Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Liberal:
Austin
Dallas (city proper)
Houston (city proper)
Economically Liberal, but with some social conservatism: El Paso
Brownsville
Laredo
San Antonio
Beaumont
Port Arthur
I know this is an old topic but it's very interesting and I wanted to chime in
When I think liberal, I mean, liberal liberal. Like, same-sex marriage, abortion, financially, and the general feel of the city. Same with conservative.
Now, first of all, I have to do the state I'm living in, Virginia. And really, it's easy. Alexandria and Arlington are liberal. Fairfax leans liberal but isn't nearly as liberal as Alexandria and Arlington. Ghent in the Hampton Roads area is liberal. Richmond and Charlottesville are mixed, C'ville being more liberal, Richmond varies greatly on location, it has liberal neighborhoods, and more conservative ones, but the fact it's a young city on average, has a major artsy/hipster population and is a college town makes it lean liberal in general. Blacksburg and Radford (these two mostly b/c of the college students) and Roanoke have a more conservative feel but moderate-ish population.
The rest of the state either leans right or is very conservative. That includes Richmond suburbs, the rest of NOVA outside of Arlington/Alexandria/Fairfax, Hampton Roads area including VA Beach, and the border cities to Kentucky and NC are generally very conservative. So basically, outside of a few outliers, Virginia is a conservative state. And really, moderate in Virginia is conservative, so really outside of Arlington and Alexandria, you won't find a liberal stronghold in VA.
A read a lot of responders' answers and some I wanted to address:
- Indianapolis and Gary are not liberal. Indianapolis is more moderate. Gary is conservative, the only reason that city votes Dem is because of the black population. The only legit liberal area in Indiana is Bloomington, primarily because of IU. The overwhelming majority of Indiana is between conservative and very conservative, to me Indiana is one of the most conservative states around.
- Miami isn't nearly as liberal as people make it out to be. Key West and Broward county in general are liberal. Gadsden is liberal. Gainesville is liberal leaning moderate. That's about it. Miami Beach is a totally different world, it is liberal, and people usually think Miami beach is basically all Miami is, which is not nearly as liberal and cosmopolitan.
- NYC isn't the most liberal city in the US. It's liberal for sure, but SF and Seattle for instance are more liberal. Cambridge, MA is more liberal. There are social conservatives in NYC, especially the blacks, latinos, immigrants from Eastern Europe and orthodox Jews.
- Dallas isn't liberal. I don't know why I keep seeing people indicate that. Dallas is moderate. Austin is the only legit liberal area in Texas. A lot of Texas is moderate and varies greatly depending on location in a particular city, like Houston and El Paso.
- The majority of California in terms of location is conservative, but the most populous areas are liberal. SF, SJ, LA, W. Hollywood, Berkeley these areas get the most publicity and therefore people think California=liberal. The truth is, basically the rest of the state is between conservative and extremely conservative, basically like a Midwestern state. Two completely different states.
-A lot of people think Democrat=liberal, Republican=conservative. Not necessarily true, at all. It's about personal beliefs more that political leanings.
I don't think New Jersey is considered part of New England, but you're right that New England does have conservative areas. Since 1972 Bill Clinton has been the only Democrat to win Piscataquis County, Maine and he only did so once as they went for Perot in 1992. I believe Piscataquis also supported Question 1 against same-sex marriage.
New Hampshire is known for having a good deal of Republicans. The Manchester suburb of Bedford, New Hampshire gave McCain, Sununu, and Bradley strong support in 2008. Although they did go for the Democratic candidate for governor. Carroll County, New Hampshire went for Obama but is traditionally quite Republican as well.
In Massachusetts the town of Boxford went for McCain and against Kerry as Senator in 2008. In 2010 it strongly favored legislature also appears to be Republican.
Watertown, Connecticut went fairly strongly for Bush in 2004 and somewhat strongly for McCain in 2008. In 2010 it gave strong support for the failed bids of Republicans McMahon for Senator and Foley for Governor. It also gave Republican Caligiuri a majority in his failed bid for House. Litchfield in general seems to be somewhat more Republican than the rest of the state.
- Miami isn't nearly as liberal as people make it out to be. Key West and Broward county in general are liberal. Gadsden is liberal. Gainesville is liberal leaning moderate. That's about it. Miami Beach is a totally different world, it is liberal, and people usually think Miami beach is basically all Miami is, which is not nearly as liberal and cosmopolitan.
MiamiDade, while "blue" overall, has some decidedly conservative cities. Hialeah is one of the most conservative cities in America over 200K. Some other predominately Cuban communities are pretty conservative.
Conversely, most everything along the water on the mainland and barrier islands, is fairly liberal to very liberal. This includes Miami Proper, Miami Beach, Aventura, Coconut Grove, Sunny Isles Beach, Surfside, North Miami, North Miami Beach, etc.
Only if you're talking about the part of Austin South of Anderson Ln, North of Ben White, East of Mopac, and West of Airport Blvd., which is a pretty geographically small area. You might as well make the same comparison to Houston inside loop 610 and certain areas of central Dallas like Oak Cliff etc.
In conclusion, Austin really isn't any more/less liberal than those cities. It just likes to toot it's liberal horn a little louder.
I've heard that, but I may understand the idea on Austin. Going by election statistics I could see them being more historically/consistently liberal than many Texas cities. Jefferson County (Port-Arthur/Beaumont), and some of the highly Hispanic border counties, come out more consistently Democratic but they also appear to be more socially conservative. Travis County was one of the few counties in Texas to reject Prop 2 denying same-sex marriage and it's the only one I actually find. One of the ones to be close was Hays County, which also looks to be in the Austin-metro area. (Although Bastrop, Burnet, Caldwell, and Williamson gave it fairly strong support and are in Austin metro I gather. Still of those I think only Burnet gave Prop 2 more support than Texas average)
- NYC isn't the most liberal city in the US. It's liberal for sure, but SF and Seattle for instance are more liberal. Cambridge, MA is more liberal. There are social conservatives in NYC, especially the blacks, latinos, immigrants from Eastern Europe and orthodox Jews.
-A lot of people think Democrat=liberal, Republican=conservative. Not necessarily true, at all. It's about personal beliefs more that political leanings.
"Democrat=liberal, Republican=conservative" generally does follow liberal or conservative in my opinion. It differ greatly depending on place to place though. Dems in some places might be considered Rep in others, and vice versa.
Also on the whole New York thing, when was the last time they had a Democrat mayor? 20 years or so ago?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brewzerr68
Only if you're talking about the part of Austin South of Anderson Ln, North of Ben White, East of Mopac, and West of Airport Blvd., which is a pretty geographically small area. You might as well make the same comparison to Houston inside loop 610 and certain areas of central Dallas like Oak Cliff etc.
In conclusion, Austin really isn't any more/less liberal than those cities. It just likes to toot it's liberal horn a little louder.
Gay rights would be a good social issue to use as an example for liberal or conservative in my opinion. Out of 254 counties in Texas Travis County was the only county in the state to vote against the gay marriage ban. And if you look at what parts of the county and the part of the surrounding counties that voted against it, it clearly shows that it was not only central Austin that voted that way. Many of the areas outside the little bubble you say we have voted against Prop 2.
You are right that there are conservatives in Austin. There are plenty of them and they are all over Austin, not just outside Austin and up in Williamson County. There are also lost of Liberals outside Austin and up in Williamson County. But what I read from other people from other Texas cities posting about Austin on this forum is not even close to reflecting my personal experience growing up and living here, nor is it even close to reflecting the voters at the polls.
You are also right that other cities have made great strides. We all know Houston had the first gay mayor of any major city in the US. But while you say Austin has its bubble I look at the other Texas cities and see very real bubbles. Very distinct bubbles like Montrose that are in the minority. Those bubbles need to be popped. Conservatives need to be welcomed there, and liberals need to feel more welcomed in the rest of those cities for at least myself to starting thinking of those cities as anywhere close to Austin.
Only if you're talking about the part of Austin South of Anderson Ln, North of Ben White, East of Mopac, and West of Airport Blvd., which is a pretty geographically small area. You might as well make the same comparison to Houston inside loop 610 and certain areas of central Dallas like Oak Cliff etc.
In conclusion, Austin really isn't any more/less liberal than those cities. It just likes to toot it's liberal horn a little louder.
Too true. +1
Quote:
Originally Posted by BevoLJ
You are also right that other cities have made great strides. We all know Houston had the first gay mayor of any major city in the US. But while you say Austin has its bubble I look at the other Texas cities and see very real bubbles. Very distinct bubbles like Montrose that are in the minority. Those bubbles need to be popped. Conservatives need to be welcomed there, and liberals need to feel more welcomed in the rest of those cities for at least myself to starting thinking of those cities as anywhere close to Austin.
This is too funny.
Dude conservatives and liberals both are welcomed everywhere in the major cities. And in Houston the gays have been fleeing Montrose for more than a decade. Places like Meyerland, Riverside Terrace, Heights, and others are the places where the Gays live and you find many conservatives living among em.
Only if you're talking about the part of Austin South of Anderson Ln, North of Ben White, East of Mopac, and West of Airport Blvd., which is a pretty geographically small area. You might as well make the same comparison to Houston inside loop 610 and certain areas of central Dallas like Oak Cliff etc.
In conclusion, Austin really isn't any more/less liberal than those cities. It just likes to toot it's liberal horn a little louder.
Brewzerr, were your feelings hurt by an Austinite at some point in the past? You seem to never miss an opportunity to make personal attacks not against Austin itself, but against its residents.
Travis County is more liberal than Harris, Dallas, or Bexar County. Sure, perhaps it toots its horn loudly, but that doesn't make it less true. It's also a tad bigger than your cute arbitrary boundaries of Austin's "liberal area".
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
