Cobb(Atlanta) versus Columbia(Augusta)

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by gt6974a

Cobb is great as long as you don't bring your (assuming) liberal ways with you and try to 'enforce' them on others. If you're very Blue I'd go inside the perimeter. Cobb is very Red.

Columbia, no clue but I assume Red as well.

OP, please don't take this view to the extreme. Many people inside the perimeter have a weird view of suburbanites. The suburbs do lean more right and the inner areas more left, but there are people of all stripes everywhere. I lived in Cobb 14 years and it is more conservative politically, yes, but it is not all "red" and inner areas are not all "blue."

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by gt6974a

Cobb is great as long as you don't bring your (assuming) liberal ways with you and try to 'enforce' them on others. If you're very Blue I'd go inside the perimeter. Cobb is very Red.

It really doesn't matter as long as you aren't in-your-face about your beliefs. I know a fair number of people who live in Cobb and who are non-mainstream in various ways, and none of them seem to have issues.

[RainyRainyDay]

Mind you, the local population won't hesitate to be in-your-face about their beliefs, because they don't even realize that you might think differently. I live in NE Cobb and I do find it a bit ... isolating. People are friendly and pleasant - it's fine really - but they do just assume that everyone agrees that Democrats are somewhere between insanely misguided and evil. When Hillary Clinton is mentioned in passing, among a group of folks standing around at a school or church event, and everyone laughs, rolls their eyes or mentions how utterly loathsome they find that woman ... well, I don't speak up (what would be the point) but I don't exactly feel at home.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

Mind you, the local population won't hesitate to be in-your-face about their beliefs, because they don't even realize that you might think differently.

I've not encountered that here in south Cobb in four years, but:

(1) I work in an environment which is mainly comprised of folks who were not born in the US (it's a real mishmash of political and religious affiliations, and lots of very interesting accents!) or transplants. There are a few southern conservatives there, but they are hardly in the majority.

(2) My wife and I are not typical Atlantans (she's Wiccan, I'm agnostic) and our friends tend to be very diverse in terms of their religious and political beliefs. Some are Christian and conservative, and some are ... not.

(3) Our immediate neighborhood is an interesting mix of middle class white, black, and Indian (dots, not feathers) folks and appears to be largely not religious. They've had kiddie parades in the neighborhood for Halloween, but that's about it.

I live in NE Cobb and I do find it a bit ... isolating. People are friendly and pleasant - it's fine really - but they do just assume that everyone agrees that Democrats are somewhere between insanely misguided and evil. When Hillary Clinton is mentioned in passing, among a group of folks standing around at a school or church event, and everyone laughs, rolls their eyes or mentions how utterly loathsome they find that woman ... well, I don't speak up (what would be the point) but I don't exactly feel at home.

I know people from all over the political spectrum who have a serious lack of trust in Hillary. She represents the establishment in many ways, and that is not seen as a positive attribute right now. Even my one strongly Democratic friend was leaning toward anyone other than Hillary during the recent Democratic race.

Of course, Minnesota Democrats (the DFL party) are not quite the same as other Democrats in the US.

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

I've not encountered that here in south Cobb in four years, but: ...

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I'm coming to the conclusion that Cobb is socially more like a patchwork than a soup. Sometimes on this board, people allude to the straitlaced ultra-conservative reputation of Cobb, and others reply that this view is outdated, and Cobb is now diverse and tolerant (like your neighborhood). However, my neighborhood and the surrounding area conforms pretty well to the old stereotype - it's heavily white and Christian-conservative. Evidently - and hardly surprising - Cobb has both kinds of neighborhoods.

I know people from all over the political spectrum who have a serious lack of trust in Hillary. She represents the establishment in many ways, and that is not seen as a positive attribute right now. Even my one strongly Democratic friend was leaning toward anyone other than Hillary during the recent Democratic race.

I mentioned Hillary because she makes a strong example. Personally, I would absolutely vote Democratic were I a citizen (have not yet been here long enough to be eligible). However, I've been a keen Obama supporter from the very start of the primary season, even though I'm a middle-aged white woman. I don't personally cotton to Hillary, and I felt that considering what a divisive figure she is in this part of the country (e.g. the big Stop Hillary billboard on Roswell Rd in Sandy Springs), she'd be a problematic choice of candidate for the party.

However, despite my personal lack of enthusiasm for Sen. Clinton, the way people dismiss her in my part of town, doesn't ever seem to acknowledge that she's anything other than a joke or wicked witch, personified. (No insult to your spouse intended. ) With Obama there's not so much antipathy, it's more that people hardly appear to know he exists. My real point was that it's so monolithically Republican around my part of town, that it appears not even to cross peoples' minds that anyone local might actually support any of the other guys.