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New Orleans is not as liberal as you may think. Maybe progressive by Louisiana standards, but not nationally.
That is curious, and I purposely left Louisiana out for those reasons. I have heard however, that post Katrina New Orleans is starting to get quite a few transplants in there and an interesting mix of subculture groups b/c of the cheap rents.
In another world New Orleans would be a gem city, possibly the premier city of the south rivaling somewhere like Boston or San Francisco, but it has a lot of real issues and has for a long time.
Austin is just as conservative as Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Miami.
Don't be fooled by the Austitude.
In terms of liberal agendas like programs for the poor, welfare, etc etc, ATL, Houston and Dallas are all on the same page.
When it comes to electing minority officials (including Gays), again Houston, Dallas, Miami and ATL are all on the same page and ahead of Austin.
Austin pushes for a a very narrow definition of Liberal (which if you think about it is not true liberalism in the original sense). Austin people would go to hell and back to save a tree but wouldn't give much thought to increasing the funding to feed starving kids.
If you consider chaining yourself to a tree, then yes Austin is Liberal, but in the traditional sense, nah, it is not.
Can you expand on this?
Is what you are saying, maybe Austin has this "image" it has for itself, but it isn't really much different than Dallas, Houston or Atlanta?
Or would you say Houston Dallas or Atlanta might have a "critical mass" of those same type of people Austin has, and possibly more? It is just that Houston, Dallas and Atlanta are more well rounded cities?
Where would that typical lefty Austin person feel more at home? Austin, Atlanta, Dallas or Houston... if they looked at the critical mass of people in those metros and didn't gauge it by everything else those metros have?
Taken to a greater debate... and you understand my argument. It is kind of like saying, yeah Asheville has quite a few lefty type people... But if you went to NYC, there will be FAR more.
Or somewhere like Minneapolis or Seattle wins this "most literate" thing... but if you went to NYC there are far more #'s of intelligent people, but also with that, much more poverty and diversity too.
Is this the same thing you think of when you put Atlanta/Dallas/Houston up against Austin in terms of its critical mass of liberal folk?
That is curious, and I purposely left Louisiana out for those reasons. I have heard however, that post Katrina New Orleans is starting to get quite a few transplants in there and an interesting mix of subculture groups b/c of the cheap rents.
In another world New Orleans would be a gem city, possibly the premier city of the south rivaling somewhere like Boston or San Francisco, but it has a lot of real issues and has for a long time.
Its true, lots of neighborhoods are. Yes if it wasn't in America, or would have stayed on track, it would probably be THE city of the south, and probably much larger than the others.
Is what you are saying, maybe Austin has this "image" it has for itself, but it isn't really much different than Dallas, Houston or Atlanta?
Or would you say Houston Dallas or Atlanta might have a "critical mass" of those same type of people Austin has, and possibly more? It is just that Houston, Dallas and Atlanta are more well rounded cities?
Where would that typical lefty Austin person feel more at home? Austin, Atlanta, Dallas or Houston... if they looked at the critical mass of people in those metros and didn't gauge it by everything else those metros have?
Taken to a greater debate... and you understand my argument. It is kind of like saying, yeah Asheville has quite a few lefty type people... But if you went to NYC, there will be FAR more.
Or somewhere like Minneapolis or Seattle wins this "most literate" thing... but if you went to NYC there are far more #'s of intelligent people, but also with that, much more poverty and diversity too.
Is this the same thing you think of when you put Atlanta/Dallas/Houston up against Austin in terms of its critical mass of liberal folk?
Sure, Austin has an "image" of itself...and people in other cities (esp. in TX) love to complain about the "Austitude". But most people here don't have it and are just livin', like you and me I will concede that on these forums, Houston and Dallas are often put down by Austin...I don't understand why that is the case. But this forum is hardly an accurate snapshot of reality.
Those 4 cities aren't the best comparison...ATL, DAL and HOU are all major metro areas and far bigger than Austin...so of course they are more well-rounded cities. Austin is currently in some awkward spot between college-town and semi-major metro area. A bit of an identity crisis. Grapico: you are correct. Just the number of liberal people in a place doesn't tell us if a place is liberal. Same goes for any measurement of a statistic in a city- you have to look at per capita.
The majority of liberal people vote Democrat...if you look at those numbers, Travis County has been more left politically in recent elections than say, Dallas or Harris County. You can't say that Austin is "just as conservative" as DAL/HOU without empirical evidence of that...unless we're operating under different definitions of liberal/conservative.
Most all of the major cities are Democratic. The only ones that arent is Oklahoma city, Tulsa, and maybe Jacksonville. Now when it comes to liberal, it becomes a muddy coversation. None equal San Francisco or Boston. But there are hardly any cities that does. Houston and Dallas are moderate but leaning to the left slightly. Austin politically and socially has been more liberal than anything in Texas for a while. But Houston and Dallas are rapidly catching up. I'm sure tje argument is similar between Atlanta and Athens un Georgia and the cities in North Carolina.
I've never thought that liberalism encompasses an entire metro. Even places like SF bay area and Boston have conservative parts.
As far as most liberal city in the south, easily Atlanta with Austin a close second. Atlanta's large gay scene and more lax marijuana laws give in the edge, imo.
Agreed. Comparing metro areas makes the liberal/conservative issues muddy...lots of city cores are liberal, but the suburbs are often much more conservative, so trying to measure it as a whole can probably become confusing.
Is what you are saying, maybe Austin has this "image" it has for itself, but it isn't really much different than Dallas, Houston or Atlanta?
Or would you say Houston Dallas or Atlanta might have a "critical mass" of those same type of people Austin has, and possibly more? It is just that Houston, Dallas and Atlanta are more well rounded cities?
Where would that typical lefty Austin person feel more at home? Austin, Atlanta, Dallas or Houston... if they looked at the critical mass of people in those metros and didn't gauge it by everything else those metros have?
Taken to a greater debate... and you understand my argument. It is kind of like saying, yeah Asheville has quite a few lefty type people... But if you went to NYC, there will be FAR more.
Or somewhere like Minneapolis or Seattle wins this "most literate" thing... but if you went to NYC there are far more #'s of intelligent people, but also with that, much more poverty and diversity too.
Is this the same thing you think of when you put Atlanta/Dallas/Houston up against Austin in terms of its critical mass of liberal folk?
What I am saying is that Austin has the Image of being liberal. It especially did when it was more of a college town. And as far as College Towns go it wasn't even that liberal.
What makes Texas so conservative is the Sea of small towns surrounding the bigger cities. So when you have a blue dot surrounded by a sea of red that blue dot stands out more prominently.
As for Houston and Dallas, the cities are more liberal than Austin. The inner loop of Houston would give Austin a run for its money, but the suburbs of Houston (except some in Fort Bend) tend to lean conservative.
Also Dallas and Houston has a history of prominent politicians and the recent ones were Republican, so that kinda skews Houston and Dallas's image towards the conservative side. So although LBJ lived and taught in Houston, Its George Bush the first that everyone remembers. To make it worse George the 1st national convention in 1992 was in Houston. On the Dallas Side, George the Second's Ranch is just outside Waco near Dallas. And he chose to retire in Dallas. But just because the man likes Dallas does not mean that Dallas is all that conservative.
As for the Austin Lefty you are talking about, he is Not a Texan or a southerner. He would only feel at home in Austin. They will try and tell you that Austin is more like Portland instead of anywhere else in Texas, but that is BS. Austin is not at all like Portland. It is more like the inner loop of Houston or certain areas in Dallas. Don't try comparing Austin to ATL. Remember this is all in the heads of Austonians. When you tell them you are from [insert anywhere that is not Austin from the south here] their reply is aww, I am sorry for you.
As for your critical mass argument, that is not what I am saying at all. Austin's liberals are not very liberal at all. I am not talking about this place having more or less, I am just saying that they are only perceived as being liberal, as a holdover from the college town days. Austin is more "funny" than weird. It is funny as in the weird look that Hank Hill has when anyone on King of the Hill mentions Austin. The big local debate in Austin is not about Taxes or spending, or welfare programs, it is about who is gonna run Eeyore's Birthday party this year.
There is no critical mass of liberalism in Austin, just a lot of weirdness. They have a homeless transvestites person who runs for mayor every term and they think that makes them liberal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wag more bark less
Hey, you.
I have no time for your childish Nonsense. You know Austin people like to blow a lot of hot air but it does not come close to living up to the hype. Austin is NOT Liberal as you guys would like to think. See the rest of the country and then come back and talk.
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I will concede that on these forums, Houston and Dallas are often put down by Austin...I don't understand why that is the case. But this forum is hardly an accurate snapshot of reality. 
