What would the state capitals be if all were at the center of their states?

[kirbykart]

Inspired by discussion I started on the US City Game thread. If you find any improvements or additions to this incomplete list, let me know!

New York-Syracuse
Alaska-Yukon River?
Kansas-Salina (honestly that's probably not great, would Hutchinson be any better?)
Utah-Provo
California- Tough one, Sacramento is sorta central but Fresno I think is a bit more central geographically. (Unless its farther south than I remember)
Colorado- Many people don't realize that Colorado Springs is more geographically central than too-far-north Denver.
Florida-Orlando probably
Georgia-Macon
Virginia-how about Appomattox (Lynchburg or Charlottesville could work)
Nevada- Very hard, as Ely is too far east and Tonopah is too far south. I found a tiny place called Austin that seems pretty central, unfortunately it has a population of under 200.
I'll finish later.

[texaskdog]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_geographic_centers_of_the_United_States#:~:text=Geographic%20centers%20of%20the%20states%20of%20the%20United,%20%20%20%2016%20more%20rows%20

[JoePCool14]

Illinois' current capital is already close to the geographic center, off by only about 4 miles.

[formulanone]

Alabama's geographic center point is a little east of Montevallo.

Calera is the next-closest town to that point; it's slightly larger in size, and already strategically located on I-65.

[roadman65]

Didn't we do this one before? 

[TheHighwayMan3561]

The closest regional center to MN's center is Baxter/Brainerd, but I would go with St. Cloud as more centrally located and better served by transportation for this exercise.

[JayhawkCO]

I think if we're going to do this exercise, it should be "closest city to the geographic center that could feasibly be capital", not just "oh, here's a town of 10,000 people that's close". The OP had several good examples (Colorado Springs instead of something like Buena Vista).

Some others:
New Mexico - Albuquerque
Alaska - Fairbanks (much better option than Yukon River)
Minnesota - St. Cloud
Maine - Bangor
North Carolina - Greensboro
Oregon - Bend
Nebraska - Kearney/North Platte
Massachusetts - Worcester

[NWI_Irish96]

I think if we're going to do this exercise, it should be "closest city to the geographic center that could feasibly be capital", not just "oh, here's a town of 10,000 people that's close". The OP had several good examples (Colorado Springs instead of something like Buena Vista).

Some others:
New Mexico - Albuquerque
Alaska - Fairbanks (much better option than Yukon River)
Minnesota - St. Cloud
Maine - Bangor
North Carolina - Greensboro
Oregon - Bend
Nebraska - Kearney/North Platte
Massachusetts - Worcester

I agree, because in Indiana, Avon is the geographic center but that's < 20 miles from downtown Indy so there would be no reason to have the capital in Avon.

[thspfc]

Wausau (pop. 40k) is at the center of WI geographically, but there's not many people to the north of it, and far more people to the southeast than the southwest. I think Fond du Lac would be more logical as a central location, but it's not near the geographical center.

[NWI_Irish96]

I think if you were going to select ideal locations for state capitals, you'd take perhaps the midpoint of the geographic and population centers.

[bing101]

Inspired by discussion I started on the US City Game thread. If you find any improvements or additions to this incomplete list, let me know!

New York-Syracuse
Alaska-Yukon River?
Kansas-Salina (honestly that's probably not great, would Hutchinson be any better?)
Utah-Provo
California- Tough one, Sacramento is sorta central but Fresno I think is a bit more central geographically. (Unless its farther south than I remember)
Colorado- Many people don't realize that Colorado Springs is more geographically central than too-far-north Denver.
Florida-Orlando probably
Georgia-Macon
Virginia-how about Appomattox (Lynchburg or Charlottesville could work)
Nevada- Very hard, as Ely is too far east and Tonopah is too far south. I found a tiny place called Austin that seems pretty central, unfortunately it has a population of under 200.
I'll finish later.

I would have guessed Merced for the California one. 

[roadman65]

Where would New Jersey's geographic center be? Six Flags in  Jackson?

[GaryV]

I guessed that Michigan's geographic center might have been offshore. Per the Wikipedia link, it is near Cadillac.

The capital was moved out of Detroit to a more central location. Marshall and Lansing were both contenders. Lansing won - whether entirely through merit of being closer to a north/south middle or because of other considerations.

[kphoger]

Kansas-Salina (honestly that's probably not great, would Hutchinson be any better?)

What's wrong with Salina?  I mean, other than it being kind of a lousy town..

[Bruce]

Washington's geographic center is near Cashmere but the more feasible spot for a capital would be Wenatchee a few miles southeast. Still not large enough to really support all the functions of government, but manageable. Ellensburg (further south) was a candidate for the capital in the 1880s and into 1890, but lost their bid in a referendum. The fire didn't help.

Of course, since most Washingtonians live west of the Cascades (5.7 million on the I-5 corridor alone), having a capital there makes far more sense. According to The Hill, Washington's center of population is a lake in the Cascade foothills that is part of Seattle's drinking water source. Head a bit further west and you'd have your pick of Maple Valley, Kent, or SeaTac (a capital in an aerotropolis does sound interesting).

[texaskdog]

Kansas-Salina (honestly that's probably not great, would Hutchinson be any better?)

What's wrong with Salina?  I mean, other than it being kind of a lousy town..

Home of Tony's Pizza!

[jp the roadgeek]

CT: Berlin (more specifically, East Berlin.  New Britain would be a better option.)
RI: (West) Warwick
NH: Plymouth (Ashland is the actual, but Plymouth is the closest significant town)
VT: Montpelier is close enough to Roxbury, the actual location
PA: Bellefonte
DE: Felton
MD: Davidsonville

[TheHighwayMan3561]

MN's center of population is in Rogers, which is a third-ring suburb of Minneapolis in northwestern Hennepin County. It's experienced rapid growth in the last 20 years.

[Scott5114]

Oklahoma's geographic center is in the middle of Kelley Avenue, just south of NE 120th Street, in Oklahoma City. (Route 66 used to run directly over the spot.) The state capitol building is 6.8 miles south of there. Can't get much closer than that.

The center of population is, as you'd expect it to be, between OKC and Tulsa. It's near Sparks, a town of less than 200 people. Chandler isn't too far nearby, if you wanted the capital to at least be a county seat.

[skluth]

Wausau (pop. 40k) is at the center of WI geographically, but there's not many people to the north of it, and far more people to the southeast than the southwest. I think Fond du Lac would be more logical as a central location, but it's not near the geographical center.

It's technically just south of Marshfield according to the link above, but the center is almost as close to Wisconsin Rapids and Stevens Point. Personally, I'd move the capital to Point as it already has a university, is on the interstate system, and - like Madison - is home to an insurance company (Sentry vs American Family). Maybe this would be enough to complete the US 10 expressway west of Esker.

[ibthebigd]

Casper for Wyoming?

SM-G996U

[kphoger]

How about Hawaii?  Stay the same?  Different island?

[gonealookin]

Nevada has 42 Assembly districts.  30 are entirely in Clark County, 6 entirely in Washoe County and 6 cover the rest of the state.

The population center is not far northwest of Las Vegas.  How about putting the capital at the Nevada Test Site in Mercury?

[Quillz]

Madeira makes sense for California. On CA-99 and close to the 41 and 152.

[bassoon1986]

Louisiana's geographic center- near Marksville

Population center- New Roads

It's well known here but just amazing that majority of Louisiana's population is either below I-10/I-12 or just east of the Mississippi River.


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