Let's Shame the Awful Land Use of America's Ten Worst State Capitals

In defense of capital building lawns: it creates a natural place to protest visibly in front of the capital building, but they don't serve much purpose outside of that.

"Blast radius of parking lots"...that made me laugh.

I think it is important to remember that Sacramento used to be home of the second largest Chinatown in the United States, until it was torn down in order for California to build the Capitol Mall and surrounding administrative buildings that stretch out in front of the state Capitol to the Tower Bridge. They tore down a thriving community to build...a lawn.

A friend of mine describing what's so messed up about his hometown of Springfield: "There are too many vacant lots, parking lots, and vacant parking lots."

Gotta love when they add an equal amount of parking surface for grass around the capitol

I'd say Madison, Wisconsin should make an honorable mention list. I've been there twice for meetings (not in the state capital) and it's amazing how compact and walkable it is, and the capital building itself still stands out without taking up too much space. It probably also helps that it is a college town and on an isthmus.

I spent a substantial portion of my adult working life in Springfield, Illinois working for and with all levels of public sector departments. When I saw this topic, I just knew Springfield, IL would be on the list somewhere. What is sad is that this monstrosity of anti-development keeps overrunning existing small businesses in the area. This has led to the slow carcinogenic growth of state office buildings taking over high value downtown real estate and leading to a brownfield downtown. This area is an absolute desert of nothing but 9-5 offices and supporting businesses. Anyone who goes downtown on a weekend is going to be horribly disappointed. Thank you for pointing out to the world just how bad this place really is. Especially for somewhere claiming to be the "Home of Lincoln" (as in Abraham Lincoln) and having highlights of his restored home and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library.

Lol, I’m a girl. But what is gender, anyway? Thanks for featuring my suggested topic. I’m so happy, I’m watching the video a minute at a time to draw out the excitement. Cheers :)

Happy to see that Sacramento gets positive recognition. I visited the capital as a child an as an adult visiting the governor’s staff. The whole place has a walkable, enjoyable vibe. It doesn’t feel sprawling or like a high rise canyon. It’s inviting for people on foot.

As someone who lives in Illinois, the Chicago area, I find it kind of ironic how Illinois has one of the least walkable capital cities in the United States, yet has one of the most walkable major cities in the United States. I mean, Chicago and Springfield are very different. I’m not kidding when I say Springfield is literally one giant parking lot with a couple of buildings here and there. Meanwhile, Madison, Wisconsin, in the state north of Illinois has literally one of the most walkable capital cities in the US

In the US, it's often pretty easy to find a state's government complex on the map. In Europe I find, it often becomes pretty hard, as government buildings tend to be scattered throughout the city and pretty well integrated into the urban fabric, not least because government agencies often just took over already existing and semi-representative-looking buildings.

I lived in Austin for college 2018-2022 and coming from a DFW suburb it seemed like heaven on Earth. It has a lot more accessible green spaces (the trail around the river, greenbelt, zilker, pease park, shoal creek greenbelt etc.) The landscape is really interesting and unique because it’s very hilly/green and the surrounding hill country is home to the best state parks in Texas. There is a lot of room for improvement when it comes to public transit but the bus system works well enough and you can exist within the city without a car. Yes I-35 and Mopac are hellscapes. It is a cool place to live in terms of a great music, arts, and food scene but that’s just being squashed everyday with absurd costs of living.

As an Arizonan, it frustrates me so much to see our state capitol surrounded by so much asphalt. Think of all the things we could put there. What’s interesting is that it’s in stark contrast to the dense, transit-oriented development taking place in downtown Phoenix. Maybe the state government doesn’t want that same progress to extend to their neck of the woods.

The parking moats are unforgivable, but I will make a case for capitals being in the middle of cities and having lawns: the citizens need to have access to their representatives to protest/petition them. One thing we often see in authoritarian states is governments building their capitals far from the population center so they don't have to worry about protests/coups from the citizens.

What I like about this video is that you deliver a fantastic amount of information and opinion without wasting your time with any charisma or likeability.

Single family zoning and minimum parking requirements should be reformed to encourage more mixed zoning especially around transit stations.

Former St. Paul and Des Moines Resident here: 1. Minnesota's Capitol is super strange because, as you said, it's boxed in by strips of highway and is very isolated. I've protested there, and it's almost impossible to get to, especially without a car. 2. Please give Des Moines more attention on this channel! Surprisingly walkable, inexpensive, stellar housing, food scene punches above its weight. 3. Annapolis, Maryland has a beautiful capitol, very ingrained in the city. Obviously because it was built before cars, but I hope it makes it into your future video about good state capitol campuses!

As someone who grew up in Michigan, I was shocked to see that Lansing was only a dishonorable mention. I remember the area around the Capitol building as a blighted mix of parking lots and abandoned buildings. Maybe it’s gotten a bit better in the decade since I left. Edit: Actually, other states just do it WAY worse. Those top 3 are terrifyingly malignant.

I saw the title and was like, "Oh boy! A video about Springfield, IL!"

Louisiana wasn't mentioned but here's some information anyway about how it became the tallest capitol building: By the 1920s, the Old State Capitol (built in the 1850s) was starting to show its age and proving to be too small for the expanding state government. When Huey Long was elected, seized upon the idea of using a new capitol as a way to symbolize the end of the "political domination of Louisiana's traditional social and economic elite" in the state. He noticed Nebraska was constructing a new tall capitol building at the same time at 400 feet tall, and decided to copy the skyscraper concept instead and made sure the new capitol would be taller at 450 feet tall. Both of these were completed the same year in 1932.