You want cheap, cheap, cheap, lots of room to grow, low cost of living (no extreme temps), low chance of natural disaster, etc. New airport will be built.

Political Capitol will remain in DC.

  • JCPhoenix@beehaw.orgEnglish
    8·
    1 year ago

    Kansas City, MO. Or somewhere around the Kansas City area. Kansas City is already one of the federal government’s “regional cities” which have a high number of various federal offices. The US government is already one of the largest employers in the area.

    Being in the Great Plains, there’s tons of space to build. The COL here is relatively low, or at least close to the national average. And being centrally located means good connections to the rail network and road network. At least according to this 2012 article, KC has the most highway miles per capita. Maybe not great news for the FuckCars types. For flights, to/from the coasts are roughly about the same.

    On the natural disaster front, tornados and floods are the most likely. But Kansas City is on the edge of Tornado Alley; it’s rare for a major tornado to hit here. And let’s be honest: flooding can happen anywhere. There is a non-zero chance, however, of a major earthquake due to the New Madrid Fault Zone in the far southeast of Missouri. We also shouldn’t have any of the water problems of the Southwest. That said, we are currently in a drought.

    Weather, as in most of the Midwest, can be complicated and temperamental. It can be below freezing during the winter; on occasion below 0F (-17C). In the summer, hot and humid. We had several days around 100F (37C) this year. It can snow in April, but also have nice 60F (16C) warm days in December.

    And guess what? We already got a new airport. Though I imagine if a whole federal city is built in the area, the airport will need to be massively expanded. Or like you said, new, additional airport.

    • someguy3OPEnglish
      4·
      1 year ago

      Thoughtful answer. I’m taking brand new, so at least 60 miles away from Kansas city. What do you think, Kansas or Missouri side?

      • JCPhoenix@beehaw.orgEnglish
        3·
        1 year ago

        Kansas would probably be cheaper. There are literally places where [they’ll give you the land as long as you build a house](https://www.kansascity.com/news/business/development/article262864183.html. Admittedly, these are in tiny towns.

        Maybe SW of Kansas City on the Kansas side, somewhere along I-35. Maybe somewhere around here?

        On the Missouri side, I’m thinking NE of KC. Like perhaps around here. Between I-35 and I-29. The two major interstates would be on the outside of the new city, instead of how it is these days where highways go right through cities. Maybe even go closer to the Iowa border. Kinda inbetween Omaha, Des Moines, and Kansas City (like 1.5-2hrs away from each city), with (further) access to I-80 and I-70, two major east-west highways.

    • someguy3OPEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      I’m looking at Kansas for fun, what’s up with Charles Wheeler Downtown airport? Used much anymore? Will it be shut down?

      • JCPhoenix@beehaw.orgEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        Nope, it’s still used, and has been for nearly 100yrs, I believe. It’s basically just a general aviation airport. Charter flights and corporate jets still operate out of the downtown airport. Some local hospitals and TV stations keep their planes/helicopters there. I think some of the more high profile users are the Kansas City Chiefs NFL team and even Air Force One. So it’s still very much in use.

        That used to be the city’s main airport into the 1960s. But with the advent of larger jets, it became difficult for them to takeoff/land safely due to the proximity to downtown, which is immediately south. It also doesn’t help that downtown Kansas City, MO is situated on a bluff overlooking over the river and airport.

        In addition, there wasn’t much space for expansion. It’s on that “peninsula,” with the river to the west and south, and the the City of North Kansas City (this is a separate city from Kansas City, MO) immediately to the east.

        There’s always some talk, however, of potentially closing it down, especially because of the airport’s effects on downtown development. Basically height restrictions to ensure that planes can take off and land safely.

        But people (the users) generally like the airport. I’ve done some IT work there and the facilities are nice. If I had the money to charter flights, I’d definitely fly out of the downtown airport. It’s so much closer and obviously far less busy than KCI. There’s even a small plane museum there. Nothing fancy, but it’s something.

    • someguy3OPEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      If you’re building a new city you can avoid high costs of cooling or heating. I hear about $800 a month cooling bills. Heating with a heat pump is the same or greater delta t.

  • techwoodedEnglish
    41·
    1 year ago

    I mean, the absolute cheapest place to put it would be DC if the constraint of not moving the capitol is in place. About 4 million federal employees in the US, DC metro area has about 9 million, so plenty of room, plus most of the federal buildings and offices are right there already. Fairly urban and with a reasonably robust public transport system too. Think you were going for someplace like Kansas, but whatever savings you get on real estate evaporate after you have to take into account cost of transportation to and from DC plus building out the new city’s infrastructure