4 ms·

Ask HN: Why did the U.S. never move the capitol west?

I was having a chat with some friends about Brasilia and new capitols in other places came up (e.g. the new administrative city in Egypt, Abuja in Nigeria) and it seemed strange to me that the U.S. never shifted West as the country grew further. Would love if folks had some insight as to why some place like Dallas or St. Louis didn't end up being the host of the national government?

PaulHoule 5y ago
Politics; until 1860 politicians were "walking on eggshells" on anything different between the north and south. Any move would create winners, losers, and a lot of trouble. There was no real reason to do it until nuclear weapons came along; it's scary how vulnerable DC is to a missile attack from sea. DC and Virginia are the only place you're not allowed to have a radar detector and if you go looking you could find any "stick a stock missile (say sidewinder) on a mobile platform" platform made by our allies parked on a vacant lot in that area.
- theandrewbailey 5y ago
  And after 1860, travel and communications started getting better, so the specific location of the capital started mattering less.
  - atlasunshrugged 5y ago
    But Abuja, Brasilia, the new capital in Cairo etc. are all pretty recent; why the changes in those countries?
    - PaulHoule 5y ago
      Probably the best comparable is Germany moving the capital to Berlin, which is a bigger deal than it sounds. Bonn is convenient to Brussels and Paris and looks westward to the heart of the EU, Berlin is a commitment to more economic integration w/ Poland, and the east.
      - simonblack 5y ago
        Bonn was a temporary capital of West Germany. Berlin was the always the capital of a Germany which was unified around 1870 from about a dozen smaller states, like Bavaria, Saxony, Prussia, Silesia, etc. Read up about Bismarck, he was the main driver for a unified Germany. The Prussians formed a unified Germany, so their choice of capital was a Prussian city.
h2odragon 5y ago
Washington, DC was originally a pestilent, disease laden, parasite infested swamp. After the federal government was established there, people decided that was the best possible use for the place. In other words, why ruin anywhere else?
- ceilingcorner 5y ago
  > was originally... Insert Mitch Hedgeberg joke here.
  - h2odragon 5y ago
    I think Ben Franklin beat us all to the joke... as usual.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
softwaredoug 5y ago
Several reasons: 1. The site of the US capital was a major point of North-South compromise in the early Republic. There was enough tension until 1860 about incorporating new territories, moving the capital would have been even more inciting 2. Until west coast cities grew further, the population mass of the US has for a long time been the east coast and the North East in particular. 3. Major investments in DC as a capital city from an infrastructure POV 4. The fact it was a “district” not part of any state made relocating harder. 5. The US Civil War massively expanded the Federal governments footprint in DC, making relocation harder. Subsequent wars, most importantly WW2 also spurned govt expansion is DC. Not just DC but all over MD and VA a lot of facilities are strategically located near DC. 6. Post civil war, republicans controlled the federal govt. Republicans changed from anti slavery party to pro NE business. Proximity to financial capital (NYC) mattered given (often corrupt) links between govt and expanding big businesses.

PaulHoule 5y ago

Politics; until 1860 politicians were "walking on eggshells" on anything different between the north and south. Any move would create winners, losers, and a lot of trouble. There was no real reason to do it until nuclear weapons came along; it's scary how vulnerable DC is to a missile attack from sea. DC and Virginia are the only place you're not allowed to have a radar detector and if you go looking you could find any "stick a stock missile (say sidewinder) on a mobile platform" platform made by our allies parked on a vacant lot in that area.

theandrewbailey 5y ago
And after 1860, travel and communications started getting better, so the specific location of the capital started mattering less.
- atlasunshrugged 5y ago
  But Abuja, Brasilia, the new capital in Cairo etc. are all pretty recent; why the changes in those countries?
  - PaulHoule 5y ago
    Probably the best comparable is Germany moving the capital to Berlin, which is a bigger deal than it sounds. Bonn is convenient to Brussels and Paris and looks westward to the heart of the EU, Berlin is a commitment to more economic integration w/ Poland, and the east.
    - simonblack 5y ago
      Bonn was a temporary capital of West Germany. Berlin was the always the capital of a Germany which was unified around 1870 from about a dozen smaller states, like Bavaria, Saxony, Prussia, Silesia, etc. Read up about Bismarck, he was the main driver for a unified Germany. The Prussians formed a unified Germany, so their choice of capital was a Prussian city.

h2odragon 5y ago

Washington, DC was originally a pestilent, disease laden, parasite infested swamp. After the federal government was established there, people decided that was the best possible use for the place. In other words, why ruin anywhere else?

ceilingcorner 5y ago
> was originally... Insert Mitch Hedgeberg joke here.
- h2odragon 5y ago
  I think Ben Franklin beat us all to the joke... as usual.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

softwaredoug 5y ago

Several reasons: 1. The site of the US capital was a major point of North-South compromise in the early Republic. There was enough tension until 1860 about incorporating new territories, moving the capital would have been even more inciting 2. Until west coast cities grew further, the population mass of the US has for a long time been the east coast and the North East in particular. 3. Major investments in DC as a capital city from an infrastructure POV 4. The fact it was a “district” not part of any state made relocating harder. 5. The US Civil War massively expanded the Federal governments footprint in DC, making relocation harder. Subsequent wars, most importantly WW2 also spurned govt expansion is DC. Not just DC but all over MD and VA a lot of facilities are strategically located near DC. 6. Post civil war, republicans controlled the federal govt. Republicans changed from anti slavery party to pro NE business. Proximity to financial capital (NYC) mattered given (often corrupt) links between govt and expanding big businesses.