Conservative Oregon cities? (Portland, Salem, Medford: unemployment, university, wages)

[tacomaboundtoo]

Just wondering what cities Oregonians consider to be more conservative within Oregon?

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

Just about anything outside the Willamette Valley. The absence of a major university will seal the deal (much more difficult to remain captive to conservative ideals once you've been exposed to the illumination of higher education and use reason, rather than tradition, as a basis for your world view). The biggest cities that are somewhat conservative would be Medford, Grants Pass, Klamath Falls, Redmond, Baker City, Coos Bay and Pendleton.

Almost any town with a population under 10,000 will be quite conservative (provided there's no institution of higher learning there).

[GoBeavs!]

Usually the towns with the worst economy, highest unemployment and lowest livability are the most conservative. Do a websearch for "lowest wages" or "highest unemployment" or perhaps "lowest livability" and I'm sure you'll find conservative paradise.

[JasonF]

I want to disagree with the above posters, but the fact is that what they're saying is true. If you want a conservative town in Oregon, you want to look at where the people are unemployed, uneducated, and isolated. A notable exception is Albany, which is not isolated (though it has the other two attributes) but is still extremely conservative.

Salem is pretty moderate, but if you're looking for some place where people drive around in their giant lifted pickup trucks with confederate battle flags painted across the back (the south shall rise again! huh?!), you're going to have to look at smaller towns like Albany and Lebanon and Sweet Home.

[Smiled]

One might toss Lake Oswego and the Portland area east of the Willamette and south of Burnside in that category, if by conservative you mean anti-tax.

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by GoBeavs!

Usually the towns with the worst economy, highest unemployment and lowest livability are the most conservative. Do a websearch for "lowest wages" or "highest unemployment" or perhaps "lowest livability" and I'm sure you'll find conservative paradise.

As much as this hurts, it's true. I'd say just about anywhere in Eastern Oregon would fit this bill.

Of course the real question is "how conservative?" The second question being, "are you retired or do you need a job?"

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by JasonF

I want to disagree with the above posters, but the fact is that what they're saying is true. If you want a conservative town in Oregon, you want to look at where the people are unemployed, uneducated, and isolated.

Roseburg fits the description. 14.8% unemployment, 9% college graduates, and an hour and a half from anything.

You aren't going to find fanatical red state conservatism anywhere in Oregon but a few survivalist compounds, though.

[tacomaboundtoo]

Sorry I wasn't clear on my meaning of conservative. I meant conservative as in modesty and old-fashioned values not so much politically conservative. Just wondering where people are a little more traditional and down to earth.

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

Originally Posted by tacomaboundtoo

Sorry I wasn't clear on my meaning of conservative. I meant conservative as in modesty and old-fashioned values not so much politically conservative. Just wondering where people are a little more traditional and down to earth.

One person's "traditional and down-to-earth" is another person's "outdated and stuck-in-the mud." Unless you have a time-travel machine, you'll have to look for a place with an elderly population. Southern Florida, southern Arizona, some places in Iowa and Missouri, maybe. Much of southern Oregon has a high dosage of retirees as well, but if you want complete exclusion from the younger generation, you should really look for a 55+ only community.

[JasonF]

What constitutes an "old-fashioned value"?

If you just want to have polite neighbors and go to church on Sunday or whatever, you can find that almost anywhere. If you're going for complete isolation from people who don't look and behave the same as you, then you'll need to find a very small town far away from major transportation routes.