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I agree with Mrs 14'ths point, I am not so sure about the taxes argument since nova does have high taxes, property in particular due to expensive homes and a moderate housing bubble although the state of Virginia less so.
Nova residents tend to also vote for defense, military contractors, and such, however I must add this point,
The demographics and political views have changed, while that's obvious, Mrs 14th leaves a couple points out
Nova has for a while been falsely branded by people from the other parts of Virginia as leeches, and the candidate mcdonnell historically voted against nova's interests, while changing his story.
There is a difference between the "core" areas of Nova, and place such as prince William county, the outer suburbs are much more white and less asian. To be fair, prince william and stafford are more outer suburbs then exurbs, so it can be called northern's virginia core, anti-immigrant propositions and laws have succedded into those 2 places, so there is a difference between northern virginia inner suburbs and counties such as fairfax, arlington, alexandria and prince william , and stafford.
Loudon county has historically been rural, and still has a mostly white population, and is exurban despite being northern virginia's core (geographic vs. political influence), fairfax and loudon have voted for obama.
Another point is that Nova, doesn't look like a lot of southern places especially with the suburban changes , even the exurbs have been changing all the way to west virginia, it seems there is more of a difference further south in NOVA then immeditaly surround and west of D.C, ie loudon v. prince william despite the close proximity to fairfax. Also congressional representation does reveal a major shift towards democrats rather than split, although the GOP still has influence.
I kinda see what you're saying but at the same time your message isn't coming across totally clear. Surely you aren't saying Prince William county is is more white and lacks diversity? Because Manassas and Woodbridge are some of the most diverse places I've ever seen. This whole area is pretty diverse I would say that areas around northern Fairfax county (where I live) and Loudoun county are the places that are still more homogounous but places like Herndon and Reston are definitely exceptions.
I kinda see what you're saying but at the same time your message isn't coming across totally clear. Surely you aren't saying Prince William county is is more white and lacks diversity? Because Manassas and Woodbridge are some of the most diverse places I've ever seen. This whole area is pretty diverse I would say that areas around northern Fairfax county (where I live) and Loudoun county are the places that are still more homogounous but places like Herndon and Reston are definitely exceptions.
As I pointed out there has been a bit of tension and many immigrants have left prince william and went to fairfax, they tend to be mostly hispanic, they came there to build homes and left, a lot of homes went into foreclosure, in fairfax its a bit different. I don't have the updated statistics, but I read that many immigrants have left, if a lot have stayed then maybe the story didn't take into account certain factors. Home values plummented, I actually was referring to both prince william and stafford counties as well as faquier and others.
I would argue that perhaps the politics and demographics of the prince William county are more homogeneous as opposed to Fairfax and loud on with stafford and other counties, for instance why hasn't there been the same kind of anti immigrant resolutions, longer commuters (an extra 20 minutes or so, no metro transit like Fairfax) , housing bubbles,etc in fairfax and loudon (although home prices did drop at a smaller percentage). I was also including stafford and other counties,
not just prince william in the category, perhaps I should clarify.
The census bureau has reported that foreign born population dropped 7% , so perhaps there was truth behind the original argument.
Last edited by FlyDrive100b; 10-10-2009 at 08:52 PM..
In terms of social and political issues, NOVA behaves in more of a red state manner. Residents are in favor of lower income taxes and concealed carry, for example. As well, VA can not get a smoking ban passed like MD and DC because the Richmond statehouse is ringed with carvings of tobacco leaves. In the recent Episcopalian/Anglican church rift in America, it was largely VA churches that left the Episcopal diocese first because of what they perceived as out-of-control liberalism. These things strike me as the result of a more southern mentality.
NoVA isn't as liberal as Montgomery County, but to call it a "red state" area socially is a stretch. Residents voted against banning same sex marriage in 2005, and have pretty consistently voted for Democratic candidates this entire decade. Given that this area isn't a union stronghold and does not have a particularly high concentration of African-Americans, I'm not sure why people would be voting for the Democrats if they weren't fairly liberal, socially-speaking.
Also, Virginia passed a smoking ban on March 1 that takes effect on December 1. Virginia has a long history of tobacco farming, but not northern Virginia, so I'm not sure why the fact that the statehouse has tobacco carvings on it makes NoVA Southern.
Finally, while it is true that some very historic Episcopalian churches here have left the denomination, the denomination has a pretty unique history in Virginia. I think we're the only state in the country that has counties where a majority of the inhabitants are Episcopalians. Obviously, this means that the Episcopalian community is going to encompass more diversity than in counties where Episcopalians make up 1-2% of the population. Furthermore, while individual churches have left, no dioceses have left. Whereas the Episcopalian dioceses of Pittsburgh and San Joaquin (Stockton) have done so completely. So unless that makes Pittsburgh Southern, in your mind, I don't know why Truro and Falls Church leaving the Episcopalians does.
Northern Virginia does get more newcomers from the South than suburban Maryland, I will admit. And it is more conservative. But conservatism doesn't necessarily imply a greater degree of Southern-ness. Northern Virginia votes for Democrats in greater numbers than suburban Philadelphia or non-NYC Long Island, so unless they are secretly Southern bastions...
NoVA isn't as liberal as Montgomery County, but to call it a "red state" area socially is a stretch. Residents voted against banning same sex marriage in 2005, and have pretty consistently voted for Democratic candidates this entire decade. Given that this area isn't a union stronghold and does not have a particularly high concentration of African-Americans, I'm not sure why people would be voting for the Democrats if they weren't fairly liberal, socially-speaking.
Also, Virginia passed a smoking ban on March 1 that takes effect on December 1. Virginia has a long history of tobacco farming, but not northern Virginia, so I'm not sure why the fact that the statehouse has tobacco carvings on it makes NoVA Southern.
Finally, while it is true that some very historic Episcopalian churches here have left the denomination, the denomination has a pretty unique history in Virginia. I think we're the only state in the country that has counties where a majority of the inhabitants are Episcopalians. Obviously, this means that the Episcopalian community is going to encompass more diversity than in counties where Episcopalians make up 1-2% of the population. Furthermore, while individual churches have left, no dioceses have left. Whereas the Episcopalian dioceses of Pittsburgh and San Joaquin (Stockton) have done so completely. So unless that makes Pittsburgh Southern, in your mind, I don't know why Truro and Falls Church leaving the Episcopalians does.
Northern Virginia does get more newcomers from the South than suburban Maryland, I will admit. And it is more conservative. But conservatism doesn't necessarily imply a greater degree of Southern-ness. Northern Virginia votes for Democrats in greater numbers than suburban Philadelphia or non-NYC Long Island, so unless they are secretly Southern bastions...
Excellent post, I am not sure how the Mrs 14 user used the Episcopalian argument and tobacco argumentsto argue Virginia was more southern. There are plenty of other Southern denominations such as the southern baptists who are more predominant, also Anglicanism is similar to Catholicism more so than the protestant denominations.
True, Virginia is a right to work state, and defense spending including NOVA benefits, I must add though that many suburbs have shifted from their traditional republican voting patterns to democrats
You may a great point about democratic trends in absence of african american votes, Maryland counties do you have a large african american vote presence although I would as you argue that Montgomery is more liberal than NOVA.
There are Asian votes and Hispanic immigration to NOVA, but even loud on voted democrat, Southern virginia's don't considered NOVA to be southern, especially its suburban development style that grew very quickly and demographic and political leanings.
The point I was trying to make, though perhaps in a meandering late-night state of mind, was that I perceive VA as more socially conservative than states to its north. It's changing, for sure. The more liberal population centers in NOVA certainly affected the outcome of the presidential election. Yet, as compared to similarly urbanized areas in DC or MD, NOVA still seems conservative in this one woman's opinion. Since national elections tend to break with liberals to in the Mid Atlantic and Northeast and more conservative voters in the southern portion of the eastern seaboard, I mentally lump VA into that group. I think a fair proportion of NOVA residents still have a more socially conservative bent -- even the Dems.
Yet, as compared to similarly urbanized areas in DC or MD, NOVA still seems conservative
San Francisco seems conservative compared to some urbanized areas of DC and MD, Obama's margin of victory in SF was lower than in the District or PG, and his margin in neighboring San Mateo County was lower than it was in Montgomery
some of its an ethnic influence, but Montgomery/PG is probably the most liberal suburban area in the entire country
The point I was trying to make, though perhaps in a meandering late-night state of mind, was that I perceive VA as more socially conservative than states to its north. It's changing, for sure. The more liberal population centers in NOVA certainly affected the outcome of the presidential election. Yet, as compared to similarly urbanized areas in DC or MD, NOVA still seems conservative in this one woman's opinion. Since national elections tend to break with liberals to in the Mid Atlantic and Northeast and more conservative voters in the southern portion of the eastern seaboard, I mentally lump VA into that group. I think a fair proportion of NOVA residents still have a more socially conservative bent -- even the Dems.
You think Northern Virginia is less liberal than Baltimore or Anne Arundel Counties? There's a lot more to Maryland than Montgomery and Prince George's, although most residents of suburban Maryland don't like to admit that (hell, most residents of Montgomery County don't even want to be associated with Prince George's).
VA is more socially conservative than states to its north, but there's a disconnect between NoVA and RoVA that is pretty widely acknowledged by both sides.
The point I was trying to make, though perhaps in a meandering late-night state of mind, was that I perceive VA as more socially conservative than states to its north. It's changing, for sure. The more liberal population centers in NOVA certainly affected the outcome of the presidential election. Yet, as compared to similarly urbanized areas in DC or MD, NOVA still seems conservative in this one woman's opinion. Since national elections tend to break with liberals to in the Mid Atlantic and Northeast and more conservative voters in the southern portion of the eastern seaboard, I mentally lump VA into that group. I think a fair proportion of NOVA residents still have a more socially conservative bent -- even the Dems.
That's a bit doubtful, but when you say conservative, although there is wide variation, are you referring to fiscal and social, I don't see how NOVA unless you are including the outer counties of stafford and prince william and counties further that are bordering it as more conservative, the poster was very right, looking at NJ counties it seems that fairfax and loudon are just as liberal in voting patterns.
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