The search for the real Springfield is on.
http://www.nbc10.com/entertainment/11211990/detail.html?rss=phi&psp=entertainment
New England has three; Mass, NH, VT. Could we possibly get to host the movie premiere?
I just assumed it was somewhere in the midwest.
Springfield, like Podunk and Atlantis, has no locus.
I’d say Springfield, OR, in Goening’s home state, is the front-runner.
It’s not which Springfield is the real Springfield (we’ll never know- the trailer for the movie has a joke in which Flanders points out the four states which border Springfield- none of which border each other in real life). It’s which Springfield has most in common with the hometown of the Simpsons. According to the U.S. Board of Geographic Names, there are 34 states with Springfields in them. I agree that Oregon’s Springfield has the biggest Simpsons link, as not only did Groening actually grow up there, many of the character names are taken from streets and locales around Springfield.
Yes. I should have said “front-runner to hold the premiere.”
This article appeared in the Springfield [Illinois] State-Journal Register a couple of days ago, making the case for Springfield, IL.
Teach me to trust the morning radio guy, who said there were 16. I guess he meant there are 16 that don’t have Springfields. What is it, Opposite Day? :rolleyes:
Thudlow Boink’s link indicates that 16 were invited to compete for the opening, perhaps that’s where the figure came from.
I’m definitely going with Springfield Oregon.
I recently went to Springfield, Ohio for the first time last fall. It was an amusing place. I met all sorts of weird characters in my short time there. I would be excited if they got it 
But, you guys are right about Oregon. That seems like the best fit.
Marge nearly admitted that they lived in Springfield Ohio.
She was giving her adress on the phone - she said the city after which she began to say Ohio, but at the last second it turned into Oh, hiya Mom! as her mom walked in.
That tricky Groening.
That’s “Oh, hiya Maude”- it was Maude Flanders.
According to Wikipedia, the founders of Portland, Ore. (one of whom was named Lovejoy), had a dispute similar to the one that lead to a falling out between Jebediah Springfield and Shelbyville Manhattan, leading to the founding of Shelbyville and the eternal rivalry between the burgs.
Springfield Oregon is next to the higher class Eugene Oregon. Springfield Simpsons is next to the higher class Shelbyville. The Eugene baseball team is called the Emeralds. The Shelbyville baseball team is called the Em’s. At least thats what I heard. I’m a bit biased living in Eugene and all.
There is no Evergreen Terrace in Sprinfield OR.
No, but Matt Groening did go to the Evergreen State College.
Well, there would have to be mountains nearby, right? When homer tried to climb the peak (no, not that one - THAT one.) they made it seem like the mountain range was visible from the city.
And, if memory serves, Lisa made a comment that one could figure out where Springfield was if they took into consideration all the clues. Did I really hear that?
I remember a Shelbyville Shelbyvillians baseball team and a Shelbyville Sharks football team, but no Em’s.
Yes, that was good teasing. 
And Springfieldians have been shown to pump their own gas.
Ok well thats just what I was told. I said my info was biased. Thanks for not letting the ignorance go.
The Simpsons’ Springfield is a port city on an ocean. None of the leading contenders are, AFAIK.
This wikipedia article goes into exhaustive detail on all the possibilities.
Au contraire! Podunk is “an unincorporated area in East Brookfield, Massachusetts.” Or so says a certain site…
My money is on Springfield, Ohio, which to me has a very Simpsonian feel. No nuclear reactor to my knowledge, though.