What Kind of Town/Region is Pittsburgh Politically? (Penn: neighborhoods, school)

[Thruway]

Curious as to what type of area Pittsburgh and the surronding region are.

Is this a conservative redneck area like Pennsybama?
Is it liberal like Philly?
Is it fiscally liberal...fiscally conservative?
Is it socially liberal....socially conservative....or independent?

[Hopes]

Fiscally liberal and socially conservative, but just off center for the most part in both directions.

[groar]

sounds about right. the town is largely democratic (we haven't had a republican mayor since the 30s) and pro-union, but also sort of old-fashioned. there are decent amounts of real progressives, but they're not the norm.

[ajl777]

it's conservative until you start taking away handouts and union work

[Joshbarblahblah]

The Democratic party is the norm here - but there's a large divide between progressive Democrats (often found in the East End) and more conservative Democrats (in charge of the political machine).

As a whole, I'd say that most Pittsburghers are somewhat socially conservative...but not unbearably so.

The loyalty to labor unions is an absolute. I know many people who simply vote for whoever their union endorses.

[BrianTH]

As everyone is noting, it is overall old-school blue-collar Democrat, so I guess that would fairly be described as fiscally liberal and a bit socially conservative. But it varies by neighborhood, and you have everything from quite progressive to quite conservative.

[bradjl2009]

Just like the rest of the Great Lakes and Mid-West, most of the Democrats here are the blue collar, conservative ones and usually outnumber the progressive Democrats you would usually find on the West Coast and Northeast (coastal part).

[creepsinc]

While somewhat socially conservative compared to most coastal cities, it's not suffocatingly so like my hometown of Richmond, VA. On the other hand, after living in Seattle and San Francisco, it's nice to not have to read other peoples' trite leftist catch-phrases on the backs of their Subarus. All in all, a nice place to live if you're relatively apolitical and are supremely annoyed by both sides of the American political coin.

[Thruway]

To summarize...Pittsburgh is a blue collar town that is fiscally, pro-union liberal but socially conservative.
To what extent is it socially conservative (abortion/gay marriage)?
Does this apply just to Pittsburgh or the metro region?

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Thruway

To what extent is it socially conservative (abortion/gay marriage)?

I already provided that Pittsburgh is only slightly left/right from center.

As for abortion/gay marriage, most Pittsburghers don't care what other people do as long as they aren't affected by it (except for the senior citizens of course).

Pittsburghers are more socially conservative when it comes to issues like guns.

Originally Posted by Thruway

Does this apply just to Pittsburgh or the metro region?

Let's say Allegheny County. The surrounding counties that are more rural are more socially conservative.

As someone said, it all really changes neighborhood to neighborhood.

There are very conservative neighborhoods within the city limits and there are rather liberal neighborhoods in the suburbs, and vice versa.

In the city limits you will find more socially liberal people regardless of income. In the suburbs of Allegheny County, the better educated neighborhoods are the most liberal.