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Hypothetical: FL's Capital Leaving Tallahassee


bic

Which city should become the new capital of Florida?  

68 members have voted

  1. 1. Which city should become the new capital of Florida?

    • Miami
      5
    • Ft. Lauderdale
      0
    • Tampa
      10
    • St. Petersburg
      0
    • Orlando
      30
    • Jacksonville
      15
    • Lakeland
      3
    • St. Augustine
      3


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When I was younger, I always wondered why Tallahassee was the capital of Florida when there were so many other larger cities in the state. Not only that, but many people outside of the Sunshine State haven't heard much about the city, don't know how to spell, and certainly couldn't pinpoint it on a map. In the company of state capitals that are far lesser known than other cities in their respective states, Tallahassee sort of joins the ranks of Carson City (NV), Salem (OR), Springfield (IL), Jefferson City (MO), Lansing (MI), etc. This is not meant to be a slight to Tallahassee or any of the other cities listed above, but with with a number of significantly larger and more popular destination cities in the state, it kinda makes people wonder why T-Town is the seat of government in one of the nation's most influential states.

For those curious as to why the Tallahassee site was picked, click here to see the explanation given by Wikipedia. To summarize, basically Tallahassee was chosen because it was roughly midway between the two largest cities in the territory of Florida at the time, Pensacola and St. Augustine.

So let's say that Jeb Bush has decided that it's time to relocate the state capital and he wants to hear from voters as to where to place it. Here are the choices on the ballot and why they deserve to be the capital:

Miami - The largest city in Florida; major domestic and international business and cultural center.

Ft. Lauderdale - One of the state's largest cities; near the geographic center of the Miami-Palm Beach metro area.

Tampa - One of the state's largest cities; center of Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area and within 100 mile radius of a major portion of the state's population.

St. Petersburg - Another one of the state's largest cities; just another possible location if the capital were to relocate to the Tampa metro area.

Orlando - One of the state's fastest growing cities; central geographic location allows easy access to rest of state.

Jacksonville - One of the largest cities in the state.

Lakeland - Despite being smaller than some of the other cities listed, it has a very desirable location being between the Tampa-St. Pete and greater Orlando metro areas.

St. Augustine - Added to the ballot for the "throwback" factor. Perhaps the capital should move to Florida's oldest city which also happens to be in a decent location between Jacksonville, Daytona, and Orlando.

I apologize if your city is not on the ballot, but I wanted to limit it to what I felt were the most realistic options and also to reduce the number of choices.

I am usually not a fan of polls, as the results are mostly skewed by "homers," so I respectfully ask that you do not vote for your home city.

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Since I couldn't vote for Orlando :) , I voted for Tampa. I did so because it's the seat of the state's second-largest metro area, has a great location in the center of the state, and I didn't think it would be a great idea to have it in Miami. In the interest of having a nonpartisan government, I didn't choose Miami because 1) it's geographically removed from the rest of the state and 2) so politically and culturally removed from the rest of the state. But don't get me wrong, Miami is my favorite city in the state.

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THIS IS A STUPID POLL. moving a state capital? tallahassee has everything neccissary to provide for our state. why would you want the capital in a highly populated city. I think this poll should be removed. There is too much history to think about moving it. It is 2005, mayeb a hundred years ago, other cities might have had a chance, but we are keeping the capital.

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yes polls in which you don't agree should be removed

peoples actions with which you don't agree with should be made illegal

forums and free spech should be banned

ok. i'm done having fun with that. :ph34r:

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Lakeland was my first thought and my answer matches Lakelanders. Spread the wealth.

If you really want to make the Tallahassee contingent mad, move it to Gainesville, my 2nd choice.

My 3rd choice is Key West. Lawmakes will either never find it, or end up passed out on Duval Street. Either way, they'll stop writing so many stupid laws.

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Let's look at it from this point of view... should a Capital City be its state's largest city? That's a question for you to debate within yourself. The function Tallahassee serves as a capital city has nothing to do with its size nor it's national popularity. What matters is that everyone in Florida knows where the buck stops.

Look around this nation, specifically at its 4 largest states, California, Texas, New York and Florida. In each of those states are capital cities that are second tier to other major US cities. Sacremento takes a back seat to LA, and San Fran, Austin has to face Dallas and Houston, Albany hides behind NYC which in itself is a nightmare to be compared to... so why should we challenege Tallahassee's position as a Capitol especially considering it has served this state so well throughout its existence.

If Tallahassee looses its status as capitol the people of this community and throughout the state will loose tremendously. With government seated here it is protected as it was designed to be, from invasion and devistating weather. Not only this, but the greatest asset we offer to the people of Florida is our hospitable population, who go to work day by day to ensure quality of life in Florida remains a bragging point. From infrastructure to healthcare Floridians can be proud of the fact that it has a Capital City hell bent on doing more for other cities than it does for itself.

There are other documented reasons leaders settled Tallahassee as state capitol other than the "Great Compromise" legend. Tallahassee was and still is home to some of this states most pristene natural landscapes and rolling hills.

I think this discussion only illuminates how far we have to go to get to the point where citizens don't covet the seat of government, but respect the good work it is doing for them. Tallahassee has been good to this state, and despite the fact its not Florida's largest city, it is the city in Florida with the largest heart.

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1st amendment rights... wow! never thuoght your first post would ruin your day, huh bic. Growing up in tallahassee is a minor reason for my opinion, but I do like the way you propsed the "no home town" voting suggestion. i think that St. Augistine had the best chance.

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Omg! I leave for one week and come back to people talking crazy! I can't even imagine Tallahassee losing it's position as capital city of Florida, but if I were to chose an alternate just in case the city was bombed or something I would choose St.Augustine the oldest city in america. By saying Florida's Capital Leaving Tallahassee is just like saying Quincy, Florida hosting the 2012 Olympics. That will be the day :rofl:

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Im sorry, im guilty of chosing my hometown,..

I just feel that having the state capital in the largest city (metropolitan speaking)

gives the capital more recognition it seems, because do you really know the capital of Pennsylvania?

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Well Tallahassee isn't that small. A lot of people heard of Tallahassee. It's not a Miami or Orlando, but we still are known. I understand this thread is all fun and games but if Tallahassee wasn't my hometown I probaly would choose the city I was currently residing in.

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