A Complete Map To Springfield

neelm writes "If you even needed to know the names of the roads Homer Simpson takes to work, you can find out at Guide to Springfield, USA. On the site you'll find a complete map and guide to all springfield location. The map was put together mostly by watching (and rewatching) Simpson's episodes. The map is even listed in Harvard Map Collection!"

alright!

[bsadler]

best...link...EVER!

Yeah

[mfh]

When I first read this, I figured they musta used cartoon versions of the Vans from yesterday's Slashdot story [slashdot.org].

Re:alright!

[ckaminski]

<linkquote>
Smith with an apostrophe s is possessive, just like any other noun. We could say I am Mr. Smith's neighbor. That is the normal rule for making possessives. There is nothing different about it because it is a name. If Smith is plural and possessive, we would follow the same pattern that we use for any other nouns: I am the Smiths' neighbor.

If the name ends with an s, the same possessive and plural rules apply to the name as to any other noun. So we say Mr. Smith is Mr. Jones' neighbor, or M

My favorite store in the mall...

[Danger Will 42]

I love this place! "Donner's Party Supplies" We had one here, but the owner ate all the profits!

Been done

[stratjakt]

There was a cdrom years ago called "virtual springfield" in which you could wander the streets and see the sites.

Simpson's Hit'n'Run has a pretty realistic layout of the town as well, from Squidport to Moes, in fact this map looks like it was lifted more from that game than from 'watching episodes'.

Re:Been done

[Pxtl]

Silly me - I was just thinking "if only GTA was actually moddable, this would be a neat setting"... and had forgotten about Hit 'n' Run.

Re:Been done

[untaken_name]

Silly me - I was just thinking "if only GTA was actually moddable, this would be a neat setting"... and had forgotten about Hit 'n' Run.

Who says GTA isn't moddable? [google.com]

Re:Been done

[troc]

Be fun to chuck this design into Sim City and see if it worked ............

Troc

Re:Been done

[Anonymous Coward]

Time to build a Quake level...

(fires RPG)

"D'oh!!"

Too much time

[elwell642]

Some people have way too much time on their hands.

And I'm glad they do!

First----

[Anonymous Coward]

First p-----D'OH!

Ironically

[Nuclear Elephant]

This looks a lot like the MIT Campus.

Re:Ironically

[gblues]

Actually, my first thought was "Wow, this looks a lot like Portland."

Which makes sense, since Matt Groening is from Portland.

Nathan

Re:Ironically

[Issue9mm]

Well, according to Matt Groening it kind of does.

link [movingtoportland.net]

Oh, and yes, we're talking about Portland, Oregon.

-9mm-

Re:Grid? not in Atlanta

[elemental23]

Atlanta would be infinitely easier to navigate if you guys were a little more creative with your street names. How many variations of "Peachtree" do you really need?

Re:Grid? not in Atlanta

[MrBud]

42.

Re:Ironically

[umrgregg]

Actually, it looks like SHIT, Springfield Heights Institute of Technology.

this is obviously crap

[Altus]

everyone knows that west springfield is 3 times the size of texas!

Re:this is obviously crap

[Vihai]

....and they're missing the monorail! Where is the monorail??

So?

[shrykk]

I love the Simpsons (of course), but the whole Simpsons marketing industry makes Krusty the Clown look sensible. You can buy dozens of 'guides' to the Simpsons, every kind of toy, about a million computer games, and now a map of the damn town. There are hundreds of episodes of the Simpsons. Isn't that enough?

That's nothing

[pjt33]

You clearly haven't seen the vast quantity of fanfic, fanart, etc for other brands. You could probably spend 12 hours a day for a couple of years reading Harry Potter fanfic and not read anything twice.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:That's nothing

[bryanp]

You absolute bastard. I'll never be able to read Harry Potter again without thinking of this. Damn web page warped my fragile little mind. And my friends will never speak to me again once I subject them to it. Not that that will stop me. Shared pain is lessened pain and all that.

Stiff?

[finker]

"The Lucky Stiff Funeral Home"

That's just begging for a comment...

Re:Stiff?

[SocietyoftheFist]

I find Morningwood Penitentiary funnier. Sadly, it took me a few viewings of that episode to catch that joke.

Also in 'Office Space'...

[sczimme]

I find Morningwood Penitentiary funnier. Sadly, it took me a few viewings of that episode to catch that joke.

In 'Office Space' the protagonist lived in 'Morningwood Apartments'. I wondered if that sign had been built just for the movie or it was actually the name of the complex (possibly a joke by some suburban planner).

You are also aware that Apu went to Springfield Heights Institute of Technology, right? :-) I was surprised the school sign was shown so prominently in [whatever episode that was].

if the livingroom is different in every episode

[meatbridge]

then i doubt the entire town is going to be layed out the same in every episode.

Re:if the livingroom is different in every episode

[elwell642]

From the website: Due to the many inconsistencies among episodes, the map will never be completely accurate.

SNPP Parking Lot

[bolind]

Isn't the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant parking lot next door neighbours to The Simpson House?

Re:SNPP Parking Lot

[Rooked_One]

Hey thats true... I remember that episode...

I wonder how acurate everything is on the video game "Simpsons, Hit and Run" and how close it would be to this map if you compared it.

Re:SNPP Parking Lot

[Gruneun]

Then the Stonecutter's secret traffic tunnel wouldn't have done him much good. Duh.

Re:SNPP Parking Lot

[Coneasfast]

it seems to be inconsistent at many times to fit the plot, i'm guessing this map is the most common layout

Re:SNPP Parking Lot

[Joseff]

the map's home page say's "

"While the placement of most locations is arbitrary, many are placed according to where they appear in relationship to each other in specific episodes of The Simpsons. In some cases 'one-time references' to specific locations have been disregarded in favor of others more often repeated. Due to the many inconsistencies among episodes, the map will never be completely accurate."

I think they've done a great job considering it IS an imaginary place.

Re:SNPP Parking Lot

[untaken_name]

I think they've done a great job considering it IS an imaginary place.

Not to mention that it's a seaport, a resort town, a mountain town, a river town, a small town, and a big city as required by episodes.

Re:SNPP Parking Lot

[ericspinder]

I am not sure about the show order, but that must have been before they moved the town to escape the garbage.

Re:SNPP Parking Lot

[British]

We only saw that in one episode. Homer was driving to work, and had to get through a huge traffic jam. Eventually Homer gets there and Bart at home, which is neighboring the power plant parking lot says hi to Homer. Funny joke, but I think that was just a one off.

I wonder if there's also a web page describing every episode their cars have been wrecked. The earliest I can think of is when the station wagon(not the pink sedan with the crumpled fender) gets eaten by Truckasaurus.

Re:SNPP Parking Lot

[nojomofo]

I wonder if there's also a web page describing every episode their cars have been wrecked

[to the tune of the Flinstones theme]
Simpson, Homer Simpson
he's the greatest guy in history
from the town of Springfield,
he's about to hit a chestnut tree.

Yea But

[the_mad_poster]

What state is it in?

This is the fourth goddamn attempt to post this around that stupid 20 second rule. Thank you CmdrTaco. I almost had it last time, but I had only waited a MERE 19 seconds! THE HORROR!

Re:Yea But

[alman]

Judging from Homer I'd have to say Apathy :)

Re:Yea But

[lukewarmfusion]

That's a great answer to a stupid question.

Nancy Cartwright (the voice of Bart) visited my university a while back and someone asked about the state... her answer was something to the effect of, "Springfield is supposed to be a city that could be in any state in the country. If you look at the episodes, and track the cluest, you will see that they've pretty much all been ruled out. There is no secret answer." </paraphrase>

Re:Yea But

[kidgenius]

Well, if you remember the Simpsons episode where they parodied VH1's Behind the Music, called "Behind The Comedy" or something, near the end they say "this small family from northern Kentucky". Granted, Kentucky doesn't have an ocean like Springfield does, but there is a Springfield, Kentucky.

Re:Yea But

[Wyatt Earp]

Oregon.

Springfield is suposed to be Portland Oregon.
http://www.portlandtribune.com/simpsons/i ndex.htm

While there is a Springfield Oregon, down the road a 100 miles by Eugene, Simpson's Springfield is Portland, Shelbyville could be Gresham or Vancouver.

Re:Yea But

[Reverberant]

Springfield is suposed to be Portland Oregon.

Oh yeah? Compare this [csupomona.edu] with this [mapquest.com]. They even got downtown [cityofspri...ldmass.com] in the right place :)

(I know, I know, but the resemblance is striking!)

Re:Yea But

[chainringdotnet]

While The Simpson's try to make the show as friendly to the whole country as possible (and they enjoy keeping people guessing...) Matt Groening got his start writing Life is hell for the Oregonian newspaper. He went to The evergreen State College in Olympia. A bunch of the Streets in Northwest Portland's Alphabet district share names with Characters (Lovejoy, Flanders etc), The founder of Eugene (shares the freeway with Springfield) is named Eugene Skinner, There's a power plant Just north of the Oregon Border...There's a super Cheesy Theme park in between Springfield and Salem. None of these things really come up in the comparisons I read, mostly because those trying to find Springfield are too busy studying physical geography instead of the mental imagery floating around in the creator's head. Granted, to say that the Northwest is the soul influence not only carries that type of Statehood Narcissism that is usually reserved for SEC football college towns, it'd be downright stupid. He got inspirations all over the place. But to tell me that Groening didn't get the lion share of his ideas from the Northwest would be looking over what I think is the obvious. Springfield sits in Oregon.

They should update their flag...

[paranode]

It's quite an embarassment, especially as they're a northern state.

:)

detail detail..

[aixou]

The detail of that map is just frightening. I wouldn't be surprised if the shows animators use it as a reference now. Then again, maybe they have their own map, in which case, the dudes that reverse engineered it really wasted their friggin time.

Re:detail detail..

[MarkPNeyer]

That's because the majority of things in that map were just arbitrarily placed [csupomona.edu] : "While the placement of most locations is arbitrary"

Re:detail detail..

[7-Vodka]

it's not a waste of time! It's a wonderful piece of work and reverse engineering is sometimes it's own reward. Not to mention they can now compare the original with the deduced map!

Hmm

[odano]

Wait, I thought west springfield was 3 times the size of texas?

Re:Hmm

[maxwell demon]

Well, maybe Texas is a bit smaller than you thought :-)

Re:Hmm

[AsbestosRush]

From someone who's driven I10 coast to coast too many times, west texas through new mexico is the *worst* part of the drive. Miles of beautiful desert, but it just gets to be the same after the first couple of hours. Sunset/sunrise is kind of nice, tho.

Open WiFi hotspot

[anandpur]

Anybody know about any WiFi hotspot in springfield

Insane

[N8F8]

I can't beleieve the detail of this map. Anyone try correlating this to a real city?

GTA 4?

[Psychotext]

Personally, I can't wait for someone to make the first GTA mission expansion using this map! :-)

HOMER MAD! HOMER SMASH!

Re:GTA 4?

[DaHat]

We call that The Simpsons: Hit & Run [hitandrungame.com].

but I thought...

[H0NGK0NGPH00EY]

This is definitely cool, but I thought that one of the running jokes of the series was that the town always seems to suddenly have new major geological features that don't fit with ones they've shown before. It seems like making a map of the place kinda misses the point.

But, then again, someone must have made a map of it for The Simpsons Hit & Run [metacritic.com], right? Speaking of which, does this map match the one used in that game? Hmm...

Re:but I thought...

[ideatrack]

Exactly, like the 'mystery door' which is what writers call the door in the Simpsons' house which is either a door to the basement (see the episode with Burns' son) or the storage closet (chili cook off).

Ironically,

[_PimpDaddy7_]

I clicked into the map, and the first place I hit was MOE'S TAVERN :)

This would make...

[Pyrosz]

... a great GTA map! Lots of interesting places and varied locals. They really need to launch a map/mod editing tool for GTA3(VC).

Accuracy across episodes?

[enkafan]

While this is fun, if they did watch all the episodes multiple times they had to have noticed that something as common as the simpon's home address [snpp.com] has had 6 different values, although they have mostly been on Evergreen Terrace.

Still a fun diversion on a rainy thursday

Re:Accuracy across episodes?

[argStyopa]

RTFA of course

The Simpson House is located in Pressboard Estates, a development of 3 and 4 bedroom, working class houses adjacent to Springfield's central business district. The house number is sometimes given as 59, 94, 723, or 1094, but in most often seen as 742 Evergreen Terrace. The Simpsons have lived at this address since 1983.

What Can I say... OHHH YEA

[mrnick]

DOH!

Asking for it...

[meringuoid]

The Big Map of Springfield is quite large, they say, and advise dialup users to try the smaller ones.

It's just so touching. Bets on how long it lasts?

Something's Missing

[stuffduff]

Where's the overlay showing the routs of Bart, Lisa, Homer and Marge & Maggie on their way home? Like in the beginning of the show?

The Simpsons house

[TintinX]

I also found this link [lasvegassun.com] the other day.
Somebody has actually built a full scale replica of The Simpsons' house.

I wonder

[Tebriel]

Does this Map reflect the Simpsons driving games out there? How close to it are they?

Big Image

[thedillybar]

Will GIMP let me print one image stretched over 4 pages? 2443x1594 is amazing.

Impressive

[Rudeboy777]

Very detailed, but I don't see "The only bridge out of town" (recall the meteor episode)

But havn't the writers...

[lxt]

...actually admitted that they gave up on the idea of a map years ago - it's on one of the DVD commentarys, when they talk about how at the start of the show they used to be really picky about the layout of the house and Springfield, but realised if they just gave up on that idea they could have some much funnier jokes (I believe Homer's house is at one point right next to the Nuclear Power Plant carpack, at another its just next to Moes etc. etc.).

Consistancy?

[Lorenzo de Medici]

I think the real question is this: Were the writers of The Simpsons always consistant? I know this comes up as a problem in, for example, a lot of science fiction and fantasy authors use little bits of made up languages to add variety and depth to their writing. Unfortunately, very few take as much care as J.R.R. Tolkien (and his many languages of Middle Earth) or Marc Okrand (Klingon) to actually create a consistant linguistic structure.

So are there many instances of inconsistency?

Re:Consistancy?

[Minna Kirai]

Were the writers of The Simpsons always consistant?

Considering that the entire town has been lifted and relocated [tvtome.com], it could've had multiple completely different layouts at times.

And considering that even TIME isn't consistent there (Bart has been 13 for 15 straight years)... you couldn't expect geography to make sense either.

Worst...ever.

[medscaper]

Bart has been 13 for 15 straight years

Worst...Simpsons...information...EVER.

Poster sized

[(trb001)]

I would love this as a poster in my home office/cube at work. Anyone know any resources for printing out the digital version WELL? I use Ofoto.com for most of my digital camera pics, but they only go up to 20x30...I'd really like full blown poster size. I've sent an email to Jerry asking permission, assuming he says "Go for it", does anyone know a good place online to go?

--trb

Re:Poster sized

[Ztras]

Or, for those with more money than time:

Kinko's will gladly print it for IIRC $10.00 per sqaure foot. You can get it mounted on foam board and laminated for an extra few $$ as well. 24 hour turnaround at the most.

Awesome!

[thebra]

That is rockin' cool. I would sell all my belongings and move there I just want to know which Springfield this is? It drives me nuts!

Maybe I watch to much Simpsons...

you can drive through it

[supergwiz]

THere is a console game [simpsonsroadrage.com] from EA (xbox, ps2) that lets you drive the entire Springfield. The game goals is identical to Crazy Taxi. Gameplay is so-so, The value of the game is in the creative details around town that a fan of the show can appreciate.

So???

[hellfire]

I'll be impressed when they can actually find which state springfield is in!

Bart's factory

[__aajqwr7439]

I don't see it. Wasn't it across the street from Moe's?

The rats didn't seem to have to to travel very far to get there...

It's filthy, and it's mine!

xox,
Dead Nancy

Springfield, KY (?)

[brownpau]

Sadly, still no answer to the unanswerable question: what state is Springfield in? Because Northern Kentucky sure doesn't have a coastline.

What the hell?

[Black_Logic]

Is each of those buildings on the map really in some episode? Crystal Cathedral is one I can't remember.

Episode 5F18

[Otto]

The episode where Homer and Marge end up streaking through town and naked at the football game. During the chase through town, there's a bit on a hot air balloon.

"Now, let us thank the Lord for this magnificent crystal cathedral, which allows us to look out upon His wonderous creation."
(Homer's hits the window and his ass starts squealing against the glass)
"Now quickly! Gaze down at God's fabulous parquet floor."
(still squealing)
"Eyes on the floor... still on the floor... always on God's floor."

Can't GeoCache in Springfield

[FerretFrottage]

Where are the GPS cooridinates?

The map is a good thing

[armando_wall]

But how can we to actually get there? ;)

This reminds me

[jayhawk88]

Of some of the old classic threads in alt.tv.simpsons, like "Where is Springfield?" and "What's the layout of the Simpson house?"

In those two cases, it turns out that when you take in all the data from all shows, Springfield can literally be nowhere in the US, and the Simpson's house defies the laws of physics. This map is cool and all, but I suspect that a true map of Springfield is impossible to draw. Heck, off the top of my head I can mention the "Meteorite coming to crush Springfield) episode, where it's mentioned that Springfield has only one bridge going out of town.

Having lived in Springfield, IL

[gillbates]

I've always wondered if the choice of names wasn't somewhat coincidental.... Especially considering that one of the creators of the Simpsons is a Northern Illinois University grad.

Was this before or after Plan "B"?

[wcrowe]

Is this map before or after the entire town was moved (after Homer's untimely stint as town Sanitation Manager)?

Mirrored map

[antdude]

It looks like the place is slashdotted. Here's a mirror [evergreen.edu]? copy I found on Google's image search [google.com].

Re:Mirrored map

[cswiii]

Hmmmm....

The Simpsons live on Evergreen Terrace...
The mirror is at Evergreen.edu...

Do I sense a CONSPIRACY?

(probably not)

Quite an acheivement...

[CrazyTalk]

But with anything Springfield, there are too many insconsistencies to make a definitive map. For example, in one episode Homer walks home from Moes and is exhausted, then the "Camera" pulls back and we see that Moes is just a few doors down from his house. So, Moes should be on Evergreen Terrace, but on the map it isn't. Same for the long-running joke over which State Springfield is located in (if you took all the facts from eposide together, the result is an impossiblity). Still, it looks like they did a great job with what they had to work with!

A Complete Guide To Getting Slashdotted

[jargoone]

1) Pick a topic to write about
2) Make it a topic /.ers would be interested in
3) Make a website about this topic
4) Put some large images on the website
5) ???
6) Profit!!! (for your ISP)

Re:A Complete Guide To Getting Slashdotted

[pbhenson]

yes, thank you /. for making what would have been a calm mundane morning so exciting. When I woke up this morning I had no idea I would be recompiling Apache to increase the hardcoded static limit on maximum server processes and tuning our load balancer to have a shorter failure retry, all while fending off upper management who wanted to simply make the map site unavailable. We are not really scaled (or funded, for anyone familiar with the California State budget)to handle this kind of load, but after some

Shøp!

[Bender Unit 22]

I see they remembered Shøp (the chain of Danish super stores). That one got lots of laughs, at least when you're from Denmark as I am.

But besides from that, it seems that a lot of those places are just a wild guess, and it have to be. I mean, even the creators have often forgotten to place the music shop close to Moe's.
And then there are the relocations that are done just for fun. like placing the power plants parking next to the Simpsons house.

The real Springfield

[and by]

People should know that the real Springfield is in Oregon, the kind of run-down suburb of Eugene. I call it a suburb, even though it's really just anothe town.

The name of Eugene is the same as the Bart's principal, whose last name is Skinner, just like a certain Butte in Eugene, Oregon. Groening did go to the University of Oregon in Eugene after all. There's also a statute on the university campus that's really all too similar to that of the pioneer Springfield in the cartoon.

There are a lot of other similarities as well, but I don't have time to go into them.

Let me just get it out of the way...

[Mr. Bad Example]

I for one welcome our new cartographer overlords.

Re:simpson's house

[Professeur Shadoko]

it's in the second quadrant, just below the sign "pressboard estates"

Re:simpson's house

[Polkyb]

Ahhh... Highlighted in bold red letters (like warnings, etc.) so that any geek who looked for it would, naturally, completely disregard it as insignificant

:-)

Re:Fake St?

[MrBlackBand]

Look around the area called "Springfield Harbor and Waterfront".

Re:I couldn't find the burlesque house!

[SomeGuyFromCA]

The Maison Derriere is just east of the south end of the river.

Alternatively, go one block west of the Simpson house and then straight south.

Re:Where is the monorail?

[tbmaddux]

The monorail is shown in light gray dashed lines. Easiest to spot just to the right of the Springfield Bridge where I-95 crosses the water... look for the words MONO and RAIL on either side of the street.

I'm still looking for the Escalator to Nowhere, the 50 ft. Magnifying Glass, and the burned ruins of the Popsicle Stick Skyscraper.

Re:Where is the monorail?

[Tharian]

Since you found that, have you found the KFP?

That was the Kentucky Fried Panda that was "Finger Ling-Ling good!"

Maybe it wouldn't be on the map since it got crushed by the log that used to be Springfield's oldest living tree?

Or maybe even finding the Angel Hills Mall. The one that was built after the scam of finding what looked to be angel fossils...

Hmm... what was that other mall built by the billionaire that bragged about climbing up Niagara Falls and knocking out a boxer? Where would it be located?