How liberal is your city

[ButterflyBlood]

Poll question: How liberal is your city

assume 0 is the average for all of America. The best example of a 0 city I can think of is St. Cloud, which split the vote between Bush and Gore almost dead even and local races are also split between Dems and Republicans almost dead even.

negative numbers are liberal and positive ones are conservative (left/right shift). Is the DU average more liberal than America on a whole?

I would say here is a -3, it's a college town which mostly votes Democratic, but the outskirts have some eldery freeper types, and there are a few "Honk for our troops" types banners downtown, although during the invasion the anti-war signs and banners definately outnumbered them.

[Sean Reynolds]

1. I'd vote a -3 for Salt Lake City.

[DieboldMustDie]

15. Salt Lake City is that liberal?

[Sean Reynolds]

16. I believe so, yes.

We've got a liberal mayor - have had one since the early 70s. The city is only represented by a few Republicans in the state legislature. I can go on.......

[liberalmuse]

17. Surprisingly, it is...

But the rest of the state (except Park City) is a sink hole of conservatism responsible for our being a perpetual red state. Our mayor rides on the floats in the Gay Pride Parade and has spoken at our peace protests, mentioning, btw, how Bush stole the election. I love the guy!

[devilgrrl]

38. What about Moab?

Seemed like a liberal oasis when I was there last October.

[Sean Reynolds]

44. Moab and some of the mining towns in Utah.

But what makes SLC so liberal is its large gay community and the fact it has THREE major colleges in it. Plus a kicking arts scene as well.

[Born_a_Democrat]

66. Miami, FL (although Dade Co. votes Dem a lot I go with 0)

because there are a lot of Cubans here and we all know most Cubans are Stupid Zomby Republican Brain Dead Troglodytes.


Point of Clarification: I am Cuban (just in case you think I'm being racist)

[CarlBallard]

2. Pretty liberal for a suburban city

Mostly Democrats on the city council (although technically they run as non partisans).

[Systematic Chaos]

3. Zero, and I do mean ZERO

Las Vegas has to be the most disconnected, apathetic, IGNORANT place anywhere. It's not that it's ultra-conservative, it's more that very few people here are educated enough to form an opinion of any kind. Granted, I do know some very intelligent people here, but almost all of them, like myself come from either back east or one of the more liberal areas of the Pacific coast.

Sorry for yet another "I Hate Vegas But Tough S**t Because I Can't Leave" rant. I'll shut up now. :eyes:

[Corgigal]

26. Gee

I actually thought of moving out there. Maybe not.

[leftist_rebel1569]

4. 1.5 for Coon Rapids

rounded down...

[ButterflyBlood]

5. right now a -1 average

[Skittles]

6. WHY DID YOU MAKE LIBERAL THE NEGATIVE NUMBERS

I live in the f***ing Dallas Metroplex which is INFESTED with coservatives.

(yes I know you equate neg with left)

[Catherine Vincent]

67. I feel your pain.

I'm in Houston, we're infested too but not as bad as Dallas, imo.:)

[rabid_nerd]

7. Kennedy Democrats

Big ol' area with a slight Dem balance in a town with two schools - a Catholic Grade School and a Catholic High School.

Also about five churches.

In a compact 7 block x 5 block area.

And I'm the agnostic that won both the Dem and Repub nominations for Council, lol...

I'm probably a -4 myself, maybe a -3 (depends on scale)...

On that square graph that plots your politics, I am almost dead onto Ghandi.

So a Pro-Life, Highly Religous Democratic advantadge in a region generally overflowing with R's.

But the R's around here are worried about conserving land and slowing development - we just kept a WalMart dist center from going in...

Ended up East of here, still in PA...

Very weird area... Gettysburg (ala Lincoln's Gettysburg Address) is our county seat...

[Webster Green]

8. West Sonoma County, California....(-4 most liberal)

Closest actual city is Sebastapol. A haven for lefties. Thank God!

[NWHarkness]

9. Ferndale Michigan -3

I give Ferndale a -3. We go Democratic by about 60-40 in most elections. There is a very large and politically active gay population (estimated at about 30%) and a very strong union presence.

A few years ago, the biggest controversy in a non-partisan city council election was the accusation that one of the candidates was secretly a Republican. He lost.

[ButterflyBlood]

10. now a -0.66666... average

so the average DUer lives in an area only slightly more liberal than average.

[SmileyBoy]

11. It's a 1 for Fargo.

People are generally more moderate either way, liberal or conservative. There's not much fundie christianity, and even the conservatives tend to be more just libertarian than anything. It's pretty safe to be an ultra-liberal here, but generally, most people here seem to be lumped into the middle 40% of the political spectrum, leaning a little more to the right.

[ButterflyBlood]

12. kind of like Bismarck

Bismarck would be closer to a 2 though, since there are more retired conservative folks and some fundie churches popping up. going by it's voting record alone it'd be closer to a 3, but most of the people are pretty apolitical even if they mainly vote Republican.

[ClintonTyree]

13. Avon Park/Sebring, FL..................

A hot bed of conservative idiots. There is a huge John Birch Society billboard south of town, that should give you some indication. It's tough living here. We are making some inroads though.

[NightTrain]

14. I'm in Hartford, Connecticut, which I rated a -2...

...particularly when compared to our neighbors to the north, Boston, and to the south, New York.

Remember, Hartford is nicknamed "The Insurance City," so you can't expect it to be overly liberal. But on the other hand, we have a great cultural scene, including such internationally acclaimed venues as Real Art Ways and the Hartford Stage Company.

PRIDE holds it annual rally in Bushnell Park, right in the heart of downtown, with nary a right-wing protester in sight. And Connecticut was the first state to pass a GLBT rights law. Now, if only our three-term Republican governor, John Rowland, would sign the goddamned Gay Pride Day Declaration as his predecessor, Lowell Weicker, did....

And while the following statement may incur the wrath of some around these parts, Hartford also has a Green, Elizabeth Horton-Sheff, on its city council. So does New Haven, for that matter.

One last thing about Hartford: when we held an anti-war rally on the steps of the state capital last March 29th, there were about 1,300 of us opposing the cynically-named Operation Iraqi Freedom, while the right-wing counterprotesters numbered only in the single digits. But of course, when one of the local news shows dedicated a whole 30 seconds to the rally that evening, the six or seven freepers who showed up to oppose us got approximately the same amount of airtime as we 1,300 anti-war folks did....

[Piperay]

18. I live in a burb of Los Angeles

I give it a 2, it's pretty conservative and there are alot of fundies here.:puke:

[redeye]

19. -4

Oakland is very liberal. It's not San Francisco or Berkeley, but it's still a clear -4.

[bookman]

20. I'm Texas

A three. The one point shift is because we have had some success against book banners.

[redeye]

21. Where in Texas? (n/t)

[Mikimouse]

36. Definitely a four...Also from Texas

n/t

[TheBigGuy]

22. "The Colorado Springs of Ohio"

Dayton metro area is quite conservative...the only thing that keeps it from going all the way over to a + 4 is the african american community, which votes Democratic (but is quite conservative on "culture war" issues like gay rights), and a residual union vote.

[xJlM]

24. Ohio has changed

I live in a little village north of Springfield, and my entire county went for Gore in 2000. The problem is, the repugs here are well organised and try not to tolerate dissent. Plus the local paper is a joke, with front page stories about children and their pets and major news reported (if it isn't buried) three days after I read about it on the internet.

[Darranar]

37. CONSERVATIVE?

I know someone who lives relatively near Dayton (not really in its metropolitan area, though) and they live in an ultra-liberal area. Does it vary that much?

[TheBigGuy]

41. no..they probablly live in Yellow Springs, a college town.

Its a smallish town built around the notorioulsy lefty/liberal Antioch College.

Its like a littlebit of Northern California set down in the conservative cornfields of the Midwest...sort of a freak ghetto. I know Daytonians like to go their on weekend to "check out the wierdos".

Yellow Springs is completely atypical of the rest of this part of Ohio.

[Blue-Jay]

46. I love Yellow Springs!

I'm taking a date to The Winds for dinner tomorrow night.

[TheBigGuy]

63. one of the best restaurants in the area, for sure.

Easily one of the top three in the region.

[LWolf]

23. I voted 3 for my area.

The Antelope Valley has several small cities. We are a defense industry area. The only reason I didn't give us a 4 is that Palmdale actually went for Gore in 2000. A huge shock for the general population in the AV. Overall, though, the people you meet in your community will be republicans. The city councils and local state reps will be republicans. Sharon Runner and Pete Knight; what a disgrace. Local politics are controlled by the ultra conservative Antelope Valley Republican Assembly.

[FlashHarry]

25. Fat-n-happy (i.e. ignorant) conservatives, here in Omaha.

Hummers and Escalades as far as the eye can see.

[gyopsy]

31. Ugh...

that's awful. Fat-n-happy ignorant conservatives sums up an awful image but it's funny how I know exactly the types that you're talking about without ever having visited.

[BlueJazz]

27. A -2 for St.Petersburg Florida

I would imagine it would even be more left if it wasn't for the major
influence of ol' Jeb Boy.

The St.Petersburg Times Keeps the populace pretty well informed on the Right-wing crap....One of the few Major Liberal Newspapers still in business.

[Lindsey]

28. Hey piperay...where in L.A. are you?

I'm in Culver City but I work in O.C. I think overall L.A. tends to be more liberal than you rate it. I give Southern California an overall -1.

[devilgrrl]

39. My neighborhood in LA is OVERWHELMINGLY liberal

I'm with you Linsey, the LA basin tends to be liberal, Piperay must be stuck in Thousand Oaks or something. ;-)

[beanball]

29. On the AZ.border

down here in CrackerBarrel City,Az.we don't allow lie/barrels in our lovely, hateful lil town.

[gyopsy]

30. West Palm Beach, Fl...

They tell me it's liberal and yet there are so many wealthy conservatives who live in the mansions by the water. If you visit the city, you won't see too many liberal hangouts in the "fine dining, expensive shopping" areas that the city is known for.

Most of the liberals live on the west side of the tracks and the many other lower-middle class neighborhoods of the surrounding area.

On edit: I belive this still constitutes a majority for us however.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

32. My city (Cambridge) gave more votes to Nader than Bush

so I gave it a -4. Probably the only more liberal place in Mass is the Northampton area, and in the country, Berkeley, CA.

[Dookus]

33. -4

Santa Cruz, CA here!

[goobergunch]

34. 3 for Paoli, PA...

Northern Chester County is freeperland except on certain cultural issues.

[U2Fanatic]

35. about a 3

I live in a suburb in Riverside County, Southern California. Although so cal is liberal as a whole, i live in a conservative suburban hell hole. Excursions and Support our Troops bumper stickers as far as the eye can see. I even have a friend who lives across the street from lesbian republicans :scared:, that's how bad it is.

[JohnKleeb]

40. Gave it a 0 because I dont know

We have a republican congressman, Frank Wolf. I live in Herndon, Va which is near DC. We have a democrat for state senator though. What makes me unsure is that we had a lot of hawks in my history class last year and I with a few others debated them but also in philosophy I have a pretty liberal class I think or at least not gun nuts because this one kid his older brother interned for them and all. :shrug:

[Kathy in Cambridge]

43. I have friends in Ashburn and Chantilly

seems pretty mixed to me-lots of transplants from the Northeast.

[JohnKleeb]

45. I dont know

BTW my philosopher teacher is from Springfield, Masschuetts and I am 99.9% hes a democrat or anti republican left wing. A lot of my cousins live out in Ashburn. I am not really much of a Virginian, dont consider myself a southerner, just the way it is.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

47. Are you from VA orginally, John?

It's a beautiful state. I used to do a lot of business down there. There seems to be quite an influx of foreigners in the DC area, which adds some culture to the area. The southern half of the state, though beautiful, seems to be freeper fundie hell!

[JohnKleeb]

48. Yes but my family isnt

It is pretty diverse and believe me it can be quite beautiful you should see my walk to school now imagine that with soft music its almost heaven. It is diverse etnically that is very true, I feel like the middle man on that though, I have met first generation immigrants which is neat and Ive also met the kind of people whose parents my dad when he was a waiter would wait on. My family on my mom's side comes from Johnstown, Pennsylvania and my dad's side comes from Pittsburgh, Pa. Both sides are Catholic and Democratic not that it matters but different. Yeah culture is nice here. I just wish I lived in a democratic state.

[Palacsinta]

42. A....5,,,no 6,.....no 7!

OK, 10......unless those Amish guys wearing black hats & bonnets and driving buggies are on their way to Penn National race track!

[methinks2]

49. Orlando area 3

aka Bushland

[Cadfael]

50. The county seat of DuPage County

a 4 is as high as I can rate it?

[ButterflyBlood]

52. Isn't that Illinois' version of Orange County?

that's what I've heard. Don't you have Henry Hyde as a congressman?

[Cadfael]

53. unfortunately, yes

Henry :+ is indeed my congressman.:puke:Things are looking up slightly though. I'm an election judge, and the first year I was a judge (1988) we had 7 Democratic votes in our precinct for the primary (I was one and I was related to 2 others). This year we must have had 80 (out of 945 registered)

[TheBigGuy]

64. a modern Mayberry, w. a big fundy college in town.

Wheaton does have that nice old county courthouse, though.

[ButterflyBlood]

51. now an average of -0.02564

interestingly it appears DU'ers don't try to live in places anymore liberal than average.

[eauclaireliberal]

54. *4*

Which is the reason I came up with "eauclaireliberal"-I'm pretty much on my own. Even UW-Eau Claire is pretty much conservative.

I'm originally from Milwaukee, which is rapidly turning into a right-wing haven as well.

Eau Claire is freeper hell. There's a good deal of libertarianism too, some of whom will vote democrat for one reason: Unionized labor. It's a town of 60,000, which doesn't include all the rural dots on the map. Osseo, Durand, Stanley, Bloomer, et al are chock-full of Double-wides, SUV's and John Deere equipment. The only "non-freepers" here are probably found amongst the huge rural population of Amish.

[ButterflyBlood]

55. that's strange

according to www.uselectionatlas.org Eau Claire went to Gore 52.28/41.11 with Nader getting a whopping 5.8%.

and in the last governor's election Douglas won 48.75/36.49 with the Libertarian taking 9.9%

I guess the people must vote differentely than they act.

[eauclaireliberal]

56. RE: that's strange

Its mostly because of unionized labor. Other than that, a lot of these people think that the DNC is owned by that "Anti-Christ Clinton."

Plus, 9-11 changed a lot of attitudes.

[SOteric]

57. The city itself is a pretty solid -4

but the rural areas of the county, and surrounding military bases (5, and a Naval weather station) contribute a certain conservative voice. All that notwithstanding, the city of Seattle is liberal, the county is predominantly liberal -roughly 75% - almost all the major elected offices are Democrats, and one of those Democrats is Jim McDermott. McDermott, if you'll recall had the cajones rather early in the Iraq conflagration to call the attempt to railroad the U.S. into war a load. And then was easily re-elected to office.

[FloridaJudy]

58. Gainesville, Florida - mixed bag

If you *have* to live in Florida, live here. We have a major University with a top-notch Graduate School, which means we have a large number of residents who've actually been taught how to THINK. Our schools are way above average (the only town in Florida with higher average SAT scores is Neptune Beach, where all the kids whose parents really are Rocket Scientists live). We've got an large, activist community of religious liberals who can actually organize pretty well when the issue is compelling enough (Gay rights, War in Iraq, Homeless families, Racial discrimination and the like). In some voting precincts - like mine - Ralph Nader got more votes than The Shrub did.

We've actually got five(!) independent book-stores.

The city council actually voted to approve Gay Pride month.

--- on the other hand ---

The local newspaper is some Repuke rag, that almost always endorses the most crass "growth promoting" candidate. All the local TV and most of the local radio stations are owned by Capitalist Megamedia Conglomerate, Inc. This *is* the South, so we're infested with die-hard religious and racial bigots.

The city council also voted for Christian Heritage month (not that I've got anything against Christians per se - some of my best friends, etc - but you've got to be fair: where are Buddhist, Moslem, Jewish and Humanist months?).

On balance, I gave this place a minus 2, but then I've always been an incurable optomist.

[ButterflyBlood]

59. HUGE punk rock city

www.noidearecords.com

[Kellanved]

60. very liberal

Berlin is a very liberalcity. Social Democrats/Post-Communists are the ruling coalition; the mayor is openly gay.

I voted -3 (there are conservatives and they will win a majority in the future; hopefully it will take them decades).

[UrbScotty]

61. Grand Rapids/West Michigan is 1-ish.

Grand Rapids itself is a Democratic city, while the suburbs lean toward the Republicans, and the rural areas around here (especially Ottawa County) are more Republican than the White House staff.

[mvd]

62. I'd say a 2

It used to be worse. Now Democrats with name recognition have a chance. And the county voted for Gore and Clinton. Also, there are many moderate Republicans. But, the parts closer to Philly are better than here.

[kaitykaity]

65. Portland, Oregon -3

Mostly lib, Dem mayor. My neighborhood is solid
Dean country.

You wouldn't know it by listening to the radio, though.
:puke:

[HEyHEY]

68. Vancouver Canada

I'd say the most liberal city in North America.

[SaveABug]

69. Mine is so liberal, if you open your mouth and say

Clinton, it had better be followed by penis, or you're stuck on a pole and used for the last step in the cross.

Mine is so liberal, it doesn't dare speak the name "Democrat"

I live in a very liberal cave. Fairly comfortable, but could be much better.

[BuddhaGirl]

70. -4....Mill Valley, CA (Marin County)

there is a store downtown...the proprieter always has anti-Bush flyers up in his window...there's also an anti-war demonstration every Friday afternoon at a busy intersection :-)