How would you rate your state capital?

[cpzilliacus]

Annapolis, Maryland:

    Location (0-10 points) - 10 (on the Chesapeake Bay, has (sometimes congested) freeway connections to Baltimore and Washington, D.C.)
    Aesthetics (0-10 points) - 10 (as quaint as can be)
    Opportunities (0-10 points) -
        Public School System (0-5 points) 5 Anne Arundel Co. public schools are some of the best in the state
        Employment Opportunities (0-5 points) 3.5 not so much in the city
                                                                       (most state offices are not in Annapolis), but plenty if you
                                                                         want to drive or take the bus to D.C. or to Fort Meade
    Safety (0-10 points) -
        Blight1 (0-5 points) -  3 (some blighted public housing in the city)
        Crime2 (0-5 points) -  4 (most crime in the city seems to be in the housing projects, otherwise pretty safe)
    Public Perception (0-10 points) -
    Landmarks (0-10 points) - 10 (oldest state capitol building in use, the Naval Academy, plenty of quaintness, the Bay and the Bay Bridge (nearby))
    Tourism (0-10 points) - 10
    Transportation Network (0-10 points) - 8 (some congested spots,
                                                                 and a few city streets are (IMO) dangerously and badly designed)
    Environment (0-10 points) - 7 (Bay's health needs a lot of improving)
    Future (0-10 points) - 9 (IMO, the state capitol and the Naval Academy will always be there)

[RG407]

Tallahassee

2/10- Location- Given where it is at being in the Panhandle of the State, and not at all on the main peninsula, it is way off center.

10/10 Popularity- Given it is much as a college town as much as a government seat for our fine state, FSU is a well known college with good athletic teams so it is pretty much known throughout our country.

I'll try to expand on this...

   
• Location (0-10 points) - 2/10: Back when Tallahassee was named the capital it was about halfway between the big population centers in Jacksonville and Pensacola.  The peninsula was mostly unpopulated.
• Aesthetics (0-10 points) - 7/10: Tallahassee doesn't really look like what the average person thinks Florida would look like, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
• Opportunities (0-10 points) - 7/10: I'm just throwing out a number here.  I don't really know what the schools or job market are like.  But it seemed to handle the recession better than the bigger cities in the state.
• Safety (0-10 points) - 7/10: Again, taking another guess here.  Tallahassee doesn't seem to have the more sensational crimes that happen in Florida's bigger cites.
• Public Perception (0-10 points) - 6/10: FSU fans love Tallahassee.  Everyone else doesn't really know much about the city other than it's the state capital and has two public universities.  That's likely due to the far-flung location.
• Landmarks (0-10 points) - 1/10: Except for the FSU campus, Tallahassee doesn't have much going for it architecturally speaking.  Big points taken off for the monstrosity that is the "new" capitol building.  It is a 22-story tower built in the late 1970's.  On each side of the tower are the domed chambers for the state house and state senate, making the structure look sort of, well, phallic.
• Tourism (0-10 points) - 2/10: Pretty much non-existant.  It's hard to compete with the beaches and theme parks that other parts of Florida are famous for.
• Transportation Network (0-10 points) 7/10: From my limited experience visiting Tallahassee it doesn't appear too bad, although I've only been when the universities were on break.  The state roads around town seem to get pretty good attention.  I have to think that being the seat of government helps a lot here.
• Environment (0-10 points) 8/10: Since there is pretty much no manufacturing in Tallahassee and it's fairly close to the coast the air quality is pretty good.  Summers are hot and humid, and winters are mild compared to just about everywhere else in the country.  The city does get threatened from time to time by tropical storms.
• Future (0-10 points) -  7/10: No reason for things to get markedly better, but no reason for things to get markedly worse.
• TOTAL  54

[DandyDan]

Since no one has done anything for Lincoln, Nebraska, I guess I will have to, even though I may have no idea what I'm talking about:

   
• Location (0-10 points) - 6/10: Lincoln isn't the most centrally located city in Nebraska (that would either be Grand Island or Kearney), but it is close to the population center of the state, which may be a way of saying it's close to Omaha.  It is on I-80.
• Aesthetics (0-10 points) - 5/10: Lincoln is basically flat and has a grid street plan, which is boring.  Lincoln looks like a typical midwestern city.
• Opportunities (0-10 points) - 7/10: I don't have much familiarity with the job market in Lincoln, so I can't say for sure, but since the state capital and state university (University of Nebraska) are there, it's got to be pretty good.
• Safety (0-10 points) - 8/10: I never hear much about crime in Lincoln, unless some Husker football player got arrested, but that's just people being stupid.  I do imagine people have been murdered there, but I've driven through Lincoln many times and can't really name a bad area of town.
• Public Perception (0-10 points) - 7/10: Most people in Nebraska know Lincoln almost exclusively as the state capital and home of the Husker football team.  Husker game day is awesome, but if the football team didn't exist, what else is there?
• Landmarks (0-10 points) - 3/10: This, to me, seems a chicken or the egg type of thing.  If Lincoln was not the capital, would there be anything there?  That said, I do like the capitol buiding, even if it appears to be phallic in nature.
• Tourism (0-10 points) - 4/10: There's Husker game day and that's pretty much it.  Most of the good touristy type of stuff in Nebraska is in Omaha.
• Transportation Network (0-10 points) 6/10: Like I said, it is on I-80.  There are 4 lane divided highways going north, south and southeast from Lincoln.  The airport has flights to the Twin Cities, Chicago and Denver, and will get one to Atlanta in September.  Lincoln has BNSF and UP for rail.  Lincoln has a bus system.  The main roads in Lincoln appear to be well maintained.  There should be a bypass route on the east and south side of the city for out-of-towners passing through Lincoln.  Also, the city is mostly a grid, so there isn't much in terms of diagonal traffic.
• Environment (0-10 points) 7/10: The environment seems to be all right in Lincoln, but some industry is agricultural-related and the ADM plant at the NE corner of the city just smells awful when near it.  Since it's the Midwest, blizzards and tornados are potentially a problem.
• Future (0-10 points) -  7/10: As long as the capital stays in Lincoln, and people keep moving to Lincoln, the future looks bright there.
• TOTAL  60