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One could even say that Pennsylvania is the "Breadbasket of Deplorables," I suppose.
One just has to read the social media commentary for any Pittsburgh media outlet's recent articles regarding Port Authority Transit unveiling a new rainbow-wrapped bus for PRIDE to see that many white Democrats in the state have shifted far to the right socially. I used to consider Pennsylvania to be a solidly "blue" and left-leaning state socially. Now it seems to be purple.
^^^^^^
You should definitely read the article above.
That was a very solid article. Not sure if Austin-obsessed friends would be okay with me sending it to them to explain why I don't think they should move there from NYC.
One just has to read the social media commentary for any Pittsburgh media outlet's recent articles regarding Port Authority Transit unveiling a new rainbow-wrapped bus for PRIDE to see that many white Democrats in the state have shifted far to the right socially. I used to consider Pennsylvania to be a solidly "blue" and left-leaning state socially. Now it seems to be purple.
Eh, comments sections on any newspaper website are all cesspools, regardless of which city the newspaper serves.
I'd add that Durham's urban area isn't all that large and having two of the three major universities of the Triangle over-weights it with progressives. I'll also add that Durham has a large percentage of African Americans that typically vote Democratic and don't usually prove to be socially conservative as many here are speculating to be true across the board in the AA community.
On the other hand, Raleigh's urban area has the largest of the three major universities but overwhelms Durham's in population and also has the lion's share of the Triangle's suburbs filled with highly educated voters. Raleigh too has a substantial AA community by percentage, but it's nowhere near as large by % as the one in Durham. Raleigh is also one of the most politically engaged places in the country with much higher voter turnout than the national norm with its core county, Wake, casting the most ballots by far of any county in the state, despite having been less populated than Mecklenburg (Charlotte).
Raleigh and Durham/Chapel Hill are only separate urban areas in the first place because there is a break in residential development around Research Triangle Park. Having highly educated voters in a politically competitive state is a good combination for high turnout.
Interestingly, Wake (1,092,305) and Mecklenburg (1,093,901) have just about identical populations as of 2018 estimates. Mecklenburg is certainly growing quickly by national standards, but Wake's growth is even faster.
So I've never been to Austin. But I literally have 0 interest in visiting. I'll probably end up going because everyone says I should. But something even about its vibe and attraction in the media has always rubbed me the wrong way. I think it's that when these "coolest cities" lists come out, they tend to be overwhelmingly white liberals moving there (Austin, Denver, Portland). That to me is extremely boring. Middle class white people who think they're unique is not a culture. Culture comes from people of all backgrounds lifting up a city and participating in its economy equally.
I'm not going to say I'm an expert on Austin Denver Portland, but from what I understand, they largely are attracting the above-mentioned middle class white people who think they're unique. That's an entirely different "liberal" than the kind that lives in a place like NYC Philly LA or even Houston. It's hard to actually explain the difference to someone who isn't firsthand aware of the differences, but I know the types of cities/vibes I'm attracted to are different than the types of cities/vibes that the suburban white kids who wanna liberal move to. The SF liberal is more along the lines of the Austin Denver Portland style now, and I couldn't wait to get out of SF. I always felt more at home with the liberal vibe of NYC LA Chicago Philly.
That was a very solid article. Not sure if Austin-obsessed friends would be okay with me sending it to them to explain why I don't think they should move there from NYC.
Raleigh and Durham/Chapel Hill are only separate urban areas in the first place because there is a break in residential development around Research Triangle Park. Having highly educated voters in a politically competitive state is a good combination for high turnout.
Interestingly, Wake (1,092,305) and Mecklenburg (1,093,901) have just about identical populations as of 2018 estimates. Mecklenburg is certainly growing quickly by national standards, but Wake's growth is even faster.
Yep. Well aware of how quickly the gap has closed between Mecklenburg and Wake. When the next estimate comes out, Wake will have passed Mecklenburg. However, in 2016, Wake was less populated than Mecklenburg but cast over 49,000 more votes.
Also, some agencies that report urban areas have since united the two as Raleigh's western suburbs have encircled RTP and connected it to Durham. Northeast of RTP, Raleigh and Durham also actually meet now.
I’m shocked that Dallas is less liberal than Houston, but I already knew both were more conservative than Miami and Atlanta.
I’m not shocked by Raleigh or Tallahassee, but Durham is astoundingly liberal. No one is surprised that San Francisco is number one.
What does surprise me about San Francisco is there's such a small gap between the city and metro politics. The city voted about 10% red so there's only a 3%~ gap.
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