Recommend a liberal city less expensive than Chicago? (Naperville, Oak Park: suburbs, area)

[Drover]

Originally Posted by machstr

Come to Green Bay Wisconsin.. nothing is better. Great people, things to do summer and winter, Green Bay Packers football and tailgating, bratwurst, cheese and beer. What more could anyone want?

Green Bay is liberal like Helen Thomas is hot.

[Avengerfire]

haha

[Paxtonian]

I think you need to be serious about your liberalism. It's easy enough to do it where the neighbors are all the same, but you should consider moving to a diverse place like Harvey. They voted for Obama in levels you won't find anywhere else, and I'm sure they could use a role model such as you in their quest for political enlightnment. I daresay, you could be the very model of a community organizer there. It's their time, and you need to put your feet in step with your ideals.

[tigernike23]

Champaign, IL. Champaign, was the only central Illinois county I know of that voted for Kerry in 2004 and Obama in 2008.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by tigernike23

Champaign, IL. Champaign, was the only central Illinois county I know of that voted for Kerry in 2004 and Obama in 2008.

Aside from the fact that 1) other central IL counties did the same, 2) voting Democrat is not synonymous with "progressive," and 3) this thread is a year old now, I'll repeat what I said upthread: I'd be cautious about recommending Champaign-Urbana. The "progressive" vibe exists in a bubble on and around campus. The rest of the area is pretty conservative, and that sometimes sets up culture clashes between the "academics" and the "townies."

[tabone1]

Urbana, Urbana, Urbana, Urbana, Urbana.

Screw Champaign. Urbana's progressive bubble (mentioned above) is just fine and dandy, and it won't ever go "pop".

The People's Republic of Urbana is calling out for you!!!!! Enough progressiveness to keep you busy all day everyday 365.

[Chicago_Illini_26]

I think the only places you're going to find the kind of liberal you want is Chicago or Champaign. Even Champaign is more conservative than a lot of Big Ten university towns (i.e., Madison, Iowa City, Ann Arobr, Evanston, etc.). For those who listed Rockford, the city votes Democrat because it has a lot of blue collar workers, but all of its suburbs (where the people with the money live) go red. The Quad Cities (including Rock Island) do go blue in the way you like because they're influenced by Eastern Iowa, which is pretty Democratic. However, I don't think they're that good of places to live. Bloomington-Normal never struck me as a liberal area at all... I just remember a lot of stuck up rich people who worked for State Farm ... doesn't scream liberal to me. Decatur is pretty conservative (it's not THAT big). Peoria is straight up Republican. It's not like Southern, Christian Right Republican, but nowhere in Illinois is. The Peoria area votes consistently for Republicans though (it even voted decidedly for McCain). Springfield and the rest of Southern Illinois are very Democratic areas, but not at all a Northeastern or West Coast Democrat; they are more old fashioned Southern Democrats down there. So, I'd suggest Evanston or Champaign if you cannot take Chicago. And even a lot of suburbs of Chicago are GOP ground because a lot of them have a lot of wealth and are removed from the city's influence.

[linicx]

Peoria is not "straight up" Republican. If it was, it would feel like B-N and it doesn't. One election does not mean a thing, and as a state we did elect the third U.S. President with Illinois roots.

Peoria is a city of many colors with a diverse employment, diverse culture, and a diverse religious community that embraces Greek Orthodox, Federalism Judaism, Universalist and other non-main stream religions as as well as main stream religions representing Catholic, Methodist and other Christian religions.

Peoria population is as diverse as Chicago. being divided between family, single, non-married couples living together, gay, straight, divorced and widowed. Economy includes labor, seniors, mid- management, family owned, famale owned, corporate regional, and corporate internationl in the fields of construction, real-estate, education, financial, legal, medical, technology, planning, developement, engineering, city and county positions as well as village, town and city governance. Many of the local businesses have continued to serve Peorians from the same location for more than a half-century - and a few have served for over a centurty.

Peorians enjoy their outdoor actifities, too. The Peoria Park District system (oldest in state) manages 9,000 acres that includes a top-rated zoo, planetarium. swimming, skating, tennis, golf,
softball, hockey, baseball, hiking and walking, trails, civic center, river front, amphitheater, summer stock, picnic areas, free Saturday Night family movies, botanical gardents, historic properties, education classes, and more than 50 parks.

As far as politics... you can find as many opinions as you can people in Peoria. Blue, Red, Greem. Democrat, Independent or Republican, you can find a party and a platform for you views. You join 'em, watch 'em, or start your own.

Our financial system is healthy. New houses are under construction and housing as a whole is recovering. The Peoria economy is not as bad as stated. Many of the undmeployed are minimym wage, winter non-home construction, and industrial lay-offs. However, recently several large businesses hired new employees, new financing was found to continue the hotel renovation and expansion in downtown, zoo entrance reconstruction continues. plus engineers and physicians area relocating to Peoria. Yes the economy is slow, but Pooria well recover slowly and quietly like it has in the last 150 years. .

Illinois still supports a 3% flat incoome tax, 1% grocery tax and its senior cotozenss. Our four seasons are generally more moderate than that of our northern neighbors who enjoy the Canadian breezes, sub-zero temperatiures and deep snow.

[The Siobhan]

Originally Posted by tabone1

Urbana, Urbana, Urbana, Urbana, Urbana.

Screw Champaign. Urbana's progressive bubble (mentioned above) is just fine and dandy, and it won't ever go "pop".

The People's Republic of Urbana is calling out for you!!!!! Enough progressiveness to keep you busy all day everyday 365.

I am not sure if this is sarcasm or not , but I second the recommendation of Urbana. I am originally from Danville (and a few years in Rantoul), but I attended UIUC for seven years, so I have a pretty good knowledge of east central IL.

I vastly prefered Urbana to Champaign; its been over two years since I've been there, but I liked how the city invested in its downtown area. It has an awesome library, but the mall is a bit sad.

I presently live in Seattle which is reputed to be a very progressive/liberal city, but what I have found is that people like to call themselves progressive, but they can hold some pretty racist, patronizing, and elitist sentiments that I didn't encounter in conservative Illinois towns.

[Drover]

Seattle is also about as expensive as Chicago, perhaps even more so any more.