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We've all heard the phrase a million times, but we've never done a ranking! This is NOT a listing of the most liberal cities. It's about the influence each city has on the hearts and minds of blue America.
Tier 1A: "Citadels"
New York City (home to the financial and media elite), Los Angeles (the Hollywood elite), San Francisco (the technological elite), and Washington, D.C. (the government elite)
Tier 1B: "Powerhouses" (with no particular monopoly like the first four)
Chicago, Boston, and Seattle
Tier 2: "Fortresses"
Miami, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Denver, San Diego, Atlanta, Austin, Portland, and Minneapolis
Tier 3: "Outposts"
The rest of the major cities and certain college towns
This is all in good fun. Please keep it civil!
Last edited by NIMBYS IN SPACE; 07-29-2017 at 01:24 AM..
chould boston be in 1-a because of ivory tower education impact ?
you can barely **** 2 feet in cambridge without hitting someone bragging about their masters degree in sociology.
Interesting topic.. I agree with the citadels, although I think fortresses is where it gets tricky.
I don't see how alot of the fortress cities "influence" blue America? I think they are safe havens and strong individual contributors but influence? Not sure.
chould boston be in 1-a because of ivory tower education impact ?
you can barely **** 2 feet in cambridge without hitting someone bragging about their masters degree in sociology.
I was thinking along the same lines as well. Perhaps Boston could be a "citadel" comprising the "educational elite." There's a good case to keep it with Chicago and Seattle too tho, which are no slouches themselves.
I was considering putting Boston in Tier 1A, but decided against it for two reasons. First, it doesn't really monopolize the education industry in the same way the Bay Area monopolizes tech, for example, and there are several wonderful universities in all of these metros. Second, Boston just doesn't seem big enough to be top tier. D.C. Is small too, but its monuments and institutions lend it the necessary gravitas. Actually, my biggest quandary was whether to include Chicago in the first group.
I don't see Miami as all that liberal. Even if Miami-Dade County leans democratically, its not really a "liberal" place. Certainly not the kind of liberal you find in Austin and definitely not Portland. Miami's a more moderate city, and its got probably the highest concentration of Hispanic republicans.
Miami's a party city more than anything, and the elitists there are elitist about how much money you make or how big your boobs are, or if you got a nice tan and what car you drive. Its not political elitist, its superficial elitist.
I don't see Miami as all that liberal. Even if Miami-Dade County leans democratically, its not really a "liberal" place. Certainly not the kind of liberal you find in Austin and definitely not Portland. Miami's a more moderate city, and its got probably the highest concentration of Hispanic republicans.
Miami's a party city more than anything, and the elitists there are elitist about how much money you make or how big your boobs are, or if you got a nice tan and what car you drive. Its not political elitist, its superficial elitist.
Interesting topic.. I agree with the citadels, although I think fortresses is where it gets tricky.
I don't see how alot of the fortress cities "influence" blue America? I think they are safe havens and strong individual contributors but influence? Not sure.
I guess it's more about the fortress cities being acceptable places for the liberal yuppies and their ilk. For example, a New York snob with cultural pretensions would probably be willing to take a job in Minneapolis or move to Denver to be closer to a spouse's family, whereas Colorado Springs might be too red. There's an invisible line that can't be crossed.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NIMBYS IN SPACE
I guess it's more about the fortress cities being acceptable places for the liberal yuppies and their ilk. For example, a New York snob with cultural pretensions would probably be willing to take a job in Minneapolis or move to Denver to be closer to a spouse's family, whereas Colorado Springs might be too red. There's an invisible line that can't be crossed.
Cities like Portland and Denver adopted liberal elitist trends in large part from transplants that relocated from the Citadel and Powerhouse cities.
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