Liberal or Conservative City: Why? (home, unemployment, schools)

[Repubocrat]

I understand people have different values and different reasons why they choose a certain city, I wanted to find out if you would rather live in a Conservative or Liberal city and what is your ideal city?

Conservative without a doubt, I am currently living in Des Moines, Iowa but eventually I will end up in Oklahoma City in a couple years.

What I like about OKC? Very Conservative, very much into traditional values, cowboy/country lifestyle, people are very patriotic, pro military, religion is a huge part of the local culture also. Strong economy, unemployment is low, cost of living is very low, low taxes! Definitely NOT a good place for a Liberal, this is old fashioned America and very traditional, I love Oklahoma

[JBM]

Moderate to liberal for me. Although I'm liberal, being in a place without a diversity of viewpoints and opinions can get boring =/ Albuquerque suits me well here. While generally liberal, it also has large conservative and moderate populations, and because it is New Mexico, there's quite a few libertarians as well

[Thomas R.]

I think there are different kinds of conservative and different kinds of liberalism. Holland, Michigan and Sevierville, Tennessee are both in consistently GOP counties but my guess is there are some noticeable cultural or even ideological differences.

I'm not really a city person unless we extend cities to mean "anything in any metropolitan area, even metros of less than a 100,000 people." Anyway if I had to choose I would go for conservative because I lean conservative. Although I don't like the cowboy, country music, or Tea Party thing much. If there was a conservative place that was more "swing music, classic rock, conservative think-tank" oriented that would be cool to me.

Also I think anymore I might prefer a moderate town or city or one with a mix of political views. A city that's solidly liberal I would not want.

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by Repubocrat

I understand people have different values and different reasons why they choose a certain city, I wanted to find out if you would rather live in a Conservative or Liberal city and what is your ideal city?

Conservative without a doubt, I am currently living in Des Moines, Iowa but eventually I will end up in Oklahoma City in a couple years.

What I like about OKC? Very Conservative, very much into traditional values, cowboy/country lifestyle, people are very patriotic, pro military, religion is a huge part of the local culture also. Strong economy, unemployment is low, cost of living is very low, low taxes! Definitely NOT a good place for a Liberal, this is old fashioned America and very traditional, I love Oklahoma

You're not saying Des Moines is conservative though are you? Obama won that county by 15%, and I don't think the city has voted republican in quite awhile now. Probably since Regan. That city and Iowa City are probably the two top liberal places in the state.

Or is that why you're saying you're moving away......


I think a lot of it has to do with the environment you're born into and in which you're raised. Certainly not ALWAYS by any means, but most people I know share the same general political feelings as their parents.

[Lovely95]

I think people associate Republican with conservative and Democrat with progressiveness. Yes they do go in that order most of the time, but you can vote Republican and be progressive and vote Democrat and be conservative. I think that OKC is actually progressive in the inner city. This doesn't really bother me, whether a place is conservative or liberal, as long as I can live with my views and not be singled out because of them. I'd much prefer moderateness though.

[TANaples]

Liberal, more tolerable in general.

[AksarbeN]

I would much rather live in a city or state that has liberal progressive values. It’s not just a political D or R thing; it’s simply citizens with like values and interests of what is important in their lives. However the D & R thing reflects personal values in most cases.

Who would want to live in a location that the values don’t reflect their personal feelings? It’s not easy. For example I don’t want the local churches to influence my local government actions however it occurs. The influence is noticeable and it shouldn’t be.

When I think of cities and states in general, the values of the area are a reflection of the political views there. I want a progressive liberal city to live in that reflect what I feel are positive values in the local society. These cities and states tend to be in the upper midwest, northeast and the west coast states.

The values are always argued back and forth, however the true reflection of the area is always noticed and leaves a lasting impression on others. This impression is the image that the local citizens provide to others.

It's not easy to live in an area that lack the values that you agree with.

[californio sur]

I agree that conservative cities are sort of creepy to me. Places where gay people are not welcomed and only white people are in power [city council\ mayor]. Some conservative cities don't even allow magazines of nude women unless the store keeper covers them up. Church people tend to be the most racists according to studies yet have the highest divorce rate and are most likely to be obese. Not the kind of people I would like to be around.

Liberal cities are "live and let live" places where people are not concerned about what you do in the privacy of your home [including smoking marijuana]. Liberal cities have a variety of cultures and racial\ ethnic mix so different kind of food\ restaurants besides boring "meat and potatoes" places or the usual fast food joints. Liberal cities are where almost all the universities are located and have interesting cultural opportunities. People seem to be more interested in the environment and the welfare of the planet. Schools don't teach "creationism" but instead honor science instead of fear it. More educated and less concerned about so-called "moral values" compared to conservative cities. Less hypocrites and more genuine people.

[DANNYY]

In all honesty I find extremely conservative or extremely liberal cities to be an annoyance.

I like cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, New York City, Dallas, Miami, Washington DC, Atlanta, among others because of how they are mostly a moderate atmosphere. Given all of those cities above have their share of extreme liberals and extreme conservatives but are mostly moderate. I have been to all of the cities I mentioned, but the only one I did not have the pleasure of extensively getting to know is Atlanta.

My views are moderate, I like to see a city that can accept people of all backgrounds, whether they are Chinese, or European, or Gay, or short and stuff like that. And as a minority (Asian) I felt very comfortable in all those cities listed above. For me politics is a dead subject I used to be very much involved in it, people can even say I had my extreme liberal views before, but it's actually a phase that I feel I have outgrown. I want what benefits me first and society as well. Where people can live happily, in an economically prosperous city.

Now the cities that do kind of annoy me based off policy are San Francisco, Portland, & Austin (borderline). Because I feel they let one group control too much of an sphere, yes its a beautiful thing to care about the environment, I myself do a lot. About a year and a half ago I would volunteer in an animal clinic, it was something I wanted to do, not felt like I had to do it. I love cities that have a strong support for that, but I also hate cities in which if you drive something like an Infiniti M35 (My car model) people look down upon you for being a gas guzzler or killing the environment. I find those people to be hypocrites, because there are many things a person can do that harms the environment also, I do not see those people being actively involved those people that judge, they aren't out there planting trees they are not out there helping animals and rescuing endangered species. They are just there talking about it, they let their city be their crutch, "ohh I live in Austin, I feel it is my moral duty to tell you to do this" it is a god damn fad to people. I see that as fake liberalism, and I cannot cities that have posers who try to carry on the fad rather than take the initiative to do things.

San Francisco, Portland, & Austin have a lot of liberals that are actively involved, but they also have a lot of posers, who think it is cool to imitate hard working people and lecture those they deem wrong, and cities with a large proportion of those people are not for me.

I like a balanced city, I do have to admit, I like the way conservatives are business minded and it's something I'm adapting to a lot, but I hate being in a city where if I'm a minority I'm less than human because it's a "sin" or I should be treated like an outcast. I like things about liberals too, environmental protection being the most of what I like about the true liberals. But I do hate that "greater than thou" attitude for the posers who think it is a fad to just talk about liberalism as if it is their crutch. The one thing I don't like about liberals in government power is their consumption and how they treat money, there are effective ways to do things without using as much cash.

I am a moderate and I like to take the best of both and apply it, it's just the way I perceive things, so before someone quotes me on it to debate my ideas know that they are solely mine and not that I am trying to say these are facts. It's based off my own perception.

When and if I vote (I am only 20) I will vote for the person who has the best interest for our country in line, not someone who is conservative or liberal, people have to put away their differences to see a progressive country, IMO. I haven't given who I want to vote for in the next election much thought seeing how most candidates don't appeal to me based off ideas yet. I like certain things from all of them, but I cant say I like their overall views. (at least for the "projected 2012" candidates)

[205]

"I agree that conservative cities are sort of creepy to me. Places where gay people are not welcomed and only white people are in power [city council\ mayor]. Some conservative cities don't even allow magazines of nude women unless the store keeper covers them up. Church people tend to be the most racists according to studies yet have the highest divorce rate and are most likely to be obese. Not the kind of people I would like to be around."
"
This is a huge misconception imo....especially the part about gay people being unwelcome and only whites being in power. There are far more Deep South cities (that many on these boards would consider Conservative) that have mostly AA leadership. As for gays being unwelcome, I haven't noticed that in Conservative cities either. People there as in most cities simply don't care one way or the other. I think you mean that these places don't openly cater to your wishes and therefore you consider that being "unwelcome". I'm a big college sports fan but I'm not going to go into a bar in NYC and consider everyone hateful because they don't carry major league baseball games on their TVs instead of the college football games I prefer. This is basically what many gays do when they brow beat a place as hateful or unwelcoming.


"Liberal cities are "live and let live" places where people are not concerned about what you do in the privacy of your home [including smoking marijuana]. Liberal cities have a variety of cultures and racial\ ethnic mix so different kind of food\ restaurants besides boring "meat and potatoes" places or the usual fast food joints. Liberal cities are where almost all the universities are located and have interesting cultural opportunities. People seem to be more interested in the environment and the welfare of the planet. Schools don't teach "creationism" but instead honor science instead of fear it. More educated and less concerned about so-called "moral values" compared to conservative cities. Less hypocrites and more genuine people."

Liberal cities are "live and let live" if you tow the company line with everything they believe. If not, you're shouted down and called all sorts of ugly names. I consider myself a little right of center. I don't agree with those that are very conservative but I do tend to lean a little right of center. Liberal cities aren't necessarily always more culturally diverse than conservative cities. Houston, for example, is very diverse and pretty conservative. Portland, on the other hand, is lily white and liberal. Liberals APPEAR to care more about the planet because they have an unrealistic perspective of their effect on the environment. Conservatives tend to realize that the environment can't ultimately be controlled by humans and that there are larger factors outside our control in regards to the environment (this is especially true with Global Warming). As for "moral values", there is plenty of hypocrisy on both sides of the political aisle. Most schools regardless of political ideology don't teach creationism. I don't understand why you say creationist fear science. If anything, evolutionists do. I don't won't to get into an evolution debate but there's as much evidence to support creationism as there is evolution so both sides should be equally open to debate the subject. Evolutionists simply won't allow the idea to even be debated. I'd also say that liberals aren't immune to hypocrisy. Many die hard animal rights activists support abortion. If someone put an pregnant animal to sleep and surgically removed the developing baby animal, place it on a table, and snapped its head with a pair of scissors they'd be justifiably appalled. Yet they support the right of a woman to be able to do this very thing to a developing fetus/baby.