bbf92/32.png) [@Slugworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slugworth)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-simpsons-fans/147519/12 "2003-01-09T21:38:08Z")
In one episode, the parody of “Behind The Music” one I believe, it says that they live in Springfield, Kentucky. It was really strange to see them flat out state it, no pun intended, since it was such a running gag. And a gag that I’m pretty sure is still going, even after that episode. ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-simpsons-fans/147519/13 "2003-01-10T00:51:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Slugworth \* > \*\*In one episode, the parody of “Behind The Music” one I believe, it says that they live in Springfield, Kentucky. It was really strange to see them flat out state it, no pun intended, since it was such a running gag. And a gag that I’m pretty sure is still going, even after that episode. \*\* The re-runs of the episode said they were from Missouri. ---
**Author:** ![Slugworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4bbf92/32.png) [@Slugworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slugworth)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-simpsons-fans/147519/14 "2003-01-10T00:53:10Z")
Really? The time I saw it was on a rerun, same as my brother. Both said Kentucky… Are they running different versions in different areas? At different times? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-simpsons-fans/147519/15 "2003-01-10T03:12:33Z")
And they never said Springfield was IN Kentucky. IIRC, the exact words were “…for this Northern Kentucky family.” ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-simpsons-fans/147519/16 "2003-01-10T03:21:16Z")
Jeez…everyone knows they live in the state with Capital City as it’s capital. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-simpsons-fans/147519/17 "2003-01-10T03:23:52Z")
Oh, everyone knows the Simpsons live in ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-simpsons-fans/147519/18 "2003-01-10T04:05:30Z")
Friggin hampsters!!! Now we’ll never know!! ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-simpsons-fans/147519/19 "2003-01-10T05:18:34Z")
This is more of a Cafe Society sort of thing, but instead of moving it over there, I’ll close this one and direct further comment on the subject to a current CS thread, [Location of Springfield narrowed down!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=154970)