What state has the BEST capital city?

33 comments

  2. Vermont if you ask me! Beautiful, leafy, great restaurants… especially for a town of 7000 people.

    Boston is pretty great, too!

  5. Not us.

    Just another thing to be dead last in.

    However my hometown of Atlanta, GA is pretty neat. Besides the traffic, but it is what it is.

  6. Gonna throw in for Virginia. Richmond is a great town with an awesome food scene and nature right in the middle of the city.

    People might say Maryland because Annapolis is a world famous yacht destination but I’ve found it to be just full of sunbaked entitled people so it’s not my jam. I had an OK time getting drunk with my buddies and chasing college girls but you can do that anywhere. Good crabs to be had though.

    Texas has Austin but it’s been 10 years since I’ve been there and I’ve heard it’s gotten substantially worse.

  7. I’d probably go with Tennessee (Nashville). Though Ohio’s capital (Columbus) ain’t bad either.

  8. I guess it depends on what you mean by “best”.

    Our capital Santa Fe is the oldest in the country (founded before Jamestown, VA) and there are many historical buildings. The section of the city south of the Santa Fe river was built on top of the foundations of an even older native American settlement so there are some buildings in Santa Fe that are at least partially almost a thousand years old.

    Santa Fe has its own architectural style, Pueblo revival, although it has been exported all over the Southwest by this point. I happen to think Santa Fe does it [best.](https://www.santafehomestore.com/agent_files/Lensic%20downtown.jpg).

    Santa Fe is also the third largest art market in the country despite only 60k people living there. And the Santa Fe Opera is one of the best in the country.

    There is a yearly tradition in town called Zozobra where a giant effigy of a man is filled with little papers that townspeople write with their fears/worries/concerns on it and the effigy is burned. This tradition is over a century old I believe and a main inspiration for burning man.

    Not to mention the city sits at the foot of the Rocky Mountains and there are year round opportunities for recreation from mountain biking/hiking to skiing/snowboarding.

  11. Say what you will about Madison, but it has one of the most gorgeous downtowns in the world. State Street is a whole unique vibe. Bordered by the university on one end, and the capitol at the other. With two big lakes on the sides.

  12. texas. austin is awesome.

    utah. salt lake is underrated and nobody cares if you arent a mormon.

    hawaii because its hawaii and honolulu is kinda shit but oahu is paradise.

  17. I’d like to put two votes in, one for Richmond, VA and another for Madison, Wisconsin. For Richmond is a decent sized city with that “small town” feel. A rich history and several walkable neighborhoods to explore. I’ve always said it’s the furthest north you can go and still feel like you’re in the “South”.

    Madison, Wisconsin is a great college town. It’s not often that you see one of these as a state capital. With college town you get an educated workforce, walkable neighborhoods, and added quirkiness that makes a place interesting.

  18. Biased answer: Honolulu is pretty cool! But, like any city, we have our issues here.

    Non-biased answer: Massachusetts, I’ve never had a bad time in Boston. It’s also really cool from an American history standpoint. Hawaii has amazing and rich history too, but our role in American history in particular is far more recent obviously.

  21. New drinking game idea: scroll through the answers and do a shot everytime someone names a city that isn’t a capital.

  27. I’ve been to 49 of 50! (Sorry, Juneau.) In my opinion:

    *Coolest Capital Building*: Lincoln, Nebraska. (It’s art deco and gorgeous!)

    *Coolest Capital Grounds*: Olympia, Washington. (Huge green space overlooking the water.)

    *Best City for Gay Nightlife*: Sacramento, California. (God Bless the Golden State.)

    *Best City to Go Ski*: Montpelier, Vermont. (It’s this tiny little town in the mountains, exactly what you’d expect from Vermont.)

  32. I really do enjoy Indianapolis. It’s clearly the best city in our state. It’s not as fun as Nashville but our lack of traffic and cost of living to income ratio is awesome.

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