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Arkansas has a better state capitol building than NC?

Post on January 11, 2013 by 12 Comments »

OK, last time I wrote about this I was in Harrisburg where Pennsylvanians have a very nice capitol with multiple domes.  To some without pride in our state, improving NC’s dingy, 1960s-era cinderblock citadel of a capitol building shouldn’t even be contemplated.  To them I say:  ”Look to Little Rock.”  Arkansas, a state with 1/3 the population of NC and a big helping of our own state’s reprehensible poverty rate, once again – like every other state capitol I’ve been to over the last year – shows North Carolina up:

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Possibly related posts:

  1. Another state capitol building more impressive than ours

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Comments (Closed):12

  1. Frank Burns
    January 11, 2013 at 11:04 am

    As long as our State Capital Building is functional, there is adequate space provided for conducting legislative business, HVAC system and lighting is effective, is watertight there is no need to rebuild a new capital building with many domes, bells and whistles. That is way down on the importance list for the state. If you are comparing states, there are much more important issues to compare rather than the the appearance of our capital. We should look to see how our tax burdens in NC compare to the other states and get ours to be competetive. We should also look at the successful states that have budget surpluses like Texas and strive to emulate their policies. In addition we should look at the states that are failing due to poor decisions and policies like California and strive to avoid their mistakes. This is where we should be going and place our state priorities on substance not form.

  2. meg sawicki
    January 11, 2013 at 11:18 am

    yeah Frank, kind of like those huge pay raises McCrory just gave his staff

  3. david esmay
    January 11, 2013 at 11:26 am

    Frank, California is in the black almost a billion compared to the repub clown show we’ve got going in Raleigh. It to a Democrat, once again, to fix a republican economic nightmare.

  4. Jack
    January 11, 2013 at 11:29 am

    What must Frank think of D.C. and all that “form” on the mall from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial?

  5. Jack
    January 11, 2013 at 11:33 am

    In addition we should look at the states that are failing due to poor decisions and policies like California and strive to avoid their mistakes. I agree. California voted Arnold in as their republican governor. We must avoid the same mistake here in NC.

    Oooops, too late.

  6. Adam Searing
    January 11, 2013 at 11:40 am

    As someone who has worked hard for a better state for everyone, and not just people wealthy enough to pay a lower tax rate than everyone else and get corporate welfare for their businesses, I agree there are plenty of bigger problems in NC than our sad state capitol building. However, how dreadful our capitol building is compared to any of the many state capitols I’ve been in over the previous 12 months is stark. I take pride in my state and just wish it measured up a little better.

  7. HunterC
    January 11, 2013 at 11:43 am

    OK, this is an absurd series of posts. Talk about palace nonsense.

    I find NC’s Capitol Building more than adequate for a mere governor — as NC’s government is and was constructed with a weaker executive branch relative to other states.

    The Legislative Building is a gem.

  8. Frank Burns
    January 11, 2013 at 2:00 pm

    Adam, I share with you a strong sense of pride in the state of NC. But who are we actually trying to impress by making an ornate state capital building? The lobbyists? The Advocacy Groups? After all who else goes there? Most of the public certainly would never go there. The only part of Raleigh that I’ve ever been to was the NC State Campus. I have no desire to tour the capital.

  9. James Protzman
    January 12, 2013 at 2:41 pm

    And, of course, it really, really is all about you.

  10. Jeff S
    January 12, 2013 at 9:24 pm

    Adam, you should stick to discussion of health care and leave the architecture to someone who won’t embarrass the site.

  11. Jeff S
    January 12, 2013 at 9:29 pm

    Jack, remind us. What’s failing about California? Last I checked, their deficit is gone and they will not be spending the next year handing the state away to the highest contributor, as your own state surely will be.

    Or was that just one of those things people say without actually thinking about it?

  12. Adam Searing
    January 13, 2013 at 5:29 pm

    I visited our state capitol building for the first time in the 4th grade, like every other kid who grows up in NC. People who come to the Natural Sciences Museum or the NC History Museum often take a look at the Capitol. Everyone who comes to Raleigh seeking a redress of grievances from farmers on tractors to heads of multinational corporations headquartered in RTP steps into our building. What we build is fundamentally a reflection of who we are and who we as a state want to be. And nothing will be built or renovated or changed unless the vast majority of North Carolinians, regardless of party, want it to happen. Making our Capitol Building better reflect who we are and who we should be certainly is a quixotic quest, but I think it’s at least a discussion worth having.