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I can compromise with that. Good post. Although I wouldn't say Houston is that anti gay. It does have the biggest gay neighborhood in the state and its up there in visibility with Chelsea NYC, Castro SF, and WeHo LA. The only slight on it was the bathroom bill.
That's not true. Cedar Springs/Oak Lawn is the biggest and most visible gay neighborhood in the state.
Progressive as far what? Economy? Upward mobility? Politics? LGBT rights and support? Race relations? Transit? Arts and Culture? I think each city may offer different things and some cities may have more or less than the others in these various areas.
Progressive as far what? Economy? Upward mobility? Politics? LGBT rights and support? Race relations? Transit? Arts and Culture? I think each city may offer different things and some cities may have more or less than the others in these various areas.
In my book it does, because while I put social issues at the forefront of any progressive platform they're still only a notch below in my belt to the economics which has much more of an impact on people lives.
Houston also has a city owned corporation that publicly funds its art and hospitality scene. It elected the first gay mayor and had I believe it's had more minority mayors, but I'm not sure.
You're right that Houston is solidly democrat and not status quo changing per-se but it's more old school democrat than the New Democrat model which isn't as fiscally liberal. To me progressive has always been and always mean betterment of the majority through economics. Through redistributive politics. The social issues are not secondary per se but they're still not put above the former.
I love Austin, it's one of my fav cities but just being quirky and having a homeless thong wearing crossdresser run for mayor doesn't make you progressive (he still died without a roof over his head), vegan co-ops dont make you progressive, SXSW doesn't make you progressive, hipsters buying fair trade coffee and organic gluten free casin free non gmo free range grass fed whatever doesn't make you progressive. That's the new definition of progressivism that's been peppered with a dose of libertarianism.
Houston has much closer economic policies to blue cities with a large African American and Latino population. Austin I think doesn't even come close to the economically progressive stuff in Seattle, Minneapolis, Portland or any of the other cities it thinks are its peers.
I wouldn't call Houston a liberal or progressive city at all though. Maybe moderate, but not liberal or progressive. Oil dominates Houston and that's dominated by the right. Just because blacks or Latinos like Houston more doesn't make it more progressive...
Austin is definitely the most liberal/progressive city in Texas because it has a huge Tech presence and Tech is dominated by the left not to mention, by proportion, a huge young population with a huge college that's literally next to downtown. Just because it doesn't have a huge minority presence doesn't mean it's not progressive. Ironically enough, the most liberal/progressive cities in the country are mostly white/Asian(Seattle, Portland, SF).
Dallas would be right in the middle of Houston/Austin, but going further left with time. It recently scored its first 100 on the HRC MEI scale. It's diverse economy leads to diverse political stances so that generally means a pretty liberal core surrounded moderate and then conservative suburbs like Atlanta though Atlanta is still more progressive/liberal due to being a gay capital and a huge college presence in the immediate core.
Atlanta like Dallas has a diverse economy which leads to diverse political stances. There's no one field that dominates Atlanta that has certain leans. Atlanta IMO has a liberal to in some cases very liberal core. It has five major colleges within a relatively small area of the city(GA Tech, GSU, Spellman, Morehouse, Emory) so there's a huge young presence around that makes the city feel more young and progressive. Atlanta has also been a gay capital for decades long before gays were widely accepted, particularly for black males. It's often called the Black SF of the east. I mean, it's widely known in the black community Atlanta has a large gay black male population.
Annie summed up NOLA well. It's not a progressive city, but a live and let live city with a laid back feeling. You're free to do what you're want, at least in certain parts of the city. No one is going to really criticize you, but it's not progressive. It's not necessarily seeking to solve solutions and look towards the future in the same way Atlanta or Austin is. I almost want to say NOLA is happy the way it is. It's a tourist city.
So yeah, out of these 5 cities my rankings are:
Atlanta/Austin
Austin/Atlanta
Dallas
NOLA
Houston
I just don't believe a city can be progressive or liberal when you pass a bathroom bill the way Houston did and can't even muster up a 50 on the HRC MEI scale. Just no...I promise you, a bill like that would NEVER pass in Atlanta or Austin.
I wouldn't call Houston a liberal or progressive city at all though. Maybe moderate, but not liberal or progressive. Oil dominates Houston and that's dominated by the right. Just because blacks or Latinos like Houston more doesn't make it more progressive...
Austin is definitely the most liberal/progressive city in Texas because it has a huge Tech presence and Tech is dominated by the left not to mention, by proportion, a huge young population with a huge college that's literally next to downtown. Just because it doesn't have a huge minority presence doesn't mean it's not progressive. Ironically enough, the most liberal/progressive cities in the country are mostly white/Asian(Seattle, Portland, SF).
Dallas would be right in the middle of Houston/Austin, but going further left with time. It recently scored its first 100 on the HRC MEI scale. It's diverse economy leads to diverse political stances so that generally means a pretty liberal core surrounded moderate and then conservative suburbs like Atlanta though Atlanta is still more progressive/liberal due to being a gay capital and a huge college presence in the immediate core.
Atlanta like Dallas has a diverse economy which leads to diverse political stances. There's no one field that dominates Atlanta that has certain leans. Atlanta IMO has a liberal to in some cases very liberal core. It has five major colleges within a relatively small area of the city(GA Tech, GSU, Spellman, Morehouse, Emory) so there's a huge young presence around that makes the city feel more young and progressive. Atlanta has also been a gay capital for decades long before gays were widely accepted, particularly for black males. It's often called the Black SF of the east. I mean, it's widely known in the black community Atlanta has a large gay black male population.
Annie summed up NOLA well. It's not a progressive city, but a live and let live city with a laid back feeling. You're free to do what you're want, at least in certain parts of the city. No one is going to really criticize you, but it's not progressive. It's not necessarily seeking to solve solutions and look towards the future in the same way Atlanta or Austin is. I almost want to say NOLA is happy the way it is. It's a tourist city.
So yeah, out of these 5 cities my rankings are:
Atlanta/Austin
Austin/Atlanta
Dallas
NOLA
Houston
I just don't believe a city can be progressive or liberal when you pass a bathroom bill the way Houston did and can't even muster up a 50 on the HRC MEI scale. Just no...I promise you, a bill like that would NEVER pass in Atlanta or Austin.
This is pretty much spot on. I think there may have been a time when Houston was more liberal than Dallas, but Dallas has made a pretty hard left turn over the last 10-15 years. Right now, and having lived in both, I find Dallas more liberal than Houston.
I will say Dallas is a gay capital as well. Not quite on the level of Atlanta, but not too far behind either.
I can understand Houston not being liberal or progressive. But I wouldn't say it's conservative either. Libertarian or moderate is the best way to describe the city and that's cool IMO.
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