That’s not going to be news to many people. Groening grew up in Oregon and several of the characters are named after streets in Portland. This is reporting worthy of Kent Brockman or Scott Christian. Or Dave Shutton, even!
(sigh) The article reads that Springfield was based on Springfield, OR, near Portland where he grew up. But the show itself is ambiguous on the matter.
I lived in Salem, OR for a few years and had a good friend from Springfield. It seemed to be pretty much accepted by the locals that Groening got the name from Springfield, OR since he grew up there, though he often made jokes about it being elsewhere/anywhere/nowhere.
Groening most likely borrowed the name Springfield from Springfield, OR, and also probably the mock-feud relationship of Springfield and Shelbyville from Springfield and Eugene. But that’s pretty much it; Springfield, OR isn’t much like the TV Springfield at all.
According to Simpson’s creator Matt Groening himself from a recent interview:
And then he fucked that sentiment right up.
I actually think it’s kind of cool he finally revealed where the show takes place…in spirit at least, as I very much doubt the show adheres strictly to that location’s geographically. Of course, I haven’t followed the Simpson’s in years (decades?), so it’s not like I feel strongly about the show’s canon much anyway.
Marge: Hello once again. As usual, I must warn you all that this year’s
Hallowe’en show is very, very scary, and those of you with young
children may want to send them off for bed –
Oh, my! It seems the show is _so_ scary that Congress won't even
let us show it. Instead they've suggested the 1947 Glenn Ford
classic movie, "200 Miles to Oregon".