Springfield (The Simpsons)

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**Springfield**
Population	30,720 ^[1]
Elevation	1,582 ft. ^[1]
City motto	"A Noble Spirit Embiggens the Smallest Man", "Corruptus in Extremis"
Founded	Unknown; before 1649
Incorporated	1796
Detailed map of Springfield:
Founder	Jebediah Springfield
Mayor	Joe "Diamond Joe" Quimby (D)
Congressional Representatives	Bob Arnold (expelled), Horace Wilcox (R) (deceased), Herschel Schmoikel Krustofski (R)
Area Codes	636 & 939
Main Industries	Nuclear Power, heavy manufacturing, Duff Beer, retail, boxes, fudge, fireworks, crackers, animated media, and peanuts.

For the Simpsons episode, see $pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling).

Springfield is the fictional city in which the TV series The Simpsons is set. It is located near Shelbyville and Capital City in an unnamed state. However, the state is supposed to be revealed in The Simpsons Movie. (A clip from one of the Movie's advertisements shows Ned Flanders mentioning it borders Ohio, Nevada, Maine, and Kentucky).

Founded in 1796 by Jebediah Springfield, Springfield seems to be a small city rather than a megalopolis. Its features include one nuclear power plant; a vaguely Protestant Church; two elementary schools (Springfield Elementary School and West Springfield Elementary School); Springfield Preparatory School; Springfield University; Springfield A&M; Springfield Heights Institute of Technology; several museums, including a 'Knowledgeum'; a minor league baseball stadium; an airport; an ocean harbor and Squid Port; a waterfront casino; a downtown district; Springfield Gorge; several massive mountains, including the 'Murderhorn'; a dog track (Springfield Downs); a large tire yard (which has been on fire for well over 35 years); a ghetto; a Russian district; its own Little Italy, Greektown, and Little Bangkok District; an entirely Jewish neighborhood; Moe's Tavern, a bar run by Moe Szyslak; Kwik-E-Mart, a convenience store; many interesting restaurants, including The Texas Cheesecake Depository, The Frying Dutchman, and Professor P. J. Cornucopia’s Fantastic Foodmagorium and Great American Steakery; and Barney's Bowl-A-Rama, a bowling alley run by Barney Gumble's uncle.

Springfield's nearest neighboring town is Shelbyville. There is a strong rivalry between the towns, dating back to the rivalry that existed between their founders—Jebediah Springfield and Shelbyville Manhattan. Manhattan wanted to found a city where men were free to marry their cousins, but Springfield refused to allow it, so Shelbyville broke away with his supporters and founded a rival town. (The story of the dispute between Jebediah Springfield and Shelbyville Manhattan contains faint references to the historical stories of the deal between Asa Lovejoy and William Overton to file a land claim, and the dispute between Lovejoy and Francis Pettygrove over the name of Portland, Oregon—which is Simpsons creator Matt Groening's birthplace).

[edit] History and economy

[edit] Colonial Era

Jebediah Springfield, founder.

Springfield was founded in 1796 by Maryland settlers who were trying to find a course to New Sodom after misinterpreting a passage in the Bible. In its early days, the city was the target of many Native American raids, and to this day many forts and trading posts remain (including Fort Springfield and Fort Sensible). It was also the site of at least two battles during the American Civil War.

The founder of Springfield was the pioneer Jebediah Springfield, widely celebrated in the town as a brave and patriotic American hero. He famously tamed a wild buffalo and killed a bear with his bare hands, and his deeds are immortalized in a bronze statue in front of the city hall. (Revisionist historians have since determined that the bear actually killed Springfield, but this has been deemed to be mean-spirited 'fact-mongering'). The town motto, "a noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" is attributed to Jebediah.

Lisa Simpson once discovered that 'Jebediah Springfield' was actually just the alias of Hans Sprungfeld, a murderous pirate and enemy of George Washington ("Lisa the Iconoclast"). Amongst other things, his 'taming' of the wild buffalo is a lie: he actually merely shot a tame buffalo; he also had an actual tongue made of silver, but history has taken this to mean that he was a talented orator. Lisa eventually decided that the myth of Springfield should be preserved and did not reveal her findings. Hollis Hurlbut, the local antiquarian, supported her decision, if only because it meant that Jebediah's silver tongue could remain a fetching cowboy model in his museum.

[edit] History from Colonial Era to Mid-Twentieth Century

In the mid-20th century, the city reached the pinnacle of its success when it became the home of a factory producing Aquacars, a car which could be driven in water like a boat. One-half of the US was said to wear Springfield galoshes. At this point, the city was truly 'On the GROW' (look out, Utica!) and its streets were (literally) paved with gold, which caused cars to slide and accounted for numerous accidents. But, unfortunately, the economy collapsed when it was discovered that the Aquacar was prone to spontaneous explosion after 600 miles and/or knots. The town never really recovered from this tragedy (the gold was reportedly shipped to the Sultan of Brunei to encase one of his many animal herds)

[edit] Present day

Despite the shutdown of the Aquacar factory, some heavy manufacturing remains in the town, including several factories producing and processing foodstuffs: 'Ah! Fudge' chocolate; 'Southern Cracker' and 'Allied Biscuit' snacks; and peanuts, though this last industry has been ransacked at least once by a hungry elephant. Duff Beer employs many local people, though its competitor, Fudd, has some market-share, too. Fireworks are assembled in Springfield, and millions of boxes are produced (though these are finished in Flint, Michigan). At one point, there was a major Spirograph factory in the town, but this has closed down. There was also a pillow factory in town, but it was demolished, with "Sideshow" Luke Perry inside. Springfield is also the proud home of a (flaming) steel mill. The town's largest employer is probably the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. At some point after World War II the U.S. government designated Springfield as an NWB (Nuclear Whipping-Boy). This means that in the event of a nuclear war, all nations allied with the United States will bombard Springfield in order to calibrate their weapons ("Worst Episode Ever").

Springfield was nearly chosen as the host for the Summer Olympic Games, but Bart's antics angered representatives from the IOC. It was also nearly awarded an NFL franchise team, but Abraham Simpson attacked the commissioner, mistaking him for a burglar, while he was trying to use the Simpsons' phone.

In "Bart-Mangled Banner", Bart accidentally moons the U.S. flag, and the Simpsons appear on a talk show to explain the matter. However, the show's host makes it appear that Springfield hates America. When the rest of the U.S. reciprocates this loathing, Mayor Quimby changes the name of Springfield to "Liberty-Ville". An enormous patriotic craze ensues, wherein all items are priced at $17.76, even houses.

Springfield has been moved once after Homer's refusal, as the city's Sanitation Commissioner, to take out garbage and as a result, the citizens did too. The original spot of the city has been turned into a dump, and therefore had to be moved five miles down the road.

[edit] Geography and climate

[edit] Geography

Springfield's geography includes a mountain range, gorges, giant redwood trees, a desert, a forest, lakes, rivers, valleys, plains, alkali flats and a volcano. It is located on the coast of a large body of water, possibly an ocean, which features a waterfall, and has exactly one bridge out of town. It has also been stated that "West Springfield" is three times the size of Texas, and looks exactly like Texas in shape.

Major geographic features include Springfield Gorge, Springfield National Forest, Mt. Springfield, Springfield Harbor, the Springfield Badlands or 'Alkali Flats', the Murderhorn (a homage to the Matterhorn), Death Mountain (an evil hideaway owned by Doctor Colussus), Springfield Glacier, Widow's Peak, and Mt. Carlmore.

Geezer Rock, another landmark very similar to New Hampshire landmark The Old Man of the Mountain, was unwittingly destroyed by Homer during one episode.

[edit] Cityscape

Springfield with skyscrapers downtown, as seen in The Simpsons Hit & Run.

The city is divided into a number of districts, including Skid Row, the Lower East Side (a Jewish district), Chinatown, Springfield Heights, 'Bum Town', East Springfield, Recluse Ranch Estates, Junkieville, Pressboard Estates, South Street Squidport, Little Newark, Crackton, a Russian district, West Springfield, Tibet Town, Greek Town, Little Italy, and a gay district. For a brief period, Springfield divided itself into two cities, Olde Springfield and New Springfield, on the basis of an area code division and an encircling wall. Wealthy Olde Springfield, with Mayor Quimby, anchorman Kent Brockman, and bullies such as Nelson Muntz, were separated from the rest of Springfield by a wall of refuse that was erected by poor New Springfield. Mayor Quimby maintained control of Olde Springfield while Homer ran New Springfield. The cities were later re-united during a wall-shattering concert by The Who.

The city's Main Street is in a pitiful state of disrepair, owing to citizens driving along it while carrying excessively heavy loads and leaving snow chains on their tires after the snow has melted. (Homer has been spotted driving along it with a massive grand piano strapped to the roof of his car as his chain-covered tires gouged the road, yelling "look at that pavement fly!" and giggling like a school-girl.) Some of the potholes have become so wide that entire cars and trucks can (and have) fallen into them, including a popcorn truck that exploded on impact and filled the pothole with a delicious, buttery snack.

Towns near Springfield (within driving distance or close enough to be included in local news) include North Haverbrook, Shelbyville, Ogdenville, Brockway, and Cranford. Some of these apparently hold 'fairs' from time to time, at which it might be possible to win a dog.

In many episodes, the cityscape is changed. Skyline shots of the city vary from episode to episode. Some will have towering skyscrapers downtown, other times it will consist just of tiny stores. The cityscape and skyline change frequently in any Simpsons video games, however are never regarded as the normal cityscape. Buildings frequently change position in each episode.

[edit] Climate

Springfield is evidently located in an area that receives plenty of rain, as well as heavy snow. Most of the time however, the skies are blue and mostly sunny. Springfield has also been prone to severe heat waves.

Springfield is close to a major body of water that is open to the ocean with a waterfall, and close to a major mountain range. It is also situated on a major river, which has cut a deep gorge. It has been subject to just about every sort of natural disaster over the years, including avalanches, earthquakes, acid rain, floods, hurricanes, lightning strikes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, and a (surprisingly feeble) meteor impact. The Simpsons have coped with these and survived them all, even though Homer has often been injured by them (most especially when he has been the cause of them).

[edit] Pollution

According to the (non-canon) Are We There Yet? Guide to Springfield, visitors from elsewhere are advised to constantly wear radiation suits and carry Geiger counters, since the city is perhaps the most radioactive in the U.S. This is because the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant was built during an incredibly lax period for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the plant's nuclear core was surrounded not by several layers of protective concrete, lead and graphite but by ordinary plaster and a horseshoe hanging from a nail.

Plant management apparently gives employees benefits for quietly and cleverly disposing of nuclear waste; in some episodes, barrels of waste have been seen in the Simpsons' basement.

At one point, Homer was elected as Sanitation Commissioner. After spending the entire yearly budget in only the first month of office (almost entirely caused by his purchase of brand new amphibious garbage trucks for the city), the town was forced to take in the garbage of other cities in order to make enough money to pay the city's trash collectors. Eventually the caves that were storing the collected trash overflowed throughout the city, causing the population and all of the town's buildings to lift stakes and move to yet another undisclosed location five miles down the road, the 'new' Springfield.

Springfield, like many cities, suffers from light pollution.

Springfield is also home to the state's largest self-sustaining tire fire which has been burning continuously since 1966 or 1989, depending on which episode is referenced.

[edit] People and culture

The geographic location of Springfield is never stated, but Springfield is generally considered to depict, in a lampooning manner, "bread-and-butter" Middle America. It is often portrayed as a small town of limited cultural value, despite several seemingly major attractions (see Arts and Entertainment, below). Springfieldians are not, for the most part, cosmopolitan, and most are of lower-middle to middle income (excluding the nefarious, extravagant Montgomery Burns, Lindsey Naegle, Dr. Hibbert, Rainier Wolfcastle, the "Blue-Haired Lawyer", Kent Brockman, Mayor Quimby and his extended Kennedy-esque family, the Vanderbilts (a rich couple seen from time to time, known for being easily horrified), Stacy Lovell (creator of the Malibu Stacy doll line) and the other members of the exclusive Springfield Golf and Country Club).

In one episode, the "small-town nastiness" of Springfield is made evident by a benighted tradition of "snake-whacking" whereby, annually, Springfieldians bludgeon snakes to death. Lisa Simpson is disgusted by this activity, and encourages the people of Springfield to end the 'tradition' with the aid of soul singer Barry White.

Springfieldians have a very bad reputation. As described by Dr. Hibbert, it is a town where the smartest have no power and the stupidest run everything. TIME magazine once did a cover story on Springfield entitled "America's Worst City," and Newsweek has referred to the city as "America's Crud Bucket". Most citizens are stupid, overweight, and quick to anger. Springfieldians are also woefully backwards and scientifically ignorant, once condemning a man to be burnt at the stake for claiming that the Earth revolved around the Sun. Also, Mayor Quimby alludes to how the town believes that eclipses are actually the gods stealing the Sun.

Finally, Springfieldians are prone to act without thinking. On one occasion, when the only bridge out of town was destroyed by a poorly fired rocket, many Springfieldians still attempted to leave the city by jumping the broken bridge with their cars, failing and plummeting into Springfield Gorge. On another occasion, when the town was suffering from a flu epidemic, the townspeople demanded Dr. Hibbert for a cure. When he replied that the only true cure was bed rest, and anything he could give them would only be a placebo, the dim-witted Springfieldians immediately began smashing and knocking over trucks in the parking lot to search for the placebos, inadvertently releasing a horde of angry killer bees sealed up in crates. Springfield's stupidity may also explain why its citizens keep re-electing Mayor Quimby, despite his incredibly incompetent and corrupt administration and open admissions of fraud, adultery and murder.

On another occasion, every Springfielder in the city attended a town hall meeting meant to determine what to do with an unexpected cash windfall. This left the city's homes and businesses ripe for the plundering by Snake Jailbird and his criminal friends. Snake laughed about this to some of his friends as he was breaking into a house, saying "Could this town be any stupider?"

On one episode, it mentions three stupid things Springfield has done; build a skyscraper from 'popsicle sticks', build a giant magnifying glass (which set the popsicle stick tower on fire) and build an escalator to nowhere, which Springfieldians rode and fell off the top of several stories above the ground.

It should also be noted that Shelbyville residents are even more stupid and more backward (possibly due to their universal, unnatural attraction to their cousins), but view themselves as far better than the Springfieldians.

Springfield has many riots and the citizens of Springfield frequently form angry mobs, who sometimes even wield weapons or burning torches. Springfield's angry mobs can form very quickly and they usually march toward the object their anger, be it the local Burlesque house or as is frequently the case, the Simpson household. Even Principal Skinner once proudly declared "Oh there's no justice like angry-mob justice!"

Springfield also has a strange smell that is uncomfortable for new residents. It usually takes about six weeks for them to adjust (Actual cities near pulp mills, such as Lewiston, Idaho, Springfield, Florida, or Springfield, Oregon, have a similar problem; though no pulp industry has been mentioned, Springfield does have at least one pork rendering facility). Springfield is also the first United States city to abandon the metric system. Springfield was rated the 300th most livable city, and when Mensa members took over town, it moved up to 299, ahead of East St. Louis; although when Mensa came in, some long-term residents remarked, "Well, there goes the neighborhood."

Obesity is a major problem for the city's residents and it is even stated in "Sweets and Sour Marge" that Springfield is "the world's fattest town."

Paradoxically, many celebrities (Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger, Ron Howard, Mel Gibson, George Plimpton, Michael Jackson, Joe Namath, Mark McGuire, Don Rickles, Mark Hamill, Stephen King, Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George H. W. Bush, The Rolling Stones, U2, Spinal Tap, etc.) find their way to Springfield, and, in some cases, actually buy a house.

There are hundreds of McDonald's and Burger King restaurants in Springfield's state but none in Springfield itself. In fact, there are almost no fast food restaurants except for Krusty Burger, which has a monopoly over the town's fast food supply. In The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer, it is revealed that Krusty pays Fat Tony's mafia to keep the two major chains out of Springfield.

[edit] Demographics

Springfield is home to people of many races, cultures, and creeds, including European-Americans (the Simpsons, Flanders and Van Houten families, Groundskeeper Willie, Uter, Principal Skinner (Armen Tamzarian), African-Americans (The Hibbert family, Carl, Lou, Roy Snyder), Latinos (Bumblebee Man), South Asians (Apu and his family, "Two Guys From Kabul") and East Asians (Cookie Kwan, Akira).

However, in the episode "Duffless", Principal Skinner claims that there are no Asian children at the Springfield Elementary School.

There is a large economic gap between wealthy citizens such as Krusty the Clown and Mr. Burns (whom Forbes estimates is worth $8.4 billion without taking into account the trillion dollar bill [1]), and poor citizens (Nelson Muntz, Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel). The population is 30,720 according to the episode Papa's Got a Brand New Badge

In the episode "A Tale of Two Springfields", Marge states that Springfield's population has grown so much that the city has been split into 2 area codes. Half the city retains the original 636, and the other half has a new 939 area code.

[edit] Crime

There are a number of prisons in Springfield, including Springfield Penitentiary, Springwood Minimum Security Prison, Springfield Women's Prison, and Montgomery Burns State Penitentiary. Although never mentioned again after a school strike, Springfield Elementary was turned into Springfield Elementary and Prison to help deal with money issues, but the final scene of the episode suggests that a prison break took place. Several episodes, including "The Seven-Beer Snitch", would seem to suggest that Springfield is located in a state that retains the death penalty, with both an electric chair and a gas chamber being depicted in some of the town's various correctional facilities. There is also a psychiatric-care facility named 'Calmwood'. The Springfield Police Department, led by Police Chief Clancy Wiggum, is a largely corrupt and incompetent organization. Most of the time, it seems to have only three members (Wiggum, Lou and Eddie), though, when Marge herself joined the force, many other cops were shown, if only as they laughed at her and stole poorly-tailored jeans from the Simpson's 'car-hole'. On two occasions in the town's history, police duties have been removed from the Springfield Police Department. On the first occasion, they were handed over to a posse of drunken vigilantes, led by Homer Simpson, in order to better protect the 'World's Largest Cubic Zirconia' from a clever and charming cat-burglar. On the second occasion, they were transferred to the security company 'Springshield', which was again run by Homer, with the help of his friends Lenny and Carl. Most of the organized crime in town is controlled by Sicilian mob boss Fat Tony and his cronies; however, the Yakuza are present in smaller numbers and have fought at least one turf war with the Italians. The position of Chief of Police was also turned over to Rex Banner when alcohol was banned and Homer became the Beer Baron.

[edit] Arts and entertainment

Springfield boasts an opera house, an outdoor ampitheatre, an arboretum, a vibrant jazz scene and was once mentioned as the entertainment capital of its state. There is also an unusually high number of museums, including Springfield Museum (which features the world's largest cubic zirconia), Springfield Knowledgeum, Springfield Museum of Natural History, Springsonian Museum, and a stamp museum. Springfield was once home to a Concert Hall, but this was closed down after everyone walked out after hearing the first two measures of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and turned into the Montgomery Burns State Penitentiary.

[edit] Media

The city paper is The Springfield Shopper. KBBL studios serves as the major media outlet. Indeed, the most popular TV station is KBBL-TV (Channel 6), with Kent Brockman, Scott Christian, and Arnie Pie ('in the Sky') on the news. KBBL is also the station on which Krusty the Clown and Sideshow Mel perform their long-running comedy show. Bill & Marty do the morning show on KBBL radio. Alternatively, Channel Ocho is a Spanish-language channel featuring Bumblebee Man, who keeps the Latino audience in stitches with his slapstick soap-opera.

[edit] Religion

Religion and faith play a large role in Springfieldian society. The largest church community appears to be the First Church of Springfield, a 'Presbylutheran' church headed by the Reverend Timothy Lovejoy. There is also a synagogue (led by Rabbi Krustofski), a Catholic church (The Cathedral of the Downtown), an Episcopal church (with vibrating pews), and a Buddhist temple. Apu, a Hindu, has a statue of the god Ganesh in the back room of his Kwik-E-Mart and presumably worships there. There are also Jehovah's Witnesses in Springfield, as they attempted to visit Marge after she installed a new doorbell.

In the episode "The Joy of Sect," many Springfieldians joined a cult known as Movementarianism, but soon left after it was revealed as a fraud. According to Reverend Lovejoy in "The Simpsons: Guide to Springfield" by Matt Groening, there has also formed an alliance of people who initially split off from the Presbylutherans to worship an Inanimate Carbon Rod. Lenny Leonard, Carl Carlson and Lisa Simpson are all practicing Buddhists. There is also a 'Stonecutters Lodge' in town (currently re-named "The Ancient Society of No-Homers,"), of which practically every male in the city (minus Homer Simpson) is a member. It provides a certain amount of mystical instruction, in addition to weekly rib-nights, beer-fests and ping-pong tournaments.

The town government is entirely secular. In 1963, a law was passed which banned praying on city property. "Religion free since '63" is shown on mason work in one episode at city hall. (An episode featured a convict who was imprisoned for erecting a nativity scene on city property.) In "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" Superintendent Chalmers fired Principal Ned Flanders when he overhears him saying "Thank the Lord!" over the PA system, in contravention of the American Public School prohibition on prayer. There are also a couple of Amish students at Springfield Elementary.

[edit] Sports

There are a number of sports teams and sports arenas: the Springfield Isotopes AA baseball team (which once threatened to move to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the real-life minor league baseball team eventually changed their name to the Isotopes), the Springfield Speedway, a Monster Truck Rally (featuring Truckasaurus), the Springfield Atoms football team (led by Stan "The Boy" Taylor), the Springfield Stun arena football team, the Springfield Ice-otopes hockey team, the Association of Springfield Semi-Pro Boxers, and a dog track.

There are also many intramural options available to children, including youth ice hockey, football, soccer and volleyball, but the most popular sport for children is Baseball/Softball. However when Marge once said at a town meeting, "...and I love baseball" the crowd booed. It is assumed, however, that these outlets are greatly underfunded, as one season of volleyball was cancelled after Lisa Simpson accidentally popped a ball with her pointed hair.

Springfield also has its own NASCAR oval, which is the scene of the death of Maude Flanders.

Springfield almost had won the rights to host the Olympics before Bart ruined it. A football team called the Springfield Meltdowns was meant to begin, but the plan was ruined when Grampa Simpson knocked out the commissioner of Football. Grampa Simpson had once been a bull fighter.

New Springfield was almost awarded an NFL franchise (the Arizona Cardinals) but Homer told their representative to "keep walking", in a reference to how bad the Cardinals franchise has been over the years.

[edit] Infrastructure

[edit] Government

The current mayor of Springfield is Joe Quimby, a sleazy womanizing politician who once admitted to using the town treasury to fund the murder of his enemies and pay for his acquittal. He was briefly thrown out in favor of Sideshow Bob Terwilliger, but was later re-instated when Bob was impeached for electoral fraud. His post was threatened by a recall election, but none of the new candidates gained enough of the vote to oust him.

Further information: Sideshow Bob Roberts

Further information: See Homer Run

When the mayor briefly skipped town due to some 'missing' lottery funds, the town's MENSA chapter (Lisa Simpson, Dr. Julius Hibbert, Lindsey Naegle, Comic Book Guy, and Prof. Frink) took over. They changed all of the clocks in town to metric time, eliminated the green lights from stoplights, and put the city on the list of Top-300 US cities. It was 299th, above East Saint Louis, Illinois.

Further information: They Saved Lisa's Brain

In the United States House of Representatives, Springfield was once represented by Congressman Bob Arnold, who was later expelled for 'massive corruption'. However, in the episode "Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington," Horace Wilcox is stated to have been congressman since 1933, possibly explained by re-districting. After Wilcox's death, Krusty the Clown runs for Congress as a Republican, and wins. He is still a representative, as of the episode "The Ziff Who Came To Dinner."

[edit] Laws, statutes, and propositions

Gambling is legal in Springfield, as is gay marriage, trade in children and fishing with dynamite. Prohibition was discovered to have been law for 200 years ("spirituous beverages are hereby prohibited in Springfield under penalty of catapult"), and was briefly reinforced, but this ended after a combination of discontent and the discovery that this law was repealed one year after its inception. Kicking a can repeatedly is also a felony, cited as "illegally transporting litter".

There are a number of unusual statutes in Springfield and its town charter, including "the chief constable shall receive one pig every month and two comely lasses of virtue true" and "it is illegal to put squirrels down your pants for the purposes of gambling".

Proposition 24, which would deport all illegal immigrants from Springfield, passed with 95% at the end of "Much Apu About Nothing". (However, nearly all immigrants managed to gain citizen status before the law came into effect, with the sole exception of Groundskeeper Willie.) Marge and her family successfully lobbied to get Proposition 242, a "Families Come First" grassroots-voter initiative, passed in "Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens, and Gays". In "Three Gays of the Condo", there is a billboard put up by Patty and Selma advocating yes on Proposition 104: "Homer Out of Springfield". In Lisa the Simpson, Lisa appears on Smartline to discuss Proposition 305 which would create bus fare discounts for war widows (an issue that Homer passionately opposed).

[edit] Education

There are quite a number of public and private schools in Springfield, including a pre-school (Ayn Rand School for Tots), two elementary schools (Springfield Elementary School & West Springfield Elementary School), an all-girls Catholic school run by French-Canadian nuns (Saint Sebastian's School for Wicked Girls), a junior high school near Moe's Tavern, and a magnet high school (Springfield High School). There are also a number of colleges, including Springfield A&M, Krusty's Clown College, the University of Springfield, and the unfortunately-named Springfield Heights Institute of Technology (S.H.I.T.). A full list of education institutions in Springfield can be found here.

[edit] Transportation

Bus service: Springfield's metropolitan area is served by a public bus service. The regular bus service has stops at Crackton, Airport Refueling Way and Area 51A. The city bus service provides public transit on the Route 22 bus on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; and the 22A bus on Tuesday and Thursday. There is also another route, the 108, as seen in Future-Drama.; Further information: Lost Our Lisa.; The bus depot is serviced by Sit n' Stare, Buck-U-Bus, and First Class Bus Lines.

Charter bus service is available through Springfield Travel, (slogan: "Now get outta here!"), featuring trips to Dollywood and Euro-Dollywood (in Alabama).

International Airport

Springfield's International Airport has direct flights to:

Paris, France ("The Crepes of Wrath")
Tirana, Albania ("The Crepes of Wrath")
New York City, United States ("A Star Is Burns")
Washington, D.C., United States
London Heathrow, United Kingdom ("The Regina Monologues")
Tokyo, Japan ("Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo")
Hawaiian Islands ("Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo")
Jamaica ("Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo")
Canberra, Australia (city name never mentioned but implied by the presence of a U.S. Embassy) ("Bart Vs. Australia")
Bombay (Mumbai), India ("The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons")
Bangalore, India (city name never mentioned but inferred by episode title) ("Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore")
Beijing, China ("Goo Goo Gai Pan")
Tanzania, later known as New Zanzibar, and later still as Pepsi Presents New Zanzibar (see "Simpsons Safari")
Portland, Oregon ("We're on the Road to D'ohwhere")
Switzerland (exact location not named; see "Treehouse of Horror VII")
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ("Blame It On Lisa")
Stockholm, Sweden ("Treehouse of Horror XIV")
Dayton, Ohio, United States ("Catch 'Em If You Can")
Miami, Florida, United States ("Catch 'Em If You Can")

Springfield is served by the following airlines:

Air India
Crazy Clown Airlines
Gabbo Airlines
SkyAmeriwestica
TransHemispheric Airlines
Air Japan
AeroBrasil
No Frill's Air

Springfield airfield boasts being "The Birthplace of Wind Shear"

It also directs all of its flights through Nome, Alaska ("Catch 'Em If You Can")

Highways: Several highways run through Springfield, including the Michael Jackson Expressway (Interstate Route 401, formerly the Dalai Lama Expressway), the (incomplete) Matlock Expressway, Interstate 95, Route 202, and Rural Route 9. There is also a railroad, an abandoned aqueduct, and an escalator to nowhere.

Subway system: There is also a subway system, most likely a long-distance system, like the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, with a station at Third Street, as seen in the episode "Bart Sells His Soul". The actual system has never been shown on the show, but mentioned in asides.

Monorail: There was a short-lived monorail system constructed using surplus municipal funds at the behest of a con-man. After its inaugural trip, faulty construction resulted in near disaster for Homer, the conductor, and the town of Springfield. Fearing the same fate received by Ogdenville and East Haverbrook, two other patrons of the system, it has been left untouched since. ("Marge vs. the Monorail")

[edit] Springfield's state

Main article: Springfield's state (The Simpsons)

The flag of Springfield's state showed (prior to a redesign contest) a Confederate Battle Flag floating on (or sinking into) a body of water in front of a sunrise, paralleling the controversies surrounding the state flags of Mississippi and Georgia. (The flag had to be redesigned because they live in a "northern state".) The state bird is the potbellied sparrow; the state pasta is bowtie. The state slogan is "Not Just Another State" (formerly known as the "Learn to Fart State"), and the longtime governor is Mary Bailey. The capital of Springfield's state is named "Capital City", and boasts its own Major League Baseball team.

While the name of the state has never been mentioned, Homer Simpson's driver's license shows that the state's abbreviation is "NT". According to producer/director David Silverman, Springfield is in the made-up state of "North Takoma" (a play on North Dakota, perhaps as well as the north end of the city of Tacoma, Washington). The two-letter abbreviation NT is legally used to refer to Canada's Northwest Territories, or Australia's Northern Territory, but it is clear Springfield is in the U.S. U.S. flags are everywhere in Springfield: note the flag in the opening credits. The episode "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington" supplies not only the abbreviation NT for the state, but also the abbreviation TA (on mail addressed to the Simpsons), and in that same episode it is revealed that Springfield's ZIP code 192005. The "NT" and "TA" could possibly stand for "Nice Try" and "Try Again." In the episode "Behind the Laughter," a narrator stated that the Simpsons were a "northern Kentucky family;" in reruns however, the voice-over was changed to "a southern Missouri family". A road sign at the city limit of Springfield appearing in the episode "Marge in Chains" lists a distance of 648 Miles to Mexico City. Thus indicating that Springfield is located - if indeed in the U.S. - in southern Texas.

Springfield as a city (and its state), does not actually exist; rather, Springfield and its incisively observed cross-section of people may be seen as an allegory of The United States itself as a whole. Springfield, in fact, encompasses all of modern America. This is supported by the reference to the city as "Springfield, USA" in one episode, which shows its broad application over the entire United States. As a metaphor it thus travels around the states, pushing geopolitical localities off to replace them for the episode or such. It's a wandering state which makes it in effect "Not Just Another State".

In the upcoming Simpsons Movie, Ned Flanders reveals that you can see the four states that border their own: Ohio, Nevada, Maine, and Kentucky, all of which are nowhere near each other (except Kentucky and Ohio, which actually do border each other). This can be seen in the extended trailer.

In the episode Kill The Alligator And Run The Simpsons are banned from every state but Arizona and North Dakota. Homer complains that Arizona smells funny so they cross that state off the map, then they yell North Dakota here we come. All of the states on the US map they are looking at have a "X" on them. This would imply that Springfield is located directly on the boarder of a state, or in a completely made-up state, but still in America.