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How would you rank these top 15 Metro areas in the United States?
Please rank from socially liberal to socially conservative. Note this is ONLY for social, not fiscal...
could be views on issues, dress, attitudes, tolerance, etc.
NYC 2
LA 3
Chicago 7
DC 8
Boston 4
SF 1
Dallas 14
Philadelphia 9
Houston 11
Miami 10
Atlanta 13
Detroit 12
Minneapolis6
Seattle 5
Phoenix 15
GO
Okay...I'll take the bait. :-)
In reality, this is not a game of feet as much as it is a game of inches. I think most large cities in the US are more socially liberal than other cities in their states. While I think there's a large chasm between SF and Phoenix, I don't think all the jumps from one number to the next are that significantly different. I have been to all these cities so this is just my take on it.
I must admit I'm not sure I thought or think of any of those as socially conservative. Maybe Phoenix would come closest, particularly if we're meaning the entire metro as I believe they do have some pretty socially conservative suburbs.
Cincinnati might be the closest thing to socially conservative metro among the top 25 metros I've seen. It's voted in Pro-Life Democrats and I tend to think if the Democrats of a place go with Pro-Life/Anti-Choice people it's probably at least moderately socially conservative. Although I imagine a Cincinnatian will tell me I'm way off.
Among metros in general I think I've read that Provo-Orem, Oklahoma City, Fargo, Knoxville, Colorado Springs, Sioux City, and Amarillo are socially conservative at least to some extent. To get larger Jacksonville, Florida tends to come out pretty Republican in general so probably socially conservative.
Minneapolis socially CONSERVATIVE?!?? No way. It definitely goes pretty high on the socially liberal scale. I thought it was more liberal than DC, and really not all that far off from San Francisco. Minneapolis is definitely liberal territory. Some of the outer suburbs aren't, but that's true of most metro areas these days. The city is blue, blue, blue, though, with many people who consider accusations about being culturally conservative to be fighting words. Or at least they would, if they weren't afraid that references to fighting was in contradiction to the peace signs in their front yards.
". . . could be views on issues, dress, attitudes, tolerance, etc. . . ."
Even the four areas of social culture briefly listed in the above sentence from the original post cover a lot of territory. This makes it tricky to pin down where a city ranks. The same city might rank heavily in one direction in one or two of these areas, in the middle in another, and well in the opposite direction in still another. For example, I notice people ranking Boston pretty well toward the "liberal" end of the scale. I'm guessing this is because they're thinking "socially liberal" in the political sense. However, the examples the OP provided for areas that might be considered go beyond the political arena. I live in the Boston area, and actually would rank Boston somewhere in the middle, possibly even the conservative side of middle, if all aspects of social culture are considered.
Boston may rank toward the left in terms of socially oriented political issues, but Bostonians tend to take fierce pride in old local traditions. While any big city will have a certain fashion sense, Boston is not exactly trendy compared with, say, NYC, LA, or Miami. Lots of jeans and sweats (some say the climate leads people to dress more for the practical needs of protection from the elements than to look flashy), sports bars, neighborhood pubs, deep-seated pride in the ol' neigh-buh-hood where most members of the same family have lived for six generations, die-hahd allegiance to those Sahwx, etc., etc. This is countered to some degree by an urbane populace in some young professionals districts, but maybe not to the degree seen in notably trendy cities.
It's kind of one extreme or the other in Boston. Well to the left on a lot of political issues in the social sphere, often very traditional in terms of everyday living, social life, and local institutions. Balance these against each other, and you hit a point somewhere in the middle. Just one example of the fact that the rankings may not be as simple as they might seem at a glance.
". . . could be views on issues, dress, attitudes, tolerance, etc. . . ."
Even the four areas of social culture briefly listed in the above sentence from the original post cover a lot of territory. This makes it tricky to pin down where a city ranks. The same city might rank heavily in one direction in one or two of these areas, in the middle in another, and well in the opposite direction in still another. For example, I notice people ranking Boston pretty well toward the "liberal" end of the scale. I'm guessing this is because they're thinking "socially liberal" in the political sense. However, the examples the OP provided for areas that might be considered go beyond the political arena. I live in the Boston area, and actually would rank Boston somewhere in the middle, possibly even the conservative side of middle, if all aspects of social culture are considered.
Boston may rank toward the left in terms of socially oriented political issues, but Bostonians tend to take fierce pride in old local traditions. While any big city will have a certain fashion sense, Boston is not exactly trendy compared with, say, NYC, LA, or Miami. Lots of jeans and sweats (some say the climate leads people to dress more for the practical needs of protection from the elements than to look flashy), sports bars, neighborhood pubs, deep-seated pride in the ol' neigh-buh-hood where most members of the same family have lived for six generations, die-hahd allegiance to those Sahwx, etc., etc. This is countered to some degree by an urbane populace in some young professionals districts, but maybe not to the degree seen in notably trendy cities.
It's kind of one extreme or the other in Boston. Well to the left on a lot of political issues in the social sphere, often very traditional in terms of everyday living, social life, and local institutions. Balance these against each other, and you hit a point somewhere in the middle. Just one example of the fact that the rankings may not be as simple as they might seem at a glance.
Great post, you are on the right track. I mean all encompassing, all facets, not just political and not fiscal in terms of poverty programs or just D/R... if that was the case Detroit might be the most "liberal" city in the u.s. but that isn't the case I don't think, same way in the socially conservative direction. Or as you say I think somewhere like NYC might have more R's than Boston... but could be more socially liberal all encompassing than Boston. I don't know myself that is why I made the thread getting locals comments.
"Boston is not exactly trendy compared with, say, NYC, LA, or Miami. Lots of jeans and sweats (some say the climate leads people to dress more for the practical needs of protection from the elements than to look flashy), sports bars, neighborhood pubs, deep-seated pride in the ol' neigh-buh-hood where most members of the same family have lived for six generations, die-hahd allegiance to those Sahwx, etc., etc. This is countered to some degree by an urbane populace in some young professionals districts, but maybe not to the degree seen in notably trendy cities."
This screams to me Chicago as well esp the practical part. I have less experience with Boston but planning on doing another (more thorough) visit in May.
Southern, eastern, and black cities are most likely to be socially conservative (black culture tends to be evangelical-consensus, anti-gay and conservative in its fashion sense, even in the largest cities, these tendencies being inherited from the South). And anywhere in the Bible Belt or to a lesser extent the Mormon Belt.
Of course, some Southern/Bible Belt cities like Atlanta are actually something of a refuge from that culture, and Salt Lake City is likewise a bit of a refuge from Mormon culture, believe it or not. So that makes it more complicated.
I'll try this out though.
Most Conservative:
1. Philadelphia (east coast formal, half black, provincial)
2. D.C. (very formal, majority black, cosmopolitan)
3. Detroit (almost entirely black)
4. Atlanta (the center of the conservative South, but something of a refuge)
5. Dallas (mix of Southern types and cautious family-oriented suburban types)
6. Houston (like Dallas but more cosmopolitan)
7. Boston (open-minded but old-school)
8. Chicago (see Boston, but bigger and not as old)
Most Liberal:
1. Seattle (anything goes, but don't be annoying)
2. NYC (they will judge you, but it's not personal; nothing really shocks them anymore)
3. SF (very open-minded, but very status-conscious)
4. LA (open-minded, but image- and status-conscious)
5. Minneapolis (American Scandinavia, quiet peaceful tolerance)
6. Miami (could be open-minded, for all we know, but hard to see past the attitude)
7. Phoenix (it's in the New Age, individualist West, so it's more liberal than it gets credit for)
I am appauled at how innaccurate the responses are in this thread thus far. Here is my ranking (top 5 each):
Socially Liberal
Burlington, VT
Northampton, MA
New York, NY
San Francisco, CA
Boston, MA
Socially Conservative
Tulsa, OK
Jacksonville, FL
Montgomery, AL
Macon, GA
Fargo, ND
There is no accuracy, and also, you didn't read the original post.
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