What if New York was still the Capital? (neighborhoods, schools)

[Mhundred]

New York city was the original capital of the US at the time of the treaty of paris. It was only for a brief period however.

What do you think things would have been or would be like now had new york remained the nations capital. It would reflect sort of the old world tradition of having your most populous city serve as the capital i.e London, France.

Do you think it was a good decision that the US's economic capital and political capital remained separate?

[jayp1188]

I'm glad New York isn't the capital of the US. New York is already the economic and cultural capital, if it were also the political capital, I think this city would just have too much power and in a country this large, I don't think any city should be that dominant. Although, I've always thought Boston or Philadelphia would've made for a better US capital due to their history and involvement in creating this country. Though, if DC was never the capital, that city would not exist and we'd have one less great city in our country's already relatively short list of great cities, so I guess I'm glad DC is the capital.

[ja1myn]

Originally Posted by jayp1188

I'm glad New York isn't the capital of the US. New York is already the economic and cultural capital, if it were also the political capital, I think this city would just have too much power and in a country this large, I don't think any city should be that dominant. Although, I've always thought Boston or Philadelphia would've made for a better US capital due to their history and involvement in creating this country. Though, if DC was never the capital, that city would not exist and we'd have one less great city in our country's already relatively short list of great cities, so I guess I'm glad DC is the capital.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by jayp1188

I'm glad New York isn't the capital of the US. New York is already the economic and cultural capital, if it were also the political capital, I think this city would just have too much power and in a country this large, I don't think any city should be that dominant. Although, I've always thought Boston or Philadelphia would've made for a better US capital due to their history and involvement in creating this country. Though, if DC was never the capital, that city would not exist and we'd have one less great city in our country's already relatively short list of great cities, so I guess I'm glad DC is the capital.

Good post.

Another thing to take into account is that the landscape of New York might be very different if it was the capitol. At the time in the 18th Century, New York was basically just the tip of Manhattan(and Brooklyn was a separate city until the 1890s)--so logically they would've most likely built most early federal government buildings and complexes in lower Manhattan--which would've significantly altered the landscape with more low-lying yet prominent development that you couldn't just demolish to replace with skyscrapers later in history(unlike tearing down old tenements and brick buildings). Who knows how this would affected the future development of Manhattan and the other boroughs. Personally, I like New York the way it turned out today.

[Chava61]

Originally Posted by jayp1188

I'm glad New York isn't the capital of the US. New York is already the economic and cultural capital, if it were also the political capital, I think this city would just have too much power and in a country this large, I don't think any city should be that dominant. Although, I've always thought Boston or Philadelphia would've made for a better US capital due to their history and involvement in creating this country. Though, if DC was never the capital, that city would not exist and we'd have one less great city in our country's already relatively short list of great cities, so I guess I'm glad DC is the capital.

Philadelphia was (also) the capital of the USA during Revolutionary War period before NYC was the capital!

At this point in time, one can say that NYC is the unofficial capital of the world/planet Earth.

Washington, D.C. was built so the capital of the USA would be a separate entity and not be part of any of the individual states.

[BMORE]

Originally Posted by jayp1188

I'm glad New York isn't the capital of the US. New York is already the economic and cultural capital, if it were also the political capital, I think this city would just have too much power and in a country this large, I don't think any city should be that dominant. Although, I've always thought Boston or Philadelphia would've made for a better US capital due to their history and involvement in creating this country. Though, if DC was never the capital, that city would not exist and we'd have one less great city in our country's already relatively short list of great cities, so I guess I'm glad DC is the capital.

+1.

NYC would surpass any city on the globe by a far margin if it were the capital. I do believe if DC weren't capital, the current land area would just be surburbs of Baltimore and Baltimore would be a lot larger.

Was Boston ever the capital of the US? I know NYC, Philly, Annapolis, Baltimore, and Harrisburg were.

[8loody]

Would remind me of Coruscant from star wars Lol

[BMORE]

Lol seeing your post made me think, what if Chicago were the capital? Would it probably surpass NYC in some terms?

[1greatcity]

I like the fact that America's capital city and largest city are separate places. Nations where one city dominates on all levels- like London, UK, and Tokyo, Japan-- create too much focus on that one city and not enough on the rest of the country.

[Surfside__]

Pros an cons to suburbs.

Cons
-Everything closes early
-Dont have all the city amenities
-Too sterile
-Too Boring
-No character
-They all look the same

Pros
Great schools
Nice neighborhoods
Family oriented
Safe