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Matt Groening Reveals Springfield Is In His Home State of Oregon
First time accepted submitter TheSeventh writes "Simpsons creator Matt Groening has revealed the location of the real Springfield: It's in Oregon. In an interview with Smithsonian magazine, Groening credits the name to the hit TV show Father Knows Best. The show 'took place in the town of Springfield, and I was thrilled because I imagined that it was the town next to Portland, my hometown,' he says. 'When I grew up, I realized it was just a fictitious name. I also figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S. In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it's their Springfield.' And they do.'"
I always thought it was inside my television.
From Wikipedia... Due to the many contradictory statements regarding Springfield, it is impossible for the town to exist in any specific U.S. state. For example, in The Simpsons Movie, Ned Flanders tells Bart that Ohio, Nevada, Maine, and Kentucky all border Springfield's state. The city's unknown and unknowable geography is a recurring joke in the series; despite the "riddle wrapped in an enigma that is Springfield's location", Lisa Simpson states that "it's a bit of a mystery, yes. But if you look at the clues, you can figure it out." Episodes frequently make fun of the fact that Springfield's state is unidentifiable by adding further conflicting descriptions, obscuring onscreen map representations, and interrupting conversational references. The telephone area codes for Springfield are 636 (St. Charles County - Western St. Louis County, Missouri) and 939 (Puerto Rico). David Silverman has claimed that Springfield is in the fictional state of "North Takoma". This is substantiated by the state abbreviations NT and TA used within the show. However, this has never been officially confirmed in any canonical episode of The Simpsons or by other Simpsons producers.
"Matt Groening Reveals that 'Springfield' Name Came From 'Father Knows Best'"
The Springfield of the show is, of course, fiction. It can't exist. It's everywhere in the U.S. all at once. It's in the desert, near the ocean, it was founded by colonial settlers, it's close to both Mexico and Canada, it's home to every type of U.S. wildlife (except for bears, of course--the Bear Patrol keeps those out).
About the only things you won't find there these days are decent writing or a sense of pride.
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
From TFA: "Springfield was named after Springfield, Oregon"
That doesn't mean it IS Springfield, Oregon.
I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it's their Springfield.' And they do.'
Well, not anymore.
Where's Shelbyville?
The characters aren't weird enough.
Mat, ". . . I imagined that it was the town next to Portland, my hometown."
He does have quite the imagination.
It doesn't rain nearly enough on the show, and there's not enough bars (just Moe's).
OTOH, I can see the characters based on the townfolk in general...
(Disclosure: I live near PDX.)
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
Then there's the geography. You have a beach right in front of it, yet huge mountains like the murderhorn and a skiing resort right behind it. And somewhere near is also a desert and what seems to be some kind of swamp/jungle and a seriously huge forest. It's equally close to Mexico and Canada.
Sounds like Oregon. Ocean going into forest (and probably some swamps) into mountains with ski resorts and then desert on the other side of the mountains, also about equidistant from Canada and Mexico (along I5).
Those who lived in Springfield/Eugene Oregon always knew.
1. Matt Groening was from Oregon.
2. They have a statute of the founder of the town(Jebediah Springfield), and Eugene has a statue of its founder Eugene Skinner.
3. Principal's name is Skinner.
4. There's a Nuclear plant nearby.
There's probably more. Actually, I always heard Matt was from Springfield.
How many more years will slashdot have an off-by-one error on your Score in your profile?
In one of the episodes, which featured a biography of the family, they are described explicitly as a north Kentucky family. As evidence you'll see Shelbyville, KY http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Shelbyville,+KY just north of Springfield http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Springfield,+KY and there's even a place called Simpsonville http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Simpsonville,+KY just west of Shelbyville. I have no idea why they want to change their story now.
In the interview, Groening says "Springfield was named after Springfield, Oregon". He doesn't say that the Simpsons' Springfield is in Oregon.