Springfield

Springfield is a is a fictional town in the American animated sitcom *The Simpsons*, which serves as its main setting. A mid-sized town in an undetermined state of the United States, Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. The geography of the town and its surroundings are flexible, changing to address whatever an episode's plot calls for.

Springfield's location is almost impossible to determine, and the show is deliberately evasive on the subject, providing contradictory clues and information about its location. In Season 11 Episode 22, the Simpsons were referred to as a family from “northern Kentucky”; the strongest indication of their location in the show’s history.

### Politics, religion, and media[edit]

In politics, the mayor of Springfield is Joe Quimby, while the town's representative in Congress is Herschel "Krusty the Clown" Krustofsky (R) of the 24th congressional district. In "Sideshow Bob Roberts", Sideshow Bob (R) ran for Mayor of Springfield and defeated Mayor Quimby, but was later discovered to have committed pure electoral fraud. Previous representatives include Horace Wilcox, who died of a heart attack while in office, and Bob Arnold, who is forced to resign after Lisa exposes his corruption. Mary Bailey (D) is the governor of Springfield's state. The town is infamous for its corruption. Mayor Quimby: a sleazy, womanizing politician is known for his stupidity. During the MENSA tenure, Mayor Quimby is confronted by Lisa Simpson after a group of drunks steal their Gazebo for a Shakespeare play. Thinking he is exposed for his corruption, he flees for a while and the MENSA chapter runs Springfield. Other corrupt parties include the Police Force (Specifically Chief Wiggum).[*citation needed*]

Religious houses of worship include Congregation Beth Springfield, the First Church of Springfield, First AME Church, the Cathedral of the Downtown, and a Buddhist vihara.[*citation needed*]

KBBL Broadcasting Inc. is the major media outlet, owning at least three radio stations and one television station. Channel 6 of KBBL, the most watched channel by far, airs *The Krusty the Clown Show* and Kent Brockman's nightly news broadcast. *The Springfield Shopper* is a town newspaper, although it mainly prints tabloid-like newspapers and thus, in the episode "Three Gays of the Condo", it is stated that the headlines are "all a joke" and that most other people read the *New York Times*. However, the *New York Times* has never been mentioned since.[*citation needed*]

### Politics, religion, and media[edit]

In politics, the mayor of Springfield is Joe Quimby, while the town's representative in Congress is Herschel "Krusty the Clown" Krustofsky (R) of the 24th congressional district. In "Sideshow Bob Roberts", Sideshow Bob (R) ran for Mayor of Springfield and defeated Mayor Quimby, but was later discovered to have committed pure electoral fraud. Previous representatives include Horace Wilcox, who died of a heart attack while in office, and Bob Arnold, who is forced to resign after Lisa exposes his corruption. Mary Bailey (D) is the governor of Springfield's state. The town is infamous for its corruption. Mayor Quimby: a sleazy, womanizing politician is known for his stupidity. During the MENSA tenure, Mayor Quimby is confronted by Lisa Simpson after a group of drunks steal their Gazebo for a Shakespeare play. Thinking he is exposed for his corruption, he flees for a while and the MENSA chapter runs Springfield. Other corrupt parties include the Police Force (Specifically Chief Wiggum).[*citation needed*]

Religious houses of worship include Congregation Beth Springfield, the First Church of Springfield, First AME Church, the Cathedral of the Downtown, and a Buddhist vihara.[*citation needed*]

KBBL Broadcasting Inc. is the major media outlet, owning at least three radio stations and one television station. Channel 6 of KBBL, the most watched channel by far, airs *The Krusty the Clown Show* and Kent Brockman's nightly news broadcast. *The Springfield Shopper* is a town newspaper, although it mainly prints tabloid-like newspapers and thus, in the episode "Three Gays of the Condo", it is stated that the headlines are "all a joke" and that most other people read the *New York Times*. However, the *New York Times* has never been mentioned since.[*citation needed*]

### Neighborhoods and attractions[edit]

The town is divided into many neighborhoods, including Rats Nest, Bum Town, Chinatown, Crackton, East Springfield, Greek Town, Russian Town, Junkyville, Little Bangkok, Little Ethiopia, Little Italy, Little Newark, Little Stockholm, Little Seattle, Little Ukraine, Ethnictown, the Jewish Lower East Side, Kelly Terrace, Pressboard Estates, Recluse Ranch Estates, Skid Row, Springfield Harbor, Springfield Heights, Hyperion Drive, Springshire, Tibet Town, Waverly Hills, the borough of Sprooklyn, the Lincoln Park Village Housing Project, the Flammable District, a gay district and a fast-food district.

Springfield boasts an opera house, an outdoor amphitheater, an arboretum, and a vibrant jazz scene, and was previously regarded as the entertainment capital of its state.

### Transportation[edit]

For transportation, Springfield has an international airport, is served by a railroad, and has both an abandoned subway system, a public transit system, and an unsuccessful monorail line, as well as an escalator to nowhere.[*citation needed*]

### Sports[edit]

The town is home to the Springfield Isotopes, an AA minor league baseball team which plays its home games at Duff Stadium; the Springfield Atoms football team at Springfield Stadium; the NBA's Springfield Excitement (formerly the Austin Celtics); and the Springfield Ice-O-Topes hockey team at the Springfield Arena.

## Businesses[edit]

### Springfield Nuclear Power Plant[edit]

The Springfield Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant in Springfield owned by Montgomery Burns. Opened in 1974, the plant is the key supplier of the city of Springfield's energy supply, and the carelessness of Mr. Burns and the plant's employees (like Homer, who is employed at Sector 7G) often endangers the residents and natural environment of Springfield. At the core of the plant are two Fissionator 1952 Slow-Fission Reactors, operating in spite of more than 342 safety violations with an estimated repair bill to bring the plant up to code being in excess of $56 million. Among the more alarming safety violations are emergency exits that are just painted on the wall, cracks in the cooling towers held together by tape, massive amounts of poorly stored toxic waste and dangerously unqualified personnel (mainly Simpson), some of which are not even human, such as a chicken that briefly substituted for Homer, and a duck that was used to pull a cart of toxic waste around. A running gag in earlier seasons was the poor security of the plant, with the outside security booth often going unmanned, but this has changed in recent episodes, with the entrance to the plant being heavily guarded. The plant has come close to a meltdown several times and has blown up at least once.

There is a crow or raven that lives near the Power Plant that caws whenever an establishing shot of the Power Plant is on screen. Mutated fish with more than two eyes have been seen in the lake behind the power plant, which has a large pipe pumping nuclear waste into it. According to Mr. Burns, the plant is endowed with flippered mutants. In the Season 25 episode "Homerland", he comments that the air conditioning system has never worked properly.

In one episode, Mr. Burns mentions that he owns the electric company as part of his power monopoly.

The design and folly of Springfield Nuclear Power Plant is often rumored to be based on the troubled Trojan Nuclear Power Plant(closed in 1993 due to defects) near Matt Groening's home town of Portland, Oregon, or the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington. However, Antonia Coffman, Groening's publicist, has said that the Springfield plant's design is generic and that "the Springfield Nuclear Power plant was not based on the Trojan Plant or any other power plant in the country."

Waylon Smithers is Burns' executive assistant and lackey, as Burns calls him. Among the plant's employees are Homer Simpson, Lenny Leonard, and Carl Carlson. The plant offers yearly visits from the Springfield Elementary School.

### Politics, religion, and media[edit]

In politics, the mayor of Springfield is Joe Quimby, while the town's representative in Congress is Herschel "Krusty the Clown" Krustofsky (R) of the 24th congressional district. In "Sideshow Bob Roberts", Sideshow Bob (R) ran for Mayor of Springfield and defeated Mayor Quimby, but was later discovered to have committed pure electoral fraud. Previous representatives include Horace Wilcox, who died of a heart attack while in office, and Bob Arnold, who is forced to resign after Lisa exposes his corruption. Mary Bailey (D) is the governor of Springfield's state. The town is infamous for its corruption. Mayor Quimby: a sleazy, womanizing politician is known for his stupidity. During the MENSA tenure, Mayor Quimby is confronted by Lisa Simpson after a group of drunks steal their Gazebo for a Shakespeare play. Thinking he is exposed for his corruption, he flees for a while and the MENSA chapter runs Springfield. Other corrupt parties include the Police Force (Specifically Chief Wiggum).[*citation needed*]

Religious houses of worship include Congregation Beth Springfield, the First Church of Springfield, First AME Church, the Cathedral of the Downtown, and a Buddhist vihara.[*citation needed*]

KBBL Broadcasting Inc. is the major media outlet, owning at least three radio stations and one television station. Channel 6 of KBBL, the most watched channel by far, airs *The Krusty the Clown Show* and Kent Brockman's nightly news broadcast. *The Springfield Shopper* is a town newspaper, although it mainly prints tabloid-like newspapers and thus, in the episode "Three Gays of the Condo", it is stated that the headlines are "all a joke" and that most other people read the *New York Times*. However, the *New York Times* has never been mentioned since.[*citation needed*]

### Neighborhoods and attractions[edit]

The town is divided into many neighborhoods, including Rats Nest, Bum Town, Chinatown, Crackton, East Springfield, Greek Town, Russian Town, Junkyville, Little Bangkok, Little Ethiopia, Little Italy, Little Newark, Little Stockholm, Little Seattle, Little Ukraine, Ethnictown, the Jewish Lower East Side, Kelly Terrace, Pressboard Estates, Recluse Ranch Estates, Skid Row, Springfield Harbor, Springfield Heights, Hyperion Drive, Springshire, Tibet Town, Waverly Hills, the borough of Sprooklyn, the Lincoln Park Village Housing Project, the Flammable District, a gay district and a fast-food district.

Springfield boasts an opera house, an outdoor amphitheater, an arboretum, and a vibrant jazz scene, and was previously regarded as the entertainment capital of its state.

### Transportation[edit]

For transportation, Springfield has an international airport, is served by a railroad, and has both an abandoned subway system, a public transit system, and an unsuccessful monorail line, as well as an escalator to nowhere.[*citation needed*]

### Sports[edit]

The town is home to the Springfield Isotopes, an AA minor league baseball team which plays its home games at Duff Stadium; the Springfield Atoms football team at Springfield Stadium; the NBA's Springfield Excitement (formerly the Austin Celtics); and the Springfield Ice-O-Topes hockey team at the Springfield Arena.

## Businesses[edit]

### Springfield Nuclear Power Plant[edit]

The Springfield Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant in Springfield owned by Montgomery Burns. Opened in 1974, the plant is the key supplier of the city of Springfield's energy supply, and the carelessness of Mr. Burns and the plant's employees (like Homer, who is employed at Sector 7G) often endangers the residents and natural environment of Springfield. At the core of the plant are two Fissionator 1952 Slow-Fission Reactors, operating in spite of more than 342 safety violations with an estimated repair bill to bring the plant up to code being in excess of $56 million. Among the more alarming safety violations are emergency exits that are just painted on the wall, cracks in the cooling towers held together by tape, massive amounts of poorly stored toxic waste and dangerously unqualified personnel (mainly Simpson), some of which are not even human, such as a chicken that briefly substituted for Homer, and a duck that was used to pull a cart of toxic waste around. A running gag in earlier seasons was the poor security of the plant, with the outside security booth often going unmanned, but this has changed in recent episodes, with the entrance to the plant being heavily guarded. The plant has come close to a meltdown several times and has blown up at least once.

There is a crow or raven that lives near the Power Plant that caws whenever an establishing shot of the Power Plant is on screen. Mutated fish with more than two eyes have been seen in the lake behind the power plant, which has a large pipe pumping nuclear waste into it. According to Mr. Burns, the plant is endowed with flippered mutants. In the Season 25 episode "Homerland", he comments that the air conditioning system has never worked properly.

In one episode, Mr. Burns mentions that he owns the electric company as part of his power monopoly.

The design and folly of Springfield Nuclear Power Plant is often rumored to be based on the troubled Trojan Nuclear Power Plant(closed in 1993 due to defects) near Matt Groening's home town of Portland, Oregon, or the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington. However, Antonia Coffman, Groening's publicist, has said that the Springfield plant's design is generic and that "the Springfield Nuclear Power plant was not based on the Trojan Plant or any other power plant in the country."

Waylon Smithers is Burns' executive assistant and lackey, as Burns calls him. Among the plant's employees are Homer Simpson, Lenny Leonard, and Carl Carlson. The plant offers yearly visits from the Springfield Elementary School.

### Kwik-E-Mart[edit]

Main article: Kwik-E-Mart
A Seattle 7-Eleven store transformed into a Kwik-E-Mart.

Kwik-E-Mart is a convenience store located in Springfield and run by Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. The Kwik-E-Mart first appeared in the first-season episode "The Telltale Head" (although mentioned in "Bart the General" as the "Quick-e-Mart"). In "Stark Raving Dad", a street sign reading "Highland" is seen outside one of the front windows, in the same blue color as is used for signs for Highland Avenue in Los Angeles. Likewise, three buildings are visible that are similar to some of those that might be seen on that street: two low buildings with bars over the windows, and a third, also with barred windows, which has a mission-style roof and a sign reading "Smog Center."

The episode "Homer and Apu" suggests that Apu is an employee of the Kwik-E-Mart and after losing his job there had to travel to India, where the Kwik-E-Mart head office is located, in the Himalayas. However, Apu mentions at a bachelor auction that he runs his own business in "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons".

In addition to the sale of food, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and other items offered at a typical convenience store, gasoline pumpshave been shown in front on two occasions. *The Springfield Shopper* also sells well there and it is where Principal Seymour Skinner purchases his tabloids. In the episode "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song", Apu has just installed 16 new gas pumps to compete with rival convenience store, the Gas 'N Gulp. However, they, along with the Kwik-E-Mart, are destroyed due to Bart accidentally interrupting a live mortar exercise at Fort Springfield when visiting the re-enlisted Skinner, forcing the soldiers to redirect the mortar fire into the town, destroying the store and pumps off screen. The episode "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield" also shows the pumps where Apu refuses to go out and serve a customer on the forecourt.

In July 2007, convenience store chain 7-Eleven converted 11 of its stores in the United States and one in Canada into Kwik-E-Marts to promote the release of *The Simpsons Movie*. The locations of the renovated Kwik-E-Marts were: Bladensburg, Maryland/Washington, D.C.; Burbank, California; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Henderson/Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Mountain View/San Francisco; New York City; Orlando/Lake Buena Vista, Florida; Seattle; and Vancouver/Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada.These 12 locations, as well as the majority of other North American 7-Elevens, sold products found in *The Simpsons*, such as "Buzz Cola", "Krusty-O's", "Squishees", pink frosted "Sprinklicious doughnuts", and other *Simpsons*-themed merchandise. The Squishees were Slurpees that are sold in special collector cups and the Krusty-O's were made by Malt-O-Meal. The promotion resulted in a 30% increase in profits for the changed 7-Eleven stores. This can be seen during the opening of *The Simpsons Movie*.

### Politics, religion, and media[edit]

In politics, the mayor of Springfield is Joe Quimby, while the town's representative in Congress is Herschel "Krusty the Clown" Krustofsky (R) of the 24th congressional district. In "Sideshow Bob Roberts", Sideshow Bob (R) ran for Mayor of Springfield and defeated Mayor Quimby, but was later discovered to have committed pure electoral fraud. Previous representatives include Horace Wilcox, who died of a heart attack while in office, and Bob Arnold, who is forced to resign after Lisa exposes his corruption. Mary Bailey (D) is the governor of Springfield's state. The town is infamous for its corruption. Mayor Quimby: a sleazy, womanizing politician is known for his stupidity. During the MENSA tenure, Mayor Quimby is confronted by Lisa Simpson after a group of drunks steal their Gazebo for a Shakespeare play. Thinking he is exposed for his corruption, he flees for a while and the MENSA chapter runs Springfield. Other corrupt parties include the Police Force (Specifically Chief Wiggum).[*citation needed*]

Religious houses of worship include Congregation Beth Springfield, the First Church of Springfield, First AME Church, the Cathedral of the Downtown, and a Buddhist vihara.[*citation needed*]

KBBL Broadcasting Inc. is the major media outlet, owning at least three radio stations and one television station. Channel 6 of KBBL, the most watched channel by far, airs *The Krusty the Clown Show* and Kent Brockman's nightly news broadcast. *The Springfield Shopper* is a town newspaper, although it mainly prints tabloid-like newspapers and thus, in the episode "Three Gays of the Condo", it is stated that the headlines are "all a joke" and that most other people read the *New York Times*. However, the *New York Times* has never been mentioned since.[*citation needed*]

### Neighborhoods and attractions[edit]

The town is divided into many neighborhoods, including Rats Nest, Bum Town, Chinatown, Crackton, East Springfield, Greek Town, Russian Town, Junkyville, Little Bangkok, Little Ethiopia, Little Italy, Little Newark, Little Stockholm, Little Seattle, Little Ukraine, Ethnictown, the Jewish Lower East Side, Kelly Terrace, Pressboard Estates, Recluse Ranch Estates, Skid Row, Springfield Harbor, Springfield Heights, Hyperion Drive, Springshire, Tibet Town, Waverly Hills, the borough of Sprooklyn, the Lincoln Park Village Housing Project, the Flammable District, a gay district and a fast-food district.

Springfield boasts an opera house, an outdoor amphitheater, an arboretum, and a vibrant jazz scene, and was previously regarded as the entertainment capital of its state.

### Transportation[edit]

For transportation, Springfield has an international airport, is served by a railroad, and has both an abandoned subway system, a public transit system, and an unsuccessful monorail line, as well as an escalator to nowhere.[*citation needed*]

### Sports[edit]

The town is home to the Springfield Isotopes, an AA minor league baseball team which plays its home games at Duff Stadium; the Springfield Atoms football team at Springfield Stadium; the NBA's Springfield Excitement (formerly the Austin Celtics); and the Springfield Ice-O-Topes hockey team at the Springfield Arena.

## Businesses[edit]

### Springfield Nuclear Power Plant[edit]

The Springfield Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant in Springfield owned by Montgomery Burns. Opened in 1974, the plant is the key supplier of the city of Springfield's energy supply, and the carelessness of Mr. Burns and the plant's employees (like Homer, who is employed at Sector 7G) often endangers the residents and natural environment of Springfield. At the core of the plant are two Fissionator 1952 Slow-Fission Reactors, operating in spite of more than 342 safety violations with an estimated repair bill to bring the plant up to code being in excess of $56 million. Among the more alarming safety violations are emergency exits that are just painted on the wall, cracks in the cooling towers held together by tape, massive amounts of poorly stored toxic waste and dangerously unqualified personnel (mainly Simpson), some of which are not even human, such as a chicken that briefly substituted for Homer, and a duck that was used to pull a cart of toxic waste around. A running gag in earlier seasons was the poor security of the plant, with the outside security booth often going unmanned, but this has changed in recent episodes, with the entrance to the plant being heavily guarded. The plant has come close to a meltdown several times and has blown up at least once.

There is a crow or raven that lives near the Power Plant that caws whenever an establishing shot of the Power Plant is on screen. Mutated fish with more than two eyes have been seen in the lake behind the power plant, which has a large pipe pumping nuclear waste into it. According to Mr. Burns, the plant is endowed with flippered mutants. In the Season 25 episode "Homerland", he comments that the air conditioning system has never worked properly.

In one episode, Mr. Burns mentions that he owns the electric company as part of his power monopoly.

The design and folly of Springfield Nuclear Power Plant is often rumored to be based on the troubled Trojan Nuclear Power Plant(closed in 1993 due to defects) near Matt Groening's home town of Portland, Oregon, or the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington. However, Antonia Coffman, Groening's publicist, has said that the Springfield plant's design is generic and that "the Springfield Nuclear Power plant was not based on the Trojan Plant or any other power plant in the country."

Waylon Smithers is Burns' executive assistant and lackey, as Burns calls him. Among the plant's employees are Homer Simpson, Lenny Leonard, and Carl Carlson. The plant offers yearly visits from the Springfield Elementary School.

### Kwik-E-Mart[edit]

Main article: Kwik-E-Mart
A Seattle 7-Eleven store transformed into a Kwik-E-Mart.

Kwik-E-Mart is a convenience store located in Springfield and run by Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. The Kwik-E-Mart first appeared in the first-season episode "The Telltale Head" (although mentioned in "Bart the General" as the "Quick-e-Mart"). In "Stark Raving Dad", a street sign reading "Highland" is seen outside one of the front windows, in the same blue color as is used for signs for Highland Avenue in Los Angeles. Likewise, three buildings are visible that are similar to some of those that might be seen on that street: two low buildings with bars over the windows, and a third, also with barred windows, which has a mission-style roof and a sign reading "Smog Center."

The episode "Homer and Apu" suggests that Apu is an employee of the Kwik-E-Mart and after losing his job there had to travel to India, where the Kwik-E-Mart head office is located, in the Himalayas. However, Apu mentions at a bachelor auction that he runs his own business in "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons".

In addition to the sale of food, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and other items offered at a typical convenience store, gasoline pumpshave been shown in front on two occasions. *The Springfield Shopper* also sells well there and it is where Principal Seymour Skinner purchases his tabloids. In the episode "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song", Apu has just installed 16 new gas pumps to compete with rival convenience store, the Gas 'N Gulp. However, they, along with the Kwik-E-Mart, are destroyed due to Bart accidentally interrupting a live mortar exercise at Fort Springfield when visiting the re-enlisted Skinner, forcing the soldiers to redirect the mortar fire into the town, destroying the store and pumps off screen. The episode "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield" also shows the pumps where Apu refuses to go out and serve a customer on the forecourt.

In July 2007, convenience store chain 7-Eleven converted 11 of its stores in the United States and one in Canada into Kwik-E-Marts to promote the release of *The Simpsons Movie*. The locations of the renovated Kwik-E-Marts were: Bladensburg, Maryland/Washington, D.C.; Burbank, California; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Henderson/Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Mountain View/San Francisco; New York City; Orlando/Lake Buena Vista, Florida; Seattle; and Vancouver/Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada.These 12 locations, as well as the majority of other North American 7-Elevens, sold products found in *The Simpsons*, such as "Buzz Cola", "Krusty-O's", "Squishees", pink frosted "Sprinklicious doughnuts", and other *Simpsons*-themed merchandise. The Squishees were Slurpees that are sold in special collector cups and the Krusty-O's were made by Malt-O-Meal. The promotion resulted in a 30% increase in profits for the changed 7-Eleven stores. This can be seen during the opening of *The Simpsons Movie*.

### The Android's Dungeon & Baseball Card Shop[edit]

The Android's Dungeon is a comic book store owned by Jeff Albertson a.k.a. Comic Book Guy. The comic book store and its owner first appeared in the episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", when Bart sees a copy of the first issue of the Radioactive Man comic on sale for $100.

In the episode titled "Worst Episode Ever" (which is a remark often used by Comic Book Guy), Bart and Milhouse are given the job of running the comic book store after Comic Book Guy suffers from a stress-induced heart attack and is instructed to try and gain a social life. During their brief tenure at the store, Bart and Milhouse discover a secret room filled with bootleg videotapes of various extremely rare or illegal subjects, such as a taping of Mr. Rogers on a drunken bender and several interrogation tapes from the Springfield Police. These tapes are later confiscated during a police raid on the store. It was damaged in *The Simpsons Movie*, like most of the rest of the town, with Comic Book Guy living out of the ruins, considering that all-in-all, his life collecting comics had been "well spent".

Comics sold there are well-loved by Bart and Milhouse's Radioactive Man, Manboy, Radiation Dude, Batboy, Mr. Hop, Batchick, Mr. Smarty Pants, Birdguy, Nick, Cat Girl, Power Person, Dog Kid, Iguana Girl, Snake Kid, Lava Lady, Star Dog, The Human Bee, Mister Amazing and Tree Man, as well as real-life comics such as *The Amazing Spider-Man* and *Fantastic Four*.

### Politics, religion, and media[edit]

In politics, the mayor of Springfield is Joe Quimby, while the town's representative in Congress is Herschel "Krusty the Clown" Krustofsky (R) of the 24th congressional district. In "Sideshow Bob Roberts", Sideshow Bob (R) ran for Mayor of Springfield and defeated Mayor Quimby, but was later discovered to have committed pure electoral fraud. Previous representatives include Horace Wilcox, who died of a heart attack while in office, and Bob Arnold, who is forced to resign after Lisa exposes his corruption. Mary Bailey (D) is the governor of Springfield's state. The town is infamous for its corruption. Mayor Quimby: a sleazy, womanizing politician is known for his stupidity. During the MENSA tenure, Mayor Quimby is confronted by Lisa Simpson after a group of drunks steal their Gazebo for a Shakespeare play. Thinking he is exposed for his corruption, he flees for a while and the MENSA chapter runs Springfield. Other corrupt parties include the Police Force (Specifically Chief Wiggum).[*citation needed*]

Religious houses of worship include Congregation Beth Springfield, the First Church of Springfield, First AME Church, the Cathedral of the Downtown, and a Buddhist vihara.[*citation needed*]

KBBL Broadcasting Inc. is the major media outlet, owning at least three radio stations and one television station. Channel 6 of KBBL, the most watched channel by far, airs *The Krusty the Clown Show* and Kent Brockman's nightly news broadcast. *The Springfield Shopper* is a town newspaper, although it mainly prints tabloid-like newspapers and thus, in the episode "Three Gays of the Condo", it is stated that the headlines are "all a joke" and that most other people read the *New York Times*. However, the *New York Times* has never been mentioned since.[*citation needed*]

### Neighborhoods and attractions[edit]

The town is divided into many neighborhoods, including Rats Nest, Bum Town, Chinatown, Crackton, East Springfield, Greek Town, Russian Town, Junkyville, Little Bangkok, Little Ethiopia, Little Italy, Little Newark, Little Stockholm, Little Seattle, Little Ukraine, Ethnictown, the Jewish Lower East Side, Kelly Terrace, Pressboard Estates, Recluse Ranch Estates, Skid Row, Springfield Harbor, Springfield Heights, Hyperion Drive, Springshire, Tibet Town, Waverly Hills, the borough of Sprooklyn, the Lincoln Park Village Housing Project, the Flammable District, a gay district and a fast-food district.

Springfield boasts an opera house, an outdoor amphitheater, an arboretum, and a vibrant jazz scene, and was previously regarded as the entertainment capital of its state.

### Transportation[edit]

For transportation, Springfield has an international airport, is served by a railroad, and has both an abandoned subway system, a public transit system, and an unsuccessful monorail line, as well as an escalator to nowhere.[*citation needed*]

### Sports[edit]

The town is home to the Springfield Isotopes, an AA minor league baseball team which plays its home games at Duff Stadium; the Springfield Atoms football team at Springfield Stadium; the NBA's Springfield Excitement (formerly the Austin Celtics); and the Springfield Ice-O-Topes hockey team at the Springfield Arena.

## Businesses[edit]

### Springfield Nuclear Power Plant[edit]

The Springfield Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant in Springfield owned by Montgomery Burns. Opened in 1974, the plant is the key supplier of the city of Springfield's energy supply, and the carelessness of Mr. Burns and the plant's employees (like Homer, who is employed at Sector 7G) often endangers the residents and natural environment of Springfield. At the core of the plant are two Fissionator 1952 Slow-Fission Reactors, operating in spite of more than 342 safety violations with an estimated repair bill to bring the plant up to code being in excess of $56 million. Among the more alarming safety violations are emergency exits that are just painted on the wall, cracks in the cooling towers held together by tape, massive amounts of poorly stored toxic waste and dangerously unqualified personnel (mainly Simpson), some of which are not even human, such as a chicken that briefly substituted for Homer, and a duck that was used to pull a cart of toxic waste around. A running gag in earlier seasons was the poor security of the plant, with the outside security booth often going unmanned, but this has changed in recent episodes, with the entrance to the plant being heavily guarded. The plant has come close to a meltdown several times and has blown up at least once.

There is a crow or raven that lives near the Power Plant that caws whenever an establishing shot of the Power Plant is on screen. Mutated fish with more than two eyes have been seen in the lake behind the power plant, which has a large pipe pumping nuclear waste into it. According to Mr. Burns, the plant is endowed with flippered mutants. In the Season 25 episode "Homerland", he comments that the air conditioning system has never worked properly.

In one episode, Mr. Burns mentions that he owns the electric company as part of his power monopoly.

The design and folly of Springfield Nuclear Power Plant is often rumored to be based on the troubled Trojan Nuclear Power Plant(closed in 1993 due to defects) near Matt Groening's home town of Portland, Oregon, or the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington. However, Antonia Coffman, Groening's publicist, has said that the Springfield plant's design is generic and that "the Springfield Nuclear Power plant was not based on the Trojan Plant or any other power plant in the country."

Waylon Smithers is Burns' executive assistant and lackey, as Burns calls him. Among the plant's employees are Homer Simpson, Lenny Leonard, and Carl Carlson. The plant offers yearly visits from the Springfield Elementary School.

### Kwik-E-Mart[edit]

Main article: Kwik-E-Mart
A Seattle 7-Eleven store transformed into a Kwik-E-Mart.

Kwik-E-Mart is a convenience store located in Springfield and run by Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. The Kwik-E-Mart first appeared in the first-season episode "The Telltale Head" (although mentioned in "Bart the General" as the "Quick-e-Mart"). In "Stark Raving Dad", a street sign reading "Highland" is seen outside one of the front windows, in the same blue color as is used for signs for Highland Avenue in Los Angeles. Likewise, three buildings are visible that are similar to some of those that might be seen on that street: two low buildings with bars over the windows, and a third, also with barred windows, which has a mission-style roof and a sign reading "Smog Center."

The episode "Homer and Apu" suggests that Apu is an employee of the Kwik-E-Mart and after losing his job there had to travel to India, where the Kwik-E-Mart head office is located, in the Himalayas. However, Apu mentions at a bachelor auction that he runs his own business in "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons".

In addition to the sale of food, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and other items offered at a typical convenience store, gasoline pumpshave been shown in front on two occasions. *The Springfield Shopper* also sells well there and it is where Principal Seymour Skinner purchases his tabloids. In the episode "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song", Apu has just installed 16 new gas pumps to compete with rival convenience store, the Gas 'N Gulp. However, they, along with the Kwik-E-Mart, are destroyed due to Bart accidentally interrupting a live mortar exercise at Fort Springfield when visiting the re-enlisted Skinner, forcing the soldiers to redirect the mortar fire into the town, destroying the store and pumps off screen. The episode "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield" also shows the pumps where Apu refuses to go out and serve a customer on the forecourt.

In July 2007, convenience store chain 7-Eleven converted 11 of its stores in the United States and one in Canada into Kwik-E-Marts to promote the release of *The Simpsons Movie*. The locations of the renovated Kwik-E-Marts were: Bladensburg, Maryland/Washington, D.C.; Burbank, California; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Henderson/Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Mountain View/San Francisco; New York City; Orlando/Lake Buena Vista, Florida; Seattle; and Vancouver/Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada.These 12 locations, as well as the majority of other North American 7-Elevens, sold products found in *The Simpsons*, such as "Buzz Cola", "Krusty-O's", "Squishees", pink frosted "Sprinklicious doughnuts", and other *Simpsons*-themed merchandise. The Squishees were Slurpees that are sold in special collector cups and the Krusty-O's were made by Malt-O-Meal. The promotion resulted in a 30% increase in profits for the changed 7-Eleven stores. This can be seen during the opening of *The Simpsons Movie*.

### The Android's Dungeon & Baseball Card Shop[edit]

The Android's Dungeon is a comic book store owned by Jeff Albertson a.k.a. Comic Book Guy. The comic book store and its owner first appeared in the episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", when Bart sees a copy of the first issue of the Radioactive Man comic on sale for $100.

In the episode titled "Worst Episode Ever" (which is a remark often used by Comic Book Guy), Bart and Milhouse are given the job of running the comic book store after Comic Book Guy suffers from a stress-induced heart attack and is instructed to try and gain a social life. During their brief tenure at the store, Bart and Milhouse discover a secret room filled with bootleg videotapes of various extremely rare or illegal subjects, such as a taping of Mr. Rogers on a drunken bender and several interrogation tapes from the Springfield Police. These tapes are later confiscated during a police raid on the store. It was damaged in *The Simpsons Movie*, like most of the rest of the town, with Comic Book Guy living out of the ruins, considering that all-in-all, his life collecting comics had been "well spent".

Comics sold there are well-loved by Bart and Milhouse's Radioactive Man, Manboy, Radiation Dude, Batboy, Mr. Hop, Batchick, Mr. Smarty Pants, Birdguy, Nick, Cat Girl, Power Person, Dog Kid, Iguana Girl, Snake Kid, Lava Lady, Star Dog, The Human Bee, Mister Amazing and Tree Man, as well as real-life comics such as *The Amazing Spider-Man* and *Fantastic Four*.

### Barney's Bowl-A-Rama[edit]

Barney's Bowl-A-Rama is the bowling alley in Springfield. It is owned by Barney Gumble's Uncle Al. The very first known appearance is the episode "Life on the Fast Lane" where Homer forgets Marge's birthday and after rushing out to purchase a gift, he ends up buying a bowling ball. Marge is insulted at the fact her gift from Homer was something obviously intended for his own personal use given the fact the ball had Homer's name engraved on it. Marge decides she will keep the gift for her own use and goes bowling for the first time. This is seen destroyed in *The Simpsons Movie*.

In the episode "And Maggie Makes Three", Homer tells the family the story of Maggie's birth. In this story, Homer explains how he quit his job at Springfield Nuclear Power Plant to work at the Bowl-A-Rama, which was Homer's dream job. This episode reveals where the bowling pins go after they are knocked over; the pins are shown ending up in a heap and new pins are manufactured instantly by a Rube Goldberg device to replace those knocked over, in a massively wasteful process that only produces one pin out of a single tree.

The Bowl-A-Rama is used in the episode "Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment" as a way of smuggling beer into Moe's Tavern. In this episode, alcohol is banned in Springfield and Homer begins bootlegging beer he uncovered from the city dump. The beer is poured into bowling balls and Homer then bowls the ball into the gutter at the Bowl-A-Rama; the ball then falls into a pipe leading to Moe's Tavern where Moe charges an outrageous price.

"Hurricane Neddy" has the bowling alley briefly relocate to a precarious teetering position on top of a nearby train tunnel after a hurricane blows through Springfield and tears the alley off its foundation.

There are seven known bowling teams, from The Pin Pals (Homer, Moe, Apu, and Otto/Mr. Burns), to the Holy Rollers (the Flanders, and Reverend Lovejoy and his wife).

### Politics, religion, and media[edit]

In politics, the mayor of Springfield is Joe Quimby, while the town's representative in Congress is Herschel "Krusty the Clown" Krustofsky (R) of the 24th congressional district. In "Sideshow Bob Roberts", Sideshow Bob (R) ran for Mayor of Springfield and defeated Mayor Quimby, but was later discovered to have committed pure electoral fraud. Previous representatives include Horace Wilcox, who died of a heart attack while in office, and Bob Arnold, who is forced to resign after Lisa exposes his corruption. Mary Bailey (D) is the governor of Springfield's state. The town is infamous for its corruption. Mayor Quimby: a sleazy, womanizing politician is known for his stupidity. During the MENSA tenure, Mayor Quimby is confronted by Lisa Simpson after a group of drunks steal their Gazebo for a Shakespeare play. Thinking he is exposed for his corruption, he flees for a while and the MENSA chapter runs Springfield. Other corrupt parties include the Police Force (Specifically Chief Wiggum).[*citation needed*]

Religious houses of worship include Congregation Beth Springfield, the First Church of Springfield, First AME Church, the Cathedral of the Downtown, and a Buddhist vihara.[*citation needed*]

KBBL Broadcasting Inc. is the major media outlet, owning at least three radio stations and one television station. Channel 6 of KBBL, the most watched channel by far, airs *The Krusty the Clown Show* and Kent Brockman's nightly news broadcast. *The Springfield Shopper* is a town newspaper, although it mainly prints tabloid-like newspapers and thus, in the episode "Three Gays of the Condo", it is stated that the headlines are "all a joke" and that most other people read the *New York Times*. However, the *New York Times* has never been mentioned since.[*citation needed*]

### Neighborhoods and attractions[edit]

The town is divided into many neighborhoods, including Rats Nest, Bum Town, Chinatown, Crackton, East Springfield, Greek Town, Russian Town, Junkyville, Little Bangkok, Little Ethiopia, Little Italy, Little Newark, Little Stockholm, Little Seattle, Little Ukraine, Ethnictown, the Jewish Lower East Side, Kelly Terrace, Pressboard Estates, Recluse Ranch Estates, Skid Row, Springfield Harbor, Springfield Heights, Hyperion Drive, Springshire, Tibet Town, Waverly Hills, the borough of Sprooklyn, the Lincoln Park Village Housing Project, the Flammable District, a gay district and a fast-food district.

Springfield boasts an opera house, an outdoor amphitheater, an arboretum, and a vibrant jazz scene, and was previously regarded as the entertainment capital of its state.

### Transportation[edit]

For transportation, Springfield has an international airport, is served by a railroad, and has both an abandoned subway system, a public transit system, and an unsuccessful monorail line, as well as an escalator to nowhere.[*citation needed*]

### Sports[edit]

The town is home to the Springfield Isotopes, an AA minor league baseball team which plays its home games at Duff Stadium; the Springfield Atoms football team at Springfield Stadium; the NBA's Springfield Excitement (formerly the Austin Celtics); and the Springfield Ice-O-Topes hockey team at the Springfield Arena.

## Businesses[edit]

### Springfield Nuclear Power Plant[edit]

The Springfield Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant in Springfield owned by Montgomery Burns. Opened in 1974, the plant is the key supplier of the city of Springfield's energy supply, and the carelessness of Mr. Burns and the plant's employees (like Homer, who is employed at Sector 7G) often endangers the residents and natural environment of Springfield. At the core of the plant are two Fissionator 1952 Slow-Fission Reactors, operating in spite of more than 342 safety violations with an estimated repair bill to bring the plant up to code being in excess of $56 million. Among the more alarming safety violations are emergency exits that are just painted on the wall, cracks in the cooling towers held together by tape, massive amounts of poorly stored toxic waste and dangerously unqualified personnel (mainly Simpson), some of which are not even human, such as a chicken that briefly substituted for Homer, and a duck that was used to pull a cart of toxic waste around. A running gag in earlier seasons was the poor security of the plant, with the outside security booth often going unmanned, but this has changed in recent episodes, with the entrance to the plant being heavily guarded. The plant has come close to a meltdown several times and has blown up at least once.

There is a crow or raven that lives near the Power Plant that caws whenever an establishing shot of the Power Plant is on screen. Mutated fish with more than two eyes have been seen in the lake behind the power plant, which has a large pipe pumping nuclear waste into it. According to Mr. Burns, the plant is endowed with flippered mutants. In the Season 25 episode "Homerland", he comments that the air conditioning system has never worked properly.

In one episode, Mr. Burns mentions that he owns the electric company as part of his power monopoly.

The design and folly of Springfield Nuclear Power Plant is often rumored to be based on the troubled Trojan Nuclear Power Plant(closed in 1993 due to defects) near Matt Groening's home town of Portland, Oregon, or the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington. However, Antonia Coffman, Groening's publicist, has said that the Springfield plant's design is generic and that "the Springfield Nuclear Power plant was not based on the Trojan Plant or any other power plant in the country."

Waylon Smithers is Burns' executive assistant and lackey, as Burns calls him. Among the plant's employees are Homer Simpson, Lenny Leonard, and Carl Carlson. The plant offers yearly visits from the Springfield Elementary School.

### Kwik-E-Mart[edit]

Main article: Kwik-E-Mart
A Seattle 7-Eleven store transformed into a Kwik-E-Mart.

Kwik-E-Mart is a convenience store located in Springfield and run by Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. The Kwik-E-Mart first appeared in the first-season episode "The Telltale Head" (although mentioned in "Bart the General" as the "Quick-e-Mart"). In "Stark Raving Dad", a street sign reading "Highland" is seen outside one of the front windows, in the same blue color as is used for signs for Highland Avenue in Los Angeles. Likewise, three buildings are visible that are similar to some of those that might be seen on that street: two low buildings with bars over the windows, and a third, also with barred windows, which has a mission-style roof and a sign reading "Smog Center."

The episode "Homer and Apu" suggests that Apu is an employee of the Kwik-E-Mart and after losing his job there had to travel to India, where the Kwik-E-Mart head office is located, in the Himalayas. However, Apu mentions at a bachelor auction that he runs his own business in "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons".

In addition to the sale of food, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and other items offered at a typical convenience store, gasoline pumpshave been shown in front on two occasions. *The Springfield Shopper* also sells well there and it is where Principal Seymour Skinner purchases his tabloids. In the episode "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song", Apu has just installed 16 new gas pumps to compete with rival convenience store, the Gas 'N Gulp. However, they, along with the Kwik-E-Mart, are destroyed due to Bart accidentally interrupting a live mortar exercise at Fort Springfield when visiting the re-enlisted Skinner, forcing the soldiers to redirect the mortar fire into the town, destroying the store and pumps off screen. The episode "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield" also shows the pumps where Apu refuses to go out and serve a customer on the forecourt.

In July 2007, convenience store chain 7-Eleven converted 11 of its stores in the United States and one in Canada into Kwik-E-Marts to promote the release of *The Simpsons Movie*. The locations of the renovated Kwik-E-Marts were: Bladensburg, Maryland/Washington, D.C.; Burbank, California; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Henderson/Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Mountain View/San Francisco; New York City; Orlando/Lake Buena Vista, Florida; Seattle; and Vancouver/Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada.These 12 locations, as well as the majority of other North American 7-Elevens, sold products found in *The Simpsons*, such as "Buzz Cola", "Krusty-O's", "Squishees", pink frosted "Sprinklicious doughnuts", and other *Simpsons*-themed merchandise. The Squishees were Slurpees that are sold in special collector cups and the Krusty-O's were made by Malt-O-Meal. The promotion resulted in a 30% increase in profits for the changed 7-Eleven stores. This can be seen during the opening of *The Simpsons Movie*.

### The Android's Dungeon & Baseball Card Shop[edit]

The Android's Dungeon is a comic book store owned by Jeff Albertson a.k.a. Comic Book Guy. The comic book store and its owner first appeared in the episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", when Bart sees a copy of the first issue of the Radioactive Man comic on sale for $100.

In the episode titled "Worst Episode Ever" (which is a remark often used by Comic Book Guy), Bart and Milhouse are given the job of running the comic book store after Comic Book Guy suffers from a stress-induced heart attack and is instructed to try and gain a social life. During their brief tenure at the store, Bart and Milhouse discover a secret room filled with bootleg videotapes of various extremely rare or illegal subjects, such as a taping of Mr. Rogers on a drunken bender and several interrogation tapes from the Springfield Police. These tapes are later confiscated during a police raid on the store. It was damaged in *The Simpsons Movie*, like most of the rest of the town, with Comic Book Guy living out of the ruins, considering that all-in-all, his life collecting comics had been "well spent".

Comics sold there are well-loved by Bart and Milhouse's Radioactive Man, Manboy, Radiation Dude, Batboy, Mr. Hop, Batchick, Mr. Smarty Pants, Birdguy, Nick, Cat Girl, Power Person, Dog Kid, Iguana Girl, Snake Kid, Lava Lady, Star Dog, The Human Bee, Mister Amazing and Tree Man, as well as real-life comics such as *The Amazing Spider-Man* and *Fantastic Four*.

### Barney's Bowl-A-Rama[edit]

Barney's Bowl-A-Rama is the bowling alley in Springfield. It is owned by Barney Gumble's Uncle Al. The very first known appearance is the episode "Life on the Fast Lane" where Homer forgets Marge's birthday and after rushing out to purchase a gift, he ends up buying a bowling ball. Marge is insulted at the fact her gift from Homer was something obviously intended for his own personal use given the fact the ball had Homer's name engraved on it. Marge decides she will keep the gift for her own use and goes bowling for the first time. This is seen destroyed in *The Simpsons Movie*.

In the episode "And Maggie Makes Three", Homer tells the family the story of Maggie's birth. In this story, Homer explains how he quit his job at Springfield Nuclear Power Plant to work at the Bowl-A-Rama, which was Homer's dream job. This episode reveals where the bowling pins go after they are knocked over; the pins are shown ending up in a heap and new pins are manufactured instantly by a Rube Goldberg device to replace those knocked over, in a massively wasteful process that only produces one pin out of a single tree.

The Bowl-A-Rama is used in the episode "Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment" as a way of smuggling beer into Moe's Tavern. In this episode, alcohol is banned in Springfield and Homer begins bootlegging beer he uncovered from the city dump. The beer is poured into bowling balls and Homer then bowls the ball into the gutter at the Bowl-A-Rama; the ball then falls into a pipe leading to Moe's Tavern where Moe charges an outrageous price.

"Hurricane Neddy" has the bowling alley briefly relocate to a precarious teetering position on top of a nearby train tunnel after a hurricane blows through Springfield and tears the alley off its foundation.

There are seven known bowling teams, from The Pin Pals (Homer, Moe, Apu, and Otto/Mr. Burns), to the Holy Rollers (the Flanders, and Reverend Lovejoy and his wife).

### Costington's[edit]

Costington's is a high-end department store located in downtown Springfield. Costington's is a parody of Macy's, an American department store. Their slogan is "Over A Century Without A Slogan". Costington's sponsors the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade (an identical move to Macy's) and holds a "Love Day" celebration. Owned by Mr. Costington, the store has employed many Springfieldians, including Homer (as their parade Santa and as a mattress salesman), Gil and The Yes Guy. Lenny and Carl once crashed into Costington's, which sparked a city riot. It was first seen in the episode "Trash of The Titans".

### KBBL Broadcasting[edit]

KBBL Broadcasting is a media company which runs all KBBL TV and radio stations, which is used to parody the media. Its most notable television personalities are news anchor Kent Brockman, children's entertainer veteran Krusty The Clown and Hispanic comedian Bumblebee Man. Their radio channel hosts are DJ's Bill and Marty.

The station jingle is "No sports, no rock, no information! For mindless chatter, we're your station!"

### King Toot's[edit]

King Toot's is a music store located next door to Moe's Tavern. The store sells musical instruments and is the place where Lisa's saxophone was purchased. The most notable appearance of King Toot's Music Store was in "Lisa's Pony" where Lisa asks Homer to pick up a new reed for her saxophone for her recital. Homer heads to the store after work and realizes Moe's is next door; since the store wasn't to close for 5 minutes, Homer decides to have a quick beer first. Homer finishes his beer with 15 seconds to spare only to find the store owner has closed early. Homer goes back to Moe's fortunately to find the owner of the store and after much convincing from Homer and Moe the owner opens up to sell Homer a reed. Unfortunately, Homer is too late for Lisa's recital. Another appearance was in "Lisa's Sax" where after Lisa's saxophone was run over by a truck, as a result of a fight between Bart and Lisa, Homer tells the story of how Lisa first got her sax. King Toot's is seen briefly during the opening of *The Simpsons Movie* and later while the dome is being put over Springfield. In "Covercraft" King Toot is revealed to be a sleazy, overweight middle-aged man with a mustache who torments Moe by dumping all of his junk into Moe's alley dumpster without paying him, and ends up having a huge fight with Moe that ends with them both getting arrested and the music store being closed for repairs.

### The Leftorium[edit]

The Leftorium was a store in the Springfield Mall that specialized in products for left-handed people. The store was owned by Ned Flanders, who first started the Leftorium in the season 3 episode "When Flanders Failed". At first, business at the store was going very poorly. Irritated with Flanders, Homer wished that the store would go out of business after Homer received the larger half of a wishbone. Homer got his wish and the Flanders family were forced to sell many of their possessions, much of which Homer purchased at a meager price of $75. The bank repossessed the Flanders' home and the Leftorium was to be the next asset repossessed. Homer then regretted making this wish and the fact that he never told any of his friends who were in need of left-handed items about the Leftorium. As a result, he managed to get everyone he knew in town to shop at Ned's store, saving it from closure.

The Leftorium continued to thrive over the following years. However, Flanders mentioned in several episodes that the store does not do that well, such as in the season 10 episode "Thirty Minutes over Tokyo", where Ned mentions that he purchased most of his possessions cheaply, and that the business moved way downhill since "Leftopolis" moved in next door to it. In the episode "Home Away from Homer", Ned mentions that a recently opened, left-hand megastore, called "Left-Mart" (a parody of Wal-Mart) is threatening his business. The season 25 episode "White Christmas Blues" reveals that competition from the Southpaw Superstore forced Flanders to downsize the business to a mall cart, the "Leftorium Express", which he splits with a cosmetic saleswoman. In the season 29 episode "Left Behind", the Leftorium closes for good, leaving Flanders unemployed until he finds a new job as Bart Simpson's new teacher, substituting the void left by his deceased second wife Edna Krabappel.

The writers had wanted to have Flanders own a failing business and the idea for the store was suggested by George Meyer. He got the idea from a friend whose family had owned a left-handed specialty store which had failed.

Matt Groening himself is left-handed, and once remarked that 1 in 3 Springfieldians were left-handed. It is also as seen in the game, *simpsons tapped out.* See also:

The Simpsons series on fxx.