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I'm not American, and I am from Europe, so maybe the question might sound silly to some.
Still, can someone explain why big cities like Los Angeles (or SF), New York City, Chicago, Miami, Philly, Seattle aren't capitals in their respective states ?
Why is Washington, DC the US capital and not New York ?
In Europe and in most countries, the capital is the most important city. In the US and in the New World in general, it seems that people tried to do the exact opposite.
An explanation ?
And do you think it is better that way ? What would be different if NYC was still the capital of the US ?
It has to do with migration and subsequent population growth. Florida for example has it's capital city as Tallahassee in the extreme northern section of the state because much of the state was uninhabitable when Florida became a state in 1845. The same applies for most of the states outside the original 13 colonies.
There are some major cities that are state capitals...Atlanta, Denver, and Phoenix. There are others that are large regional cities like Indianapolis, Columbus, and Austin. I would say that a state capital often has a central location for access to the entire state. They are not meant to necessarily be the largest city, but to be an administrative center. The state capitals that are major cities didn't start out that way, but developed as such over several decades.
When Washington D.C. was chosen as the capital of the U.S. there were several large cities they could have chosen (Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Charleston, etc). They chose to build a brand new city that was (at the time) in a more central location for the entire country. There are many countries that have chosen to do the same, including Australia and Brazil.
Last edited by JoeTarheel; 02-01-2014 at 02:12 PM..
I would say it has more to do with location. Rarely do you find a capital city on the border of a state but rather in the middle. Another reason maybe political influence from a certain party or person to lure the capital to a specific location. Another thought is that maybe a capital is selected in reference to potential economic development. If a city appears to have the capacity of becoming a major city, then a government might select a certain city.
I personally like to see smaller cities as capitals. When a larger city has the capital the capital doesn't have the same presence. Examples: Boston, Atlanta, Denver, and Indianapolis.
OK so people wanted the capital to be central, I see that now, and indeed DC was central at the time and still is sort of between the North and the South.
But don't you find it a bit odd that politicians are in DC and the press is based in NYC ?
And do you think it the country as a whole benefited from NYC not being the US capital ?
OK so people wanted the capital to be central, I see that now, and indeed DC was central at the time and still is sort of between the North and the South.
But don't you find it a bit odd that politicians are in DC and the press is based in NYC ?
And do you think it the country as a whole benefited from NYC not being the US capital ?
The press is based in NYC? Maybe the ownership, but the function of the press does get localized.
And yes, I do think the country benefit greatly from NYC not being US capital. I take it you don't realize DC is not a state nor a part of one?
OK so people wanted the capital to be central, I see that now, and indeed DC was central at the time and still is sort of between the North and the South.
But don't you find it a bit odd that politicians are in DC and the press is based in NYC ?
And do you think it the country as a whole benefited from NYC not being the US capital ?
The thing about DC being the capital is that at the time the federal government did not want any one state to have the capital because that would be unfair. So the District of Columbia was designated and Washington was in its own state "sort of". I think the nation benefited because if the capital was NYC, then NYC would probably not have developed into the urban center that it is today. DC was a much better solution because it allowed for a city to form based solely off the government and allow other bigger cities to establish an identity for themselves. Very American like!
The press is based in NYC? Maybe the ownership, but the function of the press does get localized.
And yes, I do think the country benefit greatly from NYC not being US capital. I take it you don't realize DC is not a state nor a part of one?
No I know that, not sure why you ask. And what I meant about the press is that nationwide newspapers are based in NYC (NY Times, WSJ), and also news channels. I just think it'd be more convenient for the press in general if politicians were in New York. But that was just a thought, of course they have journalists in DC and everywhere in the country.
The thing about DC being the capital is that at the time the federal government did not want any one state to have the capital because that would be unfair. So the District of Columbia was designated and Washington was in its own state "sort of". I think the nation benefited because if the capital was NYC, then NYC would probably not have developed into the urban center that it is today. DC was a much better solution because it allowed for a city to form based solely off the government and allow other bigger cities to establish an identity for themselves. Very American like!
Ok good response, but I don't see why NYC wouldn't have developed into a big urban center as it is today, because Paris or London did develop into big urban cities and the fact that they are capitals surely helped a lot.
Also New York could have been transformed into a federal district. Why not ? The City has (and had) nothing to do with the rest of the state anyway
Many times US Capitals are put in the middle of population centers of the state in order to seem fair to all people within the state. Then you have some states that put their capital where majority of the people moved in the beginning of the state's history (California,Nevada, Florida, Massachusetts)
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