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Hypothetical: FL's Capital Leaving Tallahassee


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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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If anyone cares about the history, Tallahassee was chosen for the same reason many post-colonial capitals in the Western Hemisphere were chosen: midway between the two largest (rival) cities of a state or nation. At the time, virtually nothing but the Florida panhandle was populated by anyone but Native Americans. To put the capital in either St. Augustine or Pensacola would have caused mass grievance from the other, and as each of these dominated territorial/state assembly, that would have created long-term political problems.

Other compromise capitals are Jefferson City, Columbus (Ohio, which has emerged in the New Economy years as the most prosperous city in the state) Canberra, Ottawa and, to an extent, Washington, DC. It's a modern practice and has helped to keep the location of the state (or national) capital from meaning anything much in an economic or cultural sense. This has led to the creation of places like Islamabad and Brasilia.

That said, sometimes it is counterproductive for the capital to remain in its original location, especially if the cost of government doing business for the entire state becomes unreasonably high in that location. Capital cities tend to develop cultural institutions and service economies that would suffer if the seat of government were to leave, but in many states (including Florida, where the center of population has shifted onto the peninsula) I think a new capital would make more sense. My personal choice would be Tampa: good statewide transportation links, representative of the ends of Florida's political spectrum, a fairly robust economy. It just seems more 'Florida' to me than anywhere else, probably because it has more history and ties to Deep South Florida than Miami but remains a city greatly transformed by Florida's population increase since World War II. Tallahassee is all Deep South.

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I made that spliting the state joke like last week, i come back and there is a new poll with maps, and several mentions all over. What the heck. Central to the population... what a load. the only real benefiet would be the cost of traveling expenses for representatives in government. And maybe if they flew coach we could build a new school with the money saved (since everyone loves sarcasm here ;) )

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According to this, Pensacola was too far west and St. Augustine was too far east when the Tallahassee site for the capitol was selected in 1824. I would wager that if a new site was chosen from scratch today, Tallahassee would have virtually no shot at being chosen as the capital over the state's major cities.

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I dont see why Orlando is leading, I like orlando and enjoy visting but its just too "fake feeling" to be the capitol. i mean sure it gets a lot of visitors but its not as florida as tampa, miami, or jax. i mean the centralized location is nice its just the atmosphere of it doesnt make much sense for a capitol. just my thoughts.

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I dont see why Orlando is leading, I like orlando and enjoy visting but its just too "fake feeling" to be the capitol. i mean sure it gets a lot of visitors but its not as florida as tampa, miami, or jax.  i mean the centralized location is nice its just the atmosphere of it doesnt make much sense for a capitol.  just my thoughts.

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:w00t::ph34r:

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And let me guess, Jax has the perfect atmosphere for a capital, huh? There's absolutely nothing "fake feeling" about the City of Orlando. Walt Disney World isn't one of the location options. As far as not being as "Florida" as the other cities.... Jax is more Alabama than anything else.

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I sure couldn't tell from the 20+ years I stayed in Central Florida. I thought the same before moving to Jax 2 years ago and after getting to know the area, its not that different than the Orlando or Tampa regions, cultural-wise. The only difference that really stands out is the local economic engines.

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i wasnt boosting Jax, all i was saying is i think other cities are more commendable to be the capital. and by fake feeling i meant the architecture. not the downtown skyscrapers but further west as soon as you get off 1-4 everything has a cheapy decor. thats what i meant. i think miami would be the most suitable because of its well known name and size.

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Regardless of Orlando's "touristy feeling", I feel that it would be the best city to locate the state's capital. Geographically, it is almost dead center of the state! It has connections to North Florida (the more "Southern" part of the state) and South Florida...it also has a heavily traveled international airport, making it almost the official hub. Culturally, it combines all parts of the state.

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Many years ago, there was a movement to move the capitol to Orlando. This actually made it to the FL house/senate I believe -- if anyone's bored they can research this.

I think Gainesville would make a nice choice. Removed enough from the cities and home to our flagship university.

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I also voted Orlando. If you have ever looked at a map, you will see that every single capital, with one or two exceptions, is in the middle of the state. That's why I think Orlando would make the best candidate. Easy access to and from everywhere else, and, like someone said earlier, the capital building won't be blown over ten times a year like it would in other cities. That's just my opinion, though.

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