What is your state capital like?

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SpaceFroggy1031@reddit

Santa Fe. It's the prettiest city in the state.

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Columbus was pickedin Ohio because neither Cleveland nor Cincinnati (both of which were powerful cities in the 1800's due to location) wanted the other to be the capital. So they went with something inbetween.

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Durham1988@reddit

And now I'd by far rather live in Columbus than either Cleveland or Cincinnati

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UseMuted5000@reddit

I’ll give you Cleveland every time but I’d rather be in Cinci I think

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Worstmodonreddit@reddit

Theres a lot wrong with this statement.

Columbus was settled to be the state capital, it wasn't picked. And it wasn't the first choice (both Chillicothe and Zanesville were capitals ) it was chosen bc it was central in the Ohio territory long before Cleveland and Cincy were powerful.

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crispynarwhal@reddit

And because it was on a good transport location when rivers were a major way of moving things.

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Worstmodonreddit@reddit

No. Columbus doesn't have a river big enough for commerce. They had to damn it to make it bigger for aesthetics in the first place.

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crispynarwhal@reddit

They did in 1816.

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Worstmodonreddit@reddit

Do you have a citation for that? It's bigger now than at that time due to run off from development and it dries up in certain locations in the summer.

For CA, it's Sacramento. As a native San Franciscan, I can tell you we will go to great lengths to avoid going to Sacramento. Sacramento isn't "small", it is about 500,000 people. But that's tiny compared to Los Angeles, San Francisco or even San Jose.

It is a bit strange, but yes, state capitols are often boring towns that you don't want to go to.

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Cali_Anne@reddit

We’ve had floods of people from San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley moving here in the last few years, including wealthy and stylish ones gasp. I agree with you obviously that SF is cooler than Sacramento, but it’s apparently no longer true that Bay Area folks snub us for life.

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TheKiddIncident@reddit

Yes, sorry. Re-reading that comment I was being pretty bitchy. Sorry about that. Was just being silly and over the top.

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Cali_Anne@reddit

Thanks for the apology! Totally unexpected on Reddit so even more appreciated.

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Skete_5959@reddit

Our capital is Hartford. It used to be one of the richest places in the world and suffered a heavy setback in previous years. It is recovering, and has become a nice enough place to visit and live.

:D

"Listen. If you two have been smoking marijuana I'm going have to take you to the principle's office while some Tears For Fears plays in the background.

(slight simultaneous shrugs)

"Meh, I'm good with that."

monettegia@reddit

Plus he killed it in Mallrats

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After_Invite1464@reddit

Went to Willamette for a year. Salem is exactly how you picture it.

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AndrasKrigare@reddit

I'm gonna need a source for that, because it sounds a lot like a post-hoc explanation to align with your beliefs.

What I think is much more likely is that we are a relatively young country, with even younger states, that formed shortly before a lot of major technological and economic changes.

Particular further out west, many state capitols were often the first large city, the city that was largest at the time the territory applied for statehood (which they were incentivized to do sooner rather than later). In some instances, that city continued to be the economic hub and stayed the major city. In other instances, other cities outgrew them, for a variety of reasons.

It's not like we just chose the capitols a few years ago after all the cities are in their modern forms.

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SnooChipmunks2079@reddit

At least in Illinois, Springfield is the third capital. It became the capital because Lincoln and friends lobbied for the change and succeeded.

In a quirk of geography, the first capital, Kaskaskia, is now on the west side of the Mississippi River. The river moved in 1881, which was pretty destructive to the town.

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AndrasKrigare@reddit

Looking at the Illinois website, that move happened just 20 years after Illinois became a state, so still very early on and the same year Chicago became incorporated as a city. The stated reasoning was to put the capital in the center of the state (possibly to make it easiest for citizens to visit as transportation was still difficult at the time). Which doesn't support the "we don't worship power, so we put capitals away from major cities except where we don't."

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No-Contact6664@reddit

Teaching moment: Capital is a place. Capitol is a building.

d1v1debyz3r0@reddit

Bisbee was bigger at statehood 😂

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The state officials were originally meeting in Philadelphia, but they were kicked out of Independence Hall, first for the Declaration of Independence, and then again for the constitutional convention, so the capital was moved to Lancaster, which was supposed to just be a temporary fix. A farmer who had inherited some land along the Susquehanna that he wasn't using said that he'd donate that to the state if they wanted to make a state capital there. A state rep owned some adjoining land, so it looked like a good opportunity.

During the convention, Pennsylvanians who had served in the Revolutionary War came demanding pay, and the governor didn't even try to stop them (historians are split on whether he agreed with their actions or just didn't think he was sure ordering other troops in PA to pick a fight with their fellow statemen would work). While those veterans were talked down on the understanding that the government that was supposed to pay them was being built, the attendees still ended up fleeing, moving to a few different locations before settling in New York City. That's why picking a city that wouldn't be under the jurisdiction of any particular state was so important to them, but there was still a suspicion floating around that they would end up just converting Philadelphia into the national capital and somehow just removing it from Pennsylvania's jurisdiction. Some in Philadelphia were even pushing for it, with Roger Morris even starting construction of a "Presidential Palace" to influence the choice. So, the state kept constructing things in Harrisburg. By the time everybody realized that there was no way Congress was going to let the capital be in Philadelphia, the officials were already moving into Harrisburg and most of what they needed there was just about finished.

Source:
"Washington: A Life" by Ron Chernow discussed this in a little depth ("little" by Chernow standards, at any rate) when talking about the convention fleeing and why they felt strongly about picking a federal-jurisdiction capital so quickly after the Constitution was ratified, along with the bickering that took place about where it should be located.

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Doom_Corp@reddit

Harrisburg is a neat town. My friend and I drove out from Jersey for the weekend to pick up some antique furniture a few cities away from our hotel in Harrisburg. We went to a local beer bar for dinner when we first arrived, got the stuff the next day, had a fancy lady date, and then walked around the government buildings to check out the architecture. A LOT of chonky body spiders making their homes on this circle of short barrel shaped stone fixtures with lights in them that we noticed while looking at the fountains in the evening.

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2PlasticLobsters@reddit

One thing that struck me about living (briefly) in south-central PA was the dearth of east-west routes. In much of the state, the Turnpike is the only choice, and it's overcrowded & ungodly expensive. The one time we used it recently was for just a couple exits & it cost something like $10.

The next most recent time was back in the 2010s & it was terrifying. Just four lanes separated by a jersey wall, packed with vehicles hurtling along at 70 MPH.

So it's no surprise that few people from the eastern part of the state go to the western or vice-versa.

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GreenWhiteBlue86@reddit

Philadelphia was originally the capital of Pennsylvania (which is why you have Independence Hall: it was built as the State House to hold the legislature. Harrisburg became the capital in 1812, because many people even then thought that Philadelphia was too dominant, but in 1812 much of the state was still unsettled and the choice of something more geographically "central" wasn't an option. As far as settlement in 1812 went, Harrisburg was "central".

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iDontSow@reddit

They were also worried about safety from attack, as Philadelphia had been occupied by the British during the Revolution and the government fled to Lancaster and then York

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helloiamabear@reddit

What's Harrisburg like? I drive past it all the time but I've never actually been inside.

I've been told there's no real nightlife because it's mostly businesses and government buildings, so the city clears out at 5 p.m. Is that actually true?

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Turbulent_Group_6616@reddit

Montgomery is a historic city. Definitely worth a visit.

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GettingTooOldForDis@reddit

Concord, NH is a cute little New England city. Main Street is lined with shops. There are 3 different sized music venues. There’s a great independent book store next to an independent art house theatre. Every 4 years it becomes the center of American politics during New Hampshire’s first in the nation primary. It’s close to the mountains and lakes. It’s a nice place.

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Iceland260@reddit

Do Americans actually care about their state capitals?

How important the capital city varies wildly from one state to another.

The Bridgeport Islanders are leaving now as well. And yes you’re correct on the Wolf Pack!

bears_vw@reddit

Not sure; I’ve just driven through it once or twice and there wasn’t really a reason to stop.

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Nyerinchicago@reddit

Don't care about my state capital. Most are midway between population centers, or in the middle of the state

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ParticularYak4401@reddit

Olympia. Where I-5 begins to move again after you sit in the quagmire of Louis-McChord Joint Base.

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enancejividen@reddit

I live in Raleigh. It's the second largest city in North Carolina and much more centrally located than Charlotte, the largest city. It's a great city to raise a family, with nice parks, greenways and museums. There is a major university here and several smaller colleges, as well as major universities in nearby cities. It's a couple hours to good beaches and 3 or so to the mountains.

But it's very much a new southern city. Mostly suburban sprawl, strip malls, abysmal public transportation, not walkable at all outside of the downtown and NC State areas.

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MakeStupidHurtAgain@reddit

I live in California, so our capital is Sacramento. Because we have so many huge and/or famous cities, Sacramento tends to be either the butt of jokes, or is just simply treated as the toto-pro-pars of the state government.

As a city there are some really cool parts of it, and there’s plenty to do culturally (symphony, opera, theatre, live music, good food, museums, etc.). There is a university but it’s one of the second-tier state universities, there’s not a UC there.

That said… it’s in the Central Valley which means it’s very, very hot in summer and cold (as viewed from coastal California) in winter, and it can be dusty. It’s hard to want to go to a place that is 110 degrees F (43 C) in summer.

One nice thing about Sacto is it’s easy to get to the Bay Area either driving or on the train, and it’s only two hours from Tahoe, so in winter it’s an easy trip to go skiing or snowboarding. In the summer it’s not very far from the Sierra Nevada, for hiking and fishing, and it’s kind of smack dab between two huge wine areas: Napa and Amador are each an hour away.

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innerShnev@reddit

Love Sac. Good art, great diverse food all grown in the valley farms nearby (where farm to table began), decent rail transportation, as close to skiing as if you lived in Denver, endless trips to the Bay Area, SF, wine country, and all the splendor of the Sierra Nevada and coastal ranges. Balls hot in the summer and plenty of weird valley tweakers, but actually affordable for California (though that's changing). The dream of California is alive in SacTown.

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StayPuft12@reddit

There is a UC, UC Davis is 20 minutes from the Capital building.

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Remarkable-Hawkeye@reddit

Sacramento has so many ethnic groups and languages. There are two rivers that converge here and trees everywhere. It’s beautiful. People are humble because it’s not considered a “cool” city. I lived in San Francisco and people thought they were cool simply because they lived there, as if they built the Golden Gate and cable cars with their own hands.

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Humble_Plate_2733@reddit

Given the time of year, I’m surprised you haven’t said anything about seasonal allergies. Everyone around me (particularly transplants) is sniffling and sneezing like crazy.

Sacramento also punches way above its weight on the third wave coffee scene, with independent roasters dotting the downtown and midtown area, sometimes one on every block.

Yeah, as others pointed out, the Frank Lloyd Wright house is good, but in the Chicago area you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a FLW, so it’s not like seeing one of his houses is rare, just nice.

I don’t know anyone that goes to Springfield for any reason other than it being the state capital. The capitol building has a big shiny silver dome, so something a bit different (the silver, not the dome thing).

The biggest weirdness as a Chicagoan is how many people I’ve had to argue with outside of the state over what my state capital is. No, it’s not Chicago. Shouldn’t you have learned this in fifth grade? Maybe around the same time people should have learned how to pronounce “Illinois”?

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t-poke@reddit

I've driven through Springfield a bunch of times on my way to Chicago but I've never stopped to see any sites. I feel like I should next time. Or make a day trip of it.

Pretty sure Springfield is closer to me than my own state capital. I don't even drive through Jeff City because it's not off any major interstate. I went there once as a kid as part of a field trip and that was it.

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Afternoon_Despair@reddit

That drive from STL to Jeff is rough. It feels like it takes forever. I do actually think you're closer to Springfield IL than Jefferson City as well.

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AppropriateRatio9235@reddit

Dana Thomas home by Frank Lloyd Wright has a good tour and is interesting.

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alcoholicmovielover@reddit

Madison, Wisconsin is actually pretty cool! It's the second largest city in the state, but it has the largest university (University of Wisconsin). There are three large lakes in the city, so it's really unusual to navigate.

Prestigious-Comb4280@reddit

Florida Completely missed the mark on that one. lol

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Common_Cut_1491@reddit

No, at the time, Tallahassee was pretty centrally located at a time when the majority of Floridians lived in North Florida. The site was chosen when West Florida (capital in Pensacola) and East Florida (capital in St. Augustine) came together as one territory and state. The site of present day Tallahassee was chosen as equidistant between the two former capitals. The two main population centers being the two former capitals. Everything else was basically rural cattle-raising Florida Crackers who rarely lived south of modern-day Ocala. Past that, it was mostly territory defined by Seminoles.

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markofcontroversy@reddit

I just heard the term "Florida Cracker" for the first time yesterday, and here it is again.

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Boba_Fett_is_Senpai@reddit

It's my understanding that cowboys originated here

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Yes, but also no. Spanish Florida extended into what are now the southern panhandles of Alabama and Mississippi as well as the parts of Louisiana Northeast of New Orleans. These were the stages in which Spanish Florida was obtained.

But the modern State of Florida was one big chunk we got at once.

The reason Tallahassee was chosen as the capital was because until the 20th century, Florida's major population centers were Pensacola, and St Augustine. Tallahassee is somewhat centrally located between these.

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gangleskhan@reddit

You have to also consider where people lived when a state was established. South Florida was generally considered borderline uninhabitable until surprisingly recently.

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RsonW@reddit

Again, we're talking about when the capital was chosen.

Back then, the only significantly populated areas in Florida were Pensacola and St Augustine. Tallahassee is somewhat centrally located between them.

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Familiar-Ad-1965@reddit

Not so. Tally is in the Panhandle. Handles control the pan, it is used to pick up and move the pan.

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People in Maryland primarily used waterways for many generations. I'm sure that's why Annapolis was chosen, despite not being in the center of Maryland. It connects easily to the eastern parts by rivers & bays.

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gangleskhan@reddit

Two states where this doesn't hold true are Minnesota and Wisconsin. I don't know much about Madison but St. Paul was a big commercial hub and was the capital of the territory before it became a state. While Minneapolis is now the larger of the Twin Cities, it wasn't even incorporated as a city yet when MN became a state. At that time the two main cities were St. Paul and St. Anthony (basically where Minneapolis is now). Minneapolis was basically the "little sibling" of St. Anthony, but later gobbled it up. Sometimes I think it would've been fun to have twin saint cities St. Paul on the other hand was once known as Pig's Eye).

Interestingly, neither St. Paul or Minneapolis "should" have ever existed. There was a budding city growing around the fort at the confluence of the rivers, and when the land east of the Mississippi opened for settlement, it was expected that the city would grow right across the river. That area had almost all the good steamboat landings and the protection of a fort. Land prospectors had already begun claiming the land and planning the city.

But the officer who ran the fort at the time made his land claim farther upriver, close to the falls that St. Anthony and later Minneapolis grew around. To make his land valuable, though, he needed a city to develop by his land and not where it was already growing.

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Cheever-Loophole@reddit

And it's the smallest state capitol. It's the cover pic on the World Atlas 10 smallest capitals.

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MajesticBread9147@reddit

Really? I keep hearing that it's so much cheaper than northern Virginia. Has that changed?

There's always Petersburg 30 minutes south I guess.

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I'm from New York but the complete opposite side of the state from NYC. Hence, Albany is the capital and not NYC despite what many might otherwise assume. It's relatively centered and the one thing people from Niagara Falls to Long Island can agree on is how much we hate Albany. Kidding of course, the city is fine I've heard, it's the politicians we poke fun at. But I do think it was important to not make NYC the capital. There's already so much division and resentment between NYC and many upstate areas, I think having it be the capital would make it so much worse.

It's got some really cool spots and some damn good food. Can be pretty dingy in other areas though.

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SirTwitchALot@reddit

I have lived there since 2000. It's not the worst place. This sums it up

It definitely is quantifiable. You think most people who live in NYC have been to Albany? What about people who live in LA and San Diego? You tubing they’ve been to Sacramento? Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville people have no reason to go to Tallahassee. Just because most people in Texas have, doesn’t mean most people across the country have been to the state capital.

basic_username102@reddit

Part of the reason they’re like that btw is to avoid concentrating power in too small of an area

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ChilindriPizza@reddit

Tallahassee

It is isolated. It was chosen to be the capital once upon a time due to being in between Pensacola and St. Augustine. But nowadays, it is far away from the four major cities of Florida.

It is hilly. It is beautiful in the autumn and early winter due to all the fall foliage.

FSU and FAMU are both there.

State capitals are often geographically placed for access to the most parts of the state, and often existed before the large cities.

I live in California and a good example is Sacramento!

Sacramento sits at the furthest spot on the Sacramento River that you can get a cargo ship up. Why’s that important? About a 45 minute drive east? Coloma! Where Gold was discovered. Sacramento was a staging ground! It also sits on the convergence of MANY major rivers. The Sacramento, consumnes, American etc. as well as being an entrance into the Sacramento valley, and laying in basically a near straight line to the 2 major passes through the Sierra nevadas. Donner, and Lake Tahoe.

San Francisco was always big, because the San Francisco Bay feeds the Sacramento River, and is a deep water port.

Los Angeles didn’t become huge until we built aqueducts and set up a port. It’s huge now, debatably the largest city in the US depending on how you measure. But it didn’t come into existance for 50-60 years from when Sacramento was founded, and even still wasn’t that big until the 50s. It’s a new city.

San Diego was bigger for most of its life because of the pacific fleet.

So now there needs to be a real reason to change the capital, and in the modern day, with the internet, telephone etc, it makes little sense, and we have little need to change.

This is just one example of the storied history surrounding a single state, which is one of the newer states to the Union. There are 49 more states with 49 more stories. Some of them are simple. The big city gets to be the capital, but often times history, access, and geography play a bigger role.

New York for example doesn’t have NYC as a capital, despite NYC being the largest city in the US (depending on how you measure) and definitely the largest in New York State. Why? Albany has much better access by river and road to the rest of the state.

New York City is a center of mercantilism and commerce, absolutely. But it’s not good at the governance of an entire state, back when messages needed to be passed with letters by a courier on a river boat or on horseback.

Now, capitals matter much less. Messages are passed electronically, and they aren’t based on a nobleman’s home.

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supermuncher60@reddit

Harrisburg is not known for being very nice.

You have the state legislature and drugs. That's basically it.

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Extension-Silver-403@reddit

Tallahassee, my husband was born there ironically enough even though the family moved after, I’ve been there a couple times for mostly political field trips my schools takes.

I see your point, but perhaps it's because larger vessels could navigate from Trenton to Philadelphia via the Delaware River. I'm not sure if the Raritan River was quite as good for that to NYC. As for the Delaware and Raritan canal, that wasn't dug until much later.

I know people from several surrounding states who come here for major medical procedures. I'm not a big fan of the traffic downtown, but it doesn't compare to, say, DC or Dallas. We have a great zoo, fantastic museums, and heck, considering we're landlocked, we even have a fantastic aquarium.

Shadow_Lass38@reddit

Such a walkable city! If you can't walk to it, you take the T--Museum of Science, the historic sites like Old South, Old North, the Revere house, etc. Gorgeous Public Garden, and you can even walk to Charlestown and see Constitution. A quick hop on the Red Line and you're in Harvard Square. Bellisima!

I'm from the little state capital down the road: Providence. Used to have a lively shopping and movie theatre district during the 1960s, before the shopping malls ruined it. Experienced a small renaissance, then that died, too.

Capricore58@reddit

Hub of the Universe

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draftysundress@reddit

Deadass we’re always the center of everything good and I love it!!

Sacramento is okay. It seems like a clean and safe place to live but relatively boring. (Not a lot of nightlife, music, exceptional restaurants, etc.) I visited once for a day so I could be wrong. The city is technically the same size as other cities but the metropolitan area is tiny compared to the Bay, Los Angeles, or San Diego.

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Educational_Impact93@reddit

I live in one of the states where our capital is the biggest city (Denver). It helps that Denver is pretty centrally located for the state m

It's a decent medium sized city with all the amenities you'd expect in a city. It seems to lack character of other cities in this country, but it isn't that old relatively speaking either. Pretty meh in terms of cuisine, but better than it was 30 years ago. And not in the mountains, but you can see them!

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Danibear285@reddit

My home state has a State University that allows the state capital city to exist.

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blipsman@reddit

Springfield, Illinois is a very sleepy town... there are some Abraham Lincoln attractions but that's about it. Spent a night there last spring on way to St. Louis and it's a nothing town other than state government offices. Most of the recent governors spend much of their time in Chicago.

Many state capitals are like this stragetically. One, the locations were chosen to be central for travel to/from in the days of horse and carriage travel while many of the big cities were on coasts or major rivers due to need for shipping/commerce.

Secondly, there was often a desire to separate the government interests from the big business interests and having the capitals away from the major business hub limited fraternizing between the bigwigs in government and bigwigs in business (see current Federal government and how business ties corrupt).

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Tabitheriel@reddit

I grew up in Trenton, the state capitol of NJ. It's a post-industrial, depressed city with a high crime rate. There is basically one area that is kinda suburban and nice, there is the "downtown" full of big office buildings, and there are slummy row houses. I grew up in one of those slummy row houses. I don't recommend Trenton.

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ancientastronaut2@reddit

Santa Fe is awesome!

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Janeiac1@reddit

Nobody cares about the capital being the capital per se; people pick where they live for many reasons, usually related to work or family. Capital cities in general tend to be decent places to live because there is an underpinning of stable employment and the legislatures will budget nice offices and perks for themselves.

Austin is expensive AF, for what you get living here. It’s been 15 years since I lived in Houston but comparable living spaces were much cheaper there.

The big thing that Austin wins over all the other Texas cities is that the hill country is gorgeous. It’s flat, ugly and boring like Houston on the east side but once you’re west of 35 the hill country begins and it’s absolutely beautiful. It’s a great city if you enjoy being outdoors. Plenty of pretty trails and places to swim at. Sometimes I like to take a drive out west through Austin and dripping springs just for the joy of the view.

I’m not saying Austin is bad, but a lot of people who live here and the people who move here overhype its good qualities.

Fuck Dallas. Cool people don’t want to be there.

The only real downside is the cost of living. Housing & insurance in particular are both pricey.

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Individual-Schemes@reddit

Escramento! Haha that's going on my list!

It's unfortunate that a restaurant that only serves grilled cheeses is our best restaurant LOL. I would agree with that though. Not a whole lot of great places to choose from. Lawrence just 20 miles east is much better with their restaurant scene.

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cntodd@reddit

Oklahoma City is a city that doesn't know what it wants to be. It's stuck in pre-MAPS OKC in a lot of areas, and growing amazingly in others. It isn't a bad city. We have the Thunder, the Comets, good food, some cool historical places, great parks, museums, the Zoo, and nature within city limits. It's a large land city with a smaller town feel. It isn't the prettiest though. It's Oklahoma with more going on.

Albany kind of sucks imo.

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Barkerfan86@reddit

Frankfort, Kentucky here. Its a small capital compared to othere (population 20-25 thousand) and its a nice town. Its big enough that you don’t know a lot of the people and we have a lot of decent restaurants and some decent shops, and its small enough we don’t have to deal with a lot of traffic problems. 45 minutes from Louisville and 30 minutes from Lexington, so if you want to go to a city it is just a small drive.

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ConicalSofa@reddit

I grew up in Lansing and now live in Providence. Despite both being classified as "medium sized cities," they're very, very different places.

You say state capitals aren't always the major city, and that's definitely the case with Lansing, which lives in the shadow of Detroit and, to a lesser extent, Grand Rapids. There are some funky art spots here and there, but by and large most of the culture and fun stuff to do are in East Lansing, a college town that abuts Lansing. Lansing itself is kind of gloomy and run down, rust belt vibes. Not completely of course, but I can't imagine anyone visiting Lansing for fun.

Providence is the biggest city in RI, but also kind of exists in the shadow of Boston. Unlike Lansing, though, Providence has a lot more going on on its own. Sure, a lot of that is from stuff that has been priced out of Boston, but you can wander around downtown Providence and find some amazing bars and restaurants, theaters, just a lot more fun. There are some sketchy areas, sure, but the better areas are a lot better than the better areas of Lansing. People do come to Providence for fun.

Besides having big state capitol buildings, I struggle to think of much else that Lansing and Providence have in common.

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msabeln@reddit

Jefferson City, Missouri was specifically carved out of the wilderness to be the state capital. It’s located near the center of the state, and as it predates modern transportation, its location on the Missouri River was important. It was possible to travel there from most of the state via boat.

It's intentional.

Capitals are intentionally in obscure cities. The point is to divide the seat of power away from economic interests and to be in a place that's politically neutral.

Sacramento's claim to fame really should be that it is the most racially integrated city in America. Plenty of other cities are as diverse as Sacramento, but Sacramento is one of the few cities in which the wealthiest neighborhoods are as diverse as the poorest neighborhoods.

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jstar77@reddit

Ours is in economic decline and slowly becoming a ghost town.

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spawnofangels@reddit

Not really. Annapolis is nice. Richmond is meh. Most people prefer to go to cities closer to DC in these states i.e. Bethesda and Arlington

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Accomplished_Mix7827@reddit

Topeka doesn't have the best reputation. It's pretty rundown and one of the rougher cities in Kansas (which, to be fair, its competition is, like, two real cities, a few KC suburbs, and the two college towns)

Most people don't care that much and don't go there except if they have business with the government or the nearby military base

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Vermontguy-338@reddit

Montpelier is the only one in the country without a McDonald’s. Another win for Vermont.

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night-ly-owl@reddit

Topeka, Kansas might be one of the worst capitals in the country. The capitol building and grounds are stunning, but the city is an impoverished, dangerous, crime-ridden cesspool with a really sad and overwhelming meth problem. I really have nothing positive to say about Topeka.

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Budsygus@reddit

In my state the capital is the biggest city by a good margin, as long as you include surrounding areas.

Taos?

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AgreeableCommission7@reddit

Santa Fe

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IAmBaconsaur@reddit

I mean, there isn't much else of a city in my state. It's a small city, but it's really spreading out with lots of suburban areas, but there's some cool stuff downtown. Does everyone need to go to Des Moines once in their life? No, but if you ever end up there, it's not nearly as boring as you'd expect it to be, you just need to look for things that align with your interests.

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iangeredcharlesvane2@reddit

Iowa is one of the few states that decided to move their capital as the needs of the state changed. Our famous state capital gold encrusted dome building is in Des Moines, our largest city and a very central location.

Iowa moved its capital from Iowa City to Des Moines in 1857 to better serve the state's westward-expanding population and to place the government in a more central, accessible location.

The relocation, completed via wagon!!, aimed to accommodate rapid agricultural growth and facilitate easier travel for legislators across the growing state.

Des Moines was selected for its central geographic location within the state. The 1857 constitutional convention formalized the move, while allowing the University of Iowa to remain in Iowa City as a consolation.

Mine is great. I live in one of these States, that has its largest city as its capital.

Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts,

Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, West Virginia, Wyoming

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Fangsong_37@reddit

Indianapolis was the mandated choice after it was determined that Corydon was not central enough. It has grown into a bustling city with plenty of attractions and the busiest roads in the state (I-465 bypasses the city in a large oval loop). I used to live there and would walk long distances or take the bus to get where I needed to go.

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CloudedLeopardDaemon@reddit

Of course we do. Making some random small town in the state's geographic centre the capital is a weird thing that only recently-founded states do.

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ramblinjd@reddit

South Carolina has three nearly coequal cities with the one in the geographic center being the capitol. It's a fine city. It's probably the least cultured of the three main candidates, but a decent compromise.

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huhwhat90@reddit

Montgomery is very hit or miss (mostly miss). There's a lot of interesting history in the area and the city is nice enough around downtown and the Capitol, but it can get sketchy fast. There are definitely better places to be in Alabama.

VanillaCavendish@reddit

I’d say most Americans don’t care much. States I’ve lived in: 1. Maryland. Annapolis isn’t a major city, but it has the Naval Academy in addition to state government. The state is small enough that it’s easy to reach Annapolis from the D.C. suburbs or Baltimore. 2. California. Sacramento is so far from Los Angeles that it might as well be on the moon. 3. Minnesota. St. Paul borders Minneapolis. You can walk there if you have enough time. 4. Nevada. Carson City is tiny and remote. 5. Pennsylvania. Harrisburg is pretty easy to get to from Philadelphia with frequent trains. 6. Ohio. Columbus is the state’s largest city, though Cleveland and Cincinnati have larger metro areas.

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MetroBS@reddit

I don’t even know how to describe Dover, Delaware to you.

The south side of the town is a massive Air Force base, the north side has multiple small college campuses. In between is a nice historical little town with a certain run down rustic charm. The area near the government buildings is very nice and well curated. The east side of town has a lot of businesses and commerce and the west kinda just fades into farmland.

Oh and there’s a huge nascar track too

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SukunasStan@reddit

My home state's capital is Trenton. Yuck

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blanknullvoidzero@reddit

Extremely suburbanized corporate tech bro hell run by christo-fascist oil barons and their cronies.

It was a kinda cool hippie vibe/college city 30 years ago, but that's dead and gone.

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No-Contact6664@reddit

This is what people who can't adapt think about Austin and it's not original or accurate.

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HistoryHustle@reddit

Austin is definitely not the biggest city in the state which has three MSAs in the top 10 — Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas. It does have an internationally known music scene, a very large university, and a recognized cultural vibe, unlike her larger metro sisters. It just has attracted a lot of folks in recent decades, which isn’t always welcome.

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No-Contact6664@reddit

In the US, capital cities were generally chosen. Stephen Austin found Waterloo and they made it the capital because it wasn't Houston. It's not supposed to be the largest city or have the museums and sports teams.

The city isn't run by oil barrons (the state is.)

It's not the end of the world, but you can see it from there. (Pierre, SD)

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largos7289@reddit

Trenton??? LOL don't go there without a shotgun. it's a dive.

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scylla@reddit

I live in my State Capital 😂 Austin is the 2nd largest state capital in the US ( after Atlanta where I had lived previously ) Its not just the state capital but a major tech-hub and has a massive university right in downtown.

https://www.beecreekphoto.com/images/xl/Austin-Skyline-with-Texas-Capital-Night-Pano-2025-DR69349.jpg

Olympia is... I guess just like most cities on the Puget Sound. It's a bit more upscale than Tacoma or Bremerton, and there are more lawyers. It does have a thriving punk rock scene.

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CountChoculasGhost@reddit

I’ve never been 🤷‍♂️

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thewayneman3@reddit

Obscure and far away. I’ve only set foot in my state capital once or twice.

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Quix66@reddit

Baton Rouge is now unfortunately the most populous parish after Hurricane Katrina happened to wipe out much of New Orleans.

The state government, industry, petrochemical, and two main state universities are our major sectors, not tourism as most important in New Orleans.

We have the tallest state capitol building in the US, a 34 story art deco skyscraper.

It’s a generally hot, humid, lush Southern city with lots of trees and flowers. Residents love their gardens here.

Winter is fairly brief and generally no colder than 28F, and that’s not that frequent. It’s common to have temps in the 70Fs or 80Fs during the winter. Snow is rare, with many years or decades between.

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Watson9483@reddit

I’m originally from Jefferson City, Missouri. I love it because it’s my hometown, but it’s pretty boring. There’s a cute downtown, and some good restaurants here and there. A huge percentage of people that live there work for the state. It’s home to Lincoln University, which was the first black university in the state. Columbia is not far away and has more going on.

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CousinBarnabas1967@reddit

Santa Fe, New Mexico is the oldest city that is a state capitol in the USA, conversely it has the newest capitol building in the USA

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Finndogs@reddit

Well, I live in Springfield, so I like it. About the size I desire and usually has something to do.

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Mysterious-Meat7712@reddit

Boise is one of the few state capitals that is also the largest city.

Rhode Island is the smallest state, and so it's dominated by its state capital and largest city, Providence. If you' live in Rhode Island, you either live in Providence or a suburb of Providence.

Providence itself is a cool little city. It's chock full of colleges and universities. It has a great art scene, a great food scene, an LGBT+ community that punches far above its weight and some great parks and public spaces. It's not a bad place to be at all.

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quietly_annoying@reddit

St Paul is the quieter twin when compared to its sister Minneapolis, but it has beautiful parks and pleasant neighborhoods.

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wbishopfbi@reddit

I live in mine (Atlanta), and I mostly like it. Lived in the suburbs for many years and prefer the city.

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Grouchy_Tower_1615@reddit

It's definitely a different town for sure it isn't the original capital of Iowa that was Iowa city.

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PaulaAna@reddit

Sacramento is absolutely not the first city that comes to mind if you think California (Mostly likely it's gonna be Los Angeles or San Fransisco)

Awdayshus@reddit

It's the second biggest city in the state, and it shares a border with the biggest. Saint Paul is the capital and Minneapolis is the bigger city. Collectively, they are known as The Twin Cities to people all over the country. Regionally, they are "The Cities."

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gardengrowsgreen@reddit

Our state capitol is also our largest city and probably the only city most people who are unfamiliar with Utah can name.

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Sad-Corner-9972@reddit

*Theocracy is the exception amongst US states

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DogsBikesAndMovies@reddit

When Washington state was being formed, there was a debate as to which city would be the capital and which would get the pulic university (University of Washington). Olympia thought they won by getting the capital. Nope, Seattle won. Olympia isn't bad, but it isn't even close to being as lively and fun as Seattle.

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SheenPSU@reddit

I mean, the largest city and the capital (3rd largest city) are 20 mins from eachother and aren’t that much different

NH is very small so even our biggest city is pretty small

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LongjumpingEchidna25@reddit

Indianapolis is a car city, famous for the Indy 500 and Gen Con. The city has been making improvements to pedestrian infrastructure and public transportation, but it's still not great. However there are some good urban trails that run through the city. The city is very spread out and low density. Plenty of good food and diversity. We are the headquarters for Eli Lily, which produces tirzepatide and other pharmaceuticals. The suburbs around the city are growing rapidly. One of the city's nicknames is Circle City due to the circular plaza at the center of the city.

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Consistent_Post_2558@reddit

If we care about our state capitals, it’s usually because the place itself is nice/interesting rather than caring specifically because it’s the capital city. Though some of the state capitals are quite nice… but that’s not something you typically visit except as a child or if have some explicit purpose for going to the capital.

Right now I live in Virginia - I like Richmond because it’s a fun artsy city that has a different vibe than the DC area (where I live) and it has a good metal scene.

I used to live in Maryland, I went to Annapolis pretty often - literally never saw the state house. We would always go for fresh blue crabs or oysters - it’s a cute town with lots of walkable areas and good seafood.

I grew up in Austin, Texas… so obviously I care about Austin since I’m from there. It’s also home to one of the largest universities in the US, has a reputation for live music and had a fun/artsy vibe (which is slowly fading away) - it’s also a center of a lot of the high tech industry outside of California.

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Junkley@reddit

Depends on the state. Some state capitals(Ex: Phoenix, AZ and Denver, CO) are the biggest and most important cities in their state and as a result are cared about a ton by state residents.

There are other states that have significantly large state capitals but they are overtaken in relevance by another(usually larger) metro area. Think Sacramento, St Paul, Columbus and Austin. These are in the middle as they are important to many still and have a big amount of cultural relevance within the state.

Then at the bottom of the spectrum there are the state capitals that are small and significantly dwarfed by other cities in their state and have almost zero relevance outside of state government. Places like Pierre, Montpellier, Frankfort and Juneau and Jefferson City.

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MakeStupidHurtAgain@reddit

I grew up in New Jersey, where Trenton is the capital. In the entire time I lived there, I went there once, for a football playoff game. We got there, got off the buses, played, got on the buses, and left.

It doesn’t have a good reputation at all and no one I know goes there for any reason. I don’t live in NJ now but I kind of wonder how much of the reputation is suburban folks scared of cities, and how much is deserved.

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cinnamongirl73@reddit

Annapolis has a lot to offer. Restaurants on the water, shops, etc. but I’ve never been a fan. I always just go to Baltimore. It’s bigger, it has some awesome historical stuff (the bar that Edgar Allen Poe was last seen in-still there-still named The Horse You Rode In On-stuff like that). They have water taxis, paddle boats, booze cruises. The aquarium, etc., it just seems like there’s more to do in Baltimore. Oh, duh. I’m from Maryland, since I just dove right into it. 😂😂😂

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Lab-Rat-6100@reddit

It makes sense to have the state government center separate from the big industrial or business hubs. Real estate and other costs are lower easing burden on taxpayers.

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jakerooni@reddit

Frankfort is boring and everyone who goes there complains about the roads being difficult to navigate.

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Bastyra2016@reddit

I don’t think about it much. We had to memorize each states capital in the 5 th grade. That’s probably the last time I considered the topic

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Judgy-Introvert@reddit

I know where our state capital is. I don’t make a point of visiting it as it is a good distance away from where I live. I think I’ve only been there once.

Austin's motto is "keep Austin weird".

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Pemminpro@reddit

Dovers a hole

Basically the only attractions are really the autoracing track, a casino, and acouple of museums...and I guess the airbase but thats not in the city proper.

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lacaras21@reddit

Madison is generally regarded as one of the most livable cities in the entire country. A lot of great urbanism and a lively community that cares about their city and neighbors, not to mention the Capitol itself is beautiful, the dome on it, while slightly shorter than the Capitol in DC is larger by volume.

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Pemminpro@reddit

Dovers a hole

Dio_Yuji@reddit

We have a quaint downtown that is bustling at lunch, but dead by 9:00 PM, with the exception of some weekends when there are festivals. We have a large flagship university too. The old neighborhoods are great. Beautiful, tree-lined streets, great restaurants, parks, etc.

But….

In the 1960s there was desegregation and the construction of the interstate system, which went right through town. Black folks with money fled the city for the suburbs, as did all the whites who were scared of blacks moving in to the neighborhood. The result was urban decay that we’ve never recovered from. We’re high in crime, poverty, and more segregated than ever. And ever since the interstate was built, we’ve become so auto-centric, that we rank high in terms of traffic congestion, crashes, roadway deaths, road rag, etc. Most new development is on the edge of town in wetlands and flood zones. We had a massive flood ten years ago that we learned nothing from.

All in all, it’s still a fun place to live, but we seem to be on a downward trajectory that feels inevitable

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onacloverifalive@reddit

Unless it’s also a major city, no, American’s don’t give much special priority to state capitals. We do memorize all the state capitals in grade school, though.

I'm originally from New York and lived in Albany for a year. It's nice. The State Museum is cool.

I currently live in Atlanta. It's not my favorite place in the world, but there are some great people and things here.

It's kind of neat being so close to your legislators - gives you a tad more influence and understanding of processes of governance.

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Duque_de_Osuna@reddit

We do not. A lot of state capitals were picked for being centrally located before cars. I live in Pennsylvania and the capital is Harrisburg. It’s not a large town but it’s in the middle of the state.

ATLDeepCreeker@reddit

"Care" in what way? The Capitol city is just the seat of government.

Do you mean do we have pride in our state capitals? I guess some do, because its a nice or pretty city.

AnchBusFairy@reddit

Yes, because it's where you go to petition your state government.

My state (Alaska) capital is Juneau. I enjoy visiting the place even though it takes an airplane flight to get there. it's a wonderful town with a lot of atmosphere (yes, the atmosphere is often rain) The lodging there is funky. It's an Alaskan thing to be functional and clean but not fancy and maybe a bit worn. Yes, it's expensive. Expensive funky lodging.

Well the heroin phase of the 00s seems to have mostly faded. Unfortunately the meth phase from the 10s is still going strong. Its also a great place to get shot, mugged, though to be fair you're far more likely to be a victim of a less serious crime, usually involving theft. RE: Meth capital.

Theres parts of it that are really nice. Just normal people don't live in those parts. Its not the biggest city though the sprawl from the two biggest cities are slowly absorbing it so we'll see.

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OPsDaddy@reddit

I had to look this up, but in terms of city population, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It might be best known for Three Mile Island, which is actually in a neighboring town.

Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are the most important cities in Pennsylvania. Harrisburg isn’t even the cultural epicenter of the region, that’s Lancaster. It is kind of a suburban hell.

It was also mentioned in The Clash song Clampdown!

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da_Doctah@reddit

Since I live in what is both the capital and largest city in my state (and in fact the largest state capital in the country) I'd have to say it's just like every other city in the state but bigger, or it's like every other city above a certain size.

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HoldOnHelden@reddit

I live in Washington DC. I don’t have a state, but my city is every state’s capital. ;)