What if state capitals are not sleepy government towns, but one of America’s most under-appreciate city-growth machines?

In this episode, Austin is the entry point for discussion about what makes a state capital successful. Unlike the European model, where political, commercial, cultural, and financial power was often concentrated in the same city, America chose a different path. Capitals were often deliberately placed inland and away from major population centers and power brokers.

They were almost designed to be forgettable.

Except for the fact that many were also gifted with large state universities. And once World War II rolled around, these universities became the beneficiaries of billions of dollars in federal research and development funding. What began as a way to distribute power ended up creating some of the country’s most durable engines of city growth.

By the end of this episode, you’ll have a framework for understanding the different kinds of state capitals that exist today, why state capital plus major university can become a growth machine, and how the places that America designed to make power less concentrated may now be some of its most quietly important cities.

So, happiest of birthdays to the United States on its 250th. May we keep designing systems that adapt, endure, and create more possibility than their founders could have imagined.

You can listen to this episode on all your favorite platforms: Substack, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, and Overcast.

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Chapter descriptions:

00:00:28 – Are state capitals America’s hidden growth machine?
00:01:27 – Why Austin was a strange choice for capital
00:06:38 – Austin’s many false starts before becoming a boomtown
00:10:17 – Did capital status make Austin successful?
00:15:50 – What state capitals were designed to do
00:17:31 – Jefferson, Hamilton, and the geography of power
00:23:11 – Do remote capitals make politics more balanced?
00:27:37 – Why state capitals punch above their weight economically
00:29:55 – The four kinds of capital cities
00:36:09 – Why capital plus university can become a growth machine
00:43:18 – Should some state capitals be moved?
00:47:46 – Final takeaways