If D.C. were destroyed where would the capital be moved to?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Here’s the scenario; NASA detects a pesky comet that is on a direct impact course with Washington D.C. All our top scienticians predict that the entire District of Columbia will be wiped out (with some periphery damage to Maryland and Virginia). Fortunately there’s a couple of months before impact so we’ll be able to evacuate the city and outlying areas.

But the question is…where to move the seat of the Federal government?

Back to Philadelphia? New York City? Lebanon, Kansas?

Inspired by the alt history story Cuban Missile Crisis: Second Holocaust, in 1962 D.C. is destroyed in a nuclear strike and government functions are moved to Cheyenne Mountain.

2

How about the lovely Greenbriar Resort in West Virginia?

3

Ah, isn’t that the place Congress was to meet in a nuclear war? Looks pretty swanky for a bunker.

One more suggestion for the historical minded - Brookeville, Maryland.

For our legal eagles, what’s involved constitutionally in moving the capital? In the Constitution it says that a ten square mile patch out of a state can be used with the permission of Congress (if my reading is right) - surely it can’t be that simple!

4

Hereare 3 suggestions, depending on how you choose to think about the country. The question is: Which area needs to be punished? :wink:

Having spent a large chunk of my life within an hour or so of DC, I’d be happy to have them as far from me as possible, so SD is my choice!

5

I’ve seen several writers over the years use what is effectively Denver.

6

Quite a few State Capitals were located in the buttcrack of nowhere in order to get away from the influence of big city types, so investing in some real estate in Lebanon Kansas* might indeed be a good idea (until the Feds steal it away :wink: )
*apologies to anyone who actually lives there. I’m sure it’s a lovely place.

7

double post

8

I’d think a more centrally-located capitol would be good. Perhaps Kansas City? Or maybe they could buy the Kentucky Angle and set up shop there :slight_smile:

9

Memphis or Lebanon, KS.

10

Denver is always good. Then, in the future, we could stage games there where our teen children fight to the death. Depending on how big a jerk my 14-year-old is being I could volunteer her.

But I agree that somewhere in the midwest would be most likely. KC, STL, Little Rock, Omaha. Something like that.

11

Yup, Midwest, just west of the Mississippi. It would be an enormous fight but it can’t be too far from the geographic and population center.

12

It looks like everybody’s assuming that, but I have to assume that big business will decide this for us. I’d vote for New York City.

13

I say move it to Seaside Heights, NJ. Then we can be all like, “You’ll never guess what happened on Jersey Shore last night! Someone proposed <boneheaded political idea du jour>!”.

14

Colon, Michigan just so newscasters will have to say stuff like “Opponents of the bill say that Colon is already too full of pork and it is unclear if it will pass” and “Congress has had an especially productive session. Colon has produced a record amount of material”.

15

And that material is likely going to trigger a movement. A rather large movement. I guess that’s what happens when you have assholes in charge.

16

Congress will vote to move to the city with the best restaurants.

17

Please let it be somewhere with a better climate. Anywhere, really.

18

There’s one place we can say for sure they’d NEVER move it to:

Truth or Consequences, NM.

Imagine the changes necessary to run our political system under those rules!!!

19

How about Detroit, Michigan? Lots of underdeveloped land and the bones of a once-great city.

20

NYMBY*! I have enough problems already without having to squeegee political slime off the sidewalk every day, thank you.

[sub]*Not In My Back Yard[/sub]