How liberal/open minded is Austin Comapred to... (Houston, Round Rock: co-op, organic)

[crystalblue]

The SF Bay area?
LA?
Mee-ami area?
DC?
Houston?
Atlanta?

[love roses]

I would say not nearly as liberal as L.A, SF. Don't know about Miami, or D.C. Houston is more conservative than Austin. Don't know about Atlanta, either. There isn't any (or very little) in your face liberalism like some of those cities. It's more tolerant of a broad range of leanings. Downtown Austin will be more liberal than the suburbs. The suburbs tend to be more conservative.

[Austinitegirl]

Originally Posted by love roses

I would say not nearly as liberal as L.A, SF. Don't know about Miami, or D.C. Houston is more conservative than Austin. Don't know about Atlanta, either. There isn't any (or very little) in your face liberalism like some of those cities. It's more tolerant of a broad range of leanings. Downtown Austin will be more liberal than the suburbs. The suburbs tend to be more conservative.

I would agree completely. DC is much more liberal, but only because it's such an international hub. I grew up there.

Austin is pretty liberal. I've lived all over the country: in the northeast, southeast, midwest and west Texas and Austin is one of the most liberal places I've lived. Even living in the more "conservative suburbs" (I live in Round Rock) - it's still pretty darn liberal compared to the rest of Texas.

Put it this way - Travis county was one of only a handful of counties in the entire state that did not vote for Bush in the '04 election (which is significant considering that Texas prides itself on being such a "red state").

[TheHarvester]

Austin is in Texas (if ya know what I mean), but it has sections of the central city that vote like Berkeley. It's difficult to respond to this comparison question, especially considering the fact that there is no universal definition of "liberal" or "conservative." During my lifetime these words have changed meaning as many times as Madonna has changed her hair style, image and personality.

The San Francisco Bay Area is obviously the largest concentrated location of leftists in the USA, but there are less-populated areas of Vermont and Massachusetts that surpass the Bay Area for extreme liberalism.

Los Angeles is socially liberal in certain areas, not in others. It's a mega-city with multiple smaller cities contained within, there's no way to compare it. West Hollywood will vote overwhelmingly in favor of gay rights but might vote more conservatively on economic issues, for example. And the Hispanic segments of LA will be more socially conservative because of the obvious influence of the Catholic Church, but they'll be more "liberal" about immigration and economic issues.

What does any of this mean? My take on Austin is that it's extremely progressive in the inner city, but the farther away from central Austin you get, the more conservative it gets. Williamson County, our largest suburban county, is ultra-conservative. To the south of Austin you'll find counties that have moderate voting records but that's driven by poverty and high concentrations of immigrants. Does it make you "liberal" if you happen to be a minority and/or an immigrant who happens to vote based on what you can get from the government? I think it's more complex than that.

In short, it's very difficult to compare politics here vs. the places you listed. The best thing I can say about Austin is that the progressive/leftist types here tend to be a lot more open-minded, less partisan and more independent than those I know on the west coast. You can express your views safely here no matter what you believe. But that only applies to the libertarian/funky side of Austin, especially South Austin. It's a "live and let live" type of liberalism, not a dogmatic fascist-leftist liberalism that excludes dissenting points of view.

[jwb123]

Williamson County, our largest suburban county, is ultra-conservative.

I think this is an untrue stereotype. Living out here in supposed "ultra-conservative-land" this family left liberal buddhists and atheists have never had a problem.

[love roses]

I agree with Jenbar. It's more conservative than some places around Austin, but not everyone is running around with shotgun racks and GW stickers. It's come a long way.

[TheHarvester]

OK, I revise my statement to:
"Williamson County is quite conservative in its voting patterns and reputation..."

Is that acceptable?

I know that there are a lot of progressives who live there, "some of my best friends live in..." But it votes overwhelmingly Republican and conservative on every issue that I'm aware of, and god forbid you get caught smoking a joint there!

[Austinitegirl]

Originally Posted by TheHarvester

OK, I revise my statement to:
"Williamson County is quite conservative in its voting patterns and reputation..."

Is that acceptable?

I know that there are a lot of progressives who live there, "some of my best friends live in..." But it votes overwhelmingly Republican and conservative on every issue that I'm aware of, and god forbid you get caught smoking a joint there!

Whoo! Did you see that knee-jerk Williamson County liberal reaction??

I'm from Williamson County too and I'm glad you amended this statement (my knees were twitching too). We may not quite be the hemp-wearing, organic-gluten-free-lactose-free-free-range-chicken-pooped-on granola-eating, birkenstock-wearing, Wheatsville co-op shopping, So-Co living, make-our-dogs-eat-vegan-dog-food, patchoulli-smelling farts, recycle-our-toilet-paper kind of liberals, but we don't walk around with shaved heads and black army boots either. I think Williamson County conservatism is more along the lines of the "Choose Life" t-shirts in a Wham video. Frankie says relax man!!

I agree with you - there are many different definitions to liberal vs. conservative, which are certainly dictated by cultural and socio-economic factors, but I also think it's pretty obvious what the original posted question was asking. I don't think we're on the Nietzsche forum here - so we can stick to the fluffy surface definitions (like the kind you can glean from the CNN crawl 10 minutes before you leave for work).

BUT - I will say that Williamson County residents are practically nudist colony, free-range, peace, love and war hippies compared to West Texas residents - geez!! THOSE people are one razor blade short of a shaved head!

[love roses]

If you're not smoking in front of a police officer, they really don't notice...But I will say this, drinking in public outside of a venue will get you in a hotbed of trouble. Even if they suspect you. So when we're driving back from Austin after a night out, it's exact speed limit all the way, because they will get you for even a few miles over.
O.K, after I posted this, Austinite's post was above mine, and it was totally right. I wish I was that articulate sometimes.

[austin-steve]

How liberal/open minded is Austin Comapred to...

How liberal do you want it to be, and why? Maybe if you describe how the ideal amount of liberalism would manifest in your everyday life once you live here, you'd get some answers like "oh, nobody cares about that".

In other words, what do you want to do, or who do you want to be, that you fear would be frowned upon if Austin isn't liberal enough?

Austin isn't as liberal as it is indifferent to the individuality and eccentricities of others. People adorned with symbols of expression, or vocal with their strident views mostly get yawns from those of us who are use to that.

Williamson County in the 1980's was much more conservative due to strict law enforcement. As it's grown and been diluted with a broader spectrum of people, I don't think it's generally any more or less conservative that Dripping Springs or any other suburban area outside Austin.

Steve