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What are we supposed to use as a benchmark for "conservative cities"? I'm not a conservative by any means, I'm pretty liberal for the most part---but I could easily live in the cities of Denver or Dallas and fit in fine. I have friends that live in Denver and their lifestyle is about the same as people who live in Portland. I wouldn't live somewhere truly conservative, ie--both socially and politically--like say Ogden, Utah(well maybe for the skiing).
I mean even in supposedly "cool" liberal cities like Portland it isn't as if everyone out of the 500,000 people living there is some far-left leaning liberal hipster radical...You have a much more signifigant amount of that group compared to other cities, but I'd willing that if you looked at the entire population of Portland, they'd barely make up 15 percent of the population(and they are mostly all in the central neighborhoods) and if you get into the suburbs which make up the vast majority of the metro it's almost nil...The majority of the population is fairly moderate, probably leaning liberal,(which depends on how far out in the Metro you are) and somewhat middle-class or working-class with kids and a house. But that's just not the hip image of the city.
And a lot of young people move to Seattle for jobs, the cool factor might influence some, but it seems to be a much more serious city with a fairly diverse economy.
Conservative cities can have two benchmarks. The first is urban counties that voted for McCain in 2008...the only ones being Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Orange County, CA.
The second, more accurate one, is how gay friendly they are. By that benchmark, many cities that voted for Obama would fall into the conservative category due to minority population and the social conservatism of that group despite being Democratic. Little Rock, Arkansas for instance is very intolerant of the gay lifestyle overall (though there are pockets of liberalism in the city) but voted overwhelmingly for Obama due to the minority population. Orange County on the other hand voted for McCain but SoCal conservatism is more of a big business fiscal brand and not a religious conservatism like you find in the deep South. Orange County is very open to gays despite its Republican reputation.
When determining where is liberal or conservative, think where you would see gay couples walking down the street holding hands in public, and where you would not see it (not counting the gayborhoods or gay events like pride).
Liberal cities:
San Francisco
Seattle
Vegas
Austin
New York
Boston
Conservative cities:
Oklahoma City
Tulsa
Little Rock
Memphis
Birmingham
Phoenix (possibly)
Conservative cities can have two benchmarks. The first is urban counties that voted for McCain in 2008...the only ones being Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Orange County, CA.
The second, more accurate one, is how gay friendly they are. By that benchmark, many cities that voted for Obama would fall into the conservative category due to minority population and the social conservatism of that group despite being Democratic. Little Rock, Arkansas for instance is very intolerant of the gay lifestyle overall (though there are pockets of liberalism in the city) but voted overwhelmingly for Obama due to the minority population. Orange County on the other hand voted for McCain but SoCal conservatism is more of a big business fiscal brand and not a religious conservatism like you find in the deep South. Orange County is very open to gays despite its Republican reputation.
The only difference between liberal and conservative cities is nothing. Both are hypocritical and bigoted...
Conservative cities can have two benchmarks. The first is urban counties that voted for McCain in 2008...the only ones being Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Orange County, CA.
Jacksonville, Florida is also in a county that went for McCain. Some other, at least arguably "urban counties", that went for McCain include
Staten Island in New York City
Tarrant County, Texas - Fort Worth, even though Dallas went for Obama.
Knox County, Tennessee - Home of Knoxville, maybe not "dense enough."
Lafayette, Louisiana - Maybe not "dense enough."
If you want to get into gay issues the following urban, urban by the standards of their state and the census, counties voted strongly for "Defense of Marriage Amendments" that opposed same-sex marriage or voted strongly for other "anti-gay" amendments.
Sebastian County, Arkansas (Fort Smith) - 59% to ban gays from adopting children. I believe the county also supported McCain, but I didn't list it for fear it wasn't what would count as "urban" here. Four years before that they were 77% against same-sex marriage.
Greenville County, South Carolina (Greenville) - 79% against same-sex marriage. Also for McCain I think. Charleston and Columbia were also 60%+ against SSM in the vote if weakly so by SC standards.
Kent County, Michigan (Grand Rapids) - 63% against SSM. It did not go for McCain, but the county did go for Bush twice and Dole won over 54% in the county.
Jackson County, Oregon (Medford) - 62% against SSM, lower than some cities here but higher than Oregon's average. Jackson County also narrowly, by .1%, went for McCain.
There is nothing "cool" about Conservatism. It is the antithesis of "cool." It is the moral philosophy opposite "cool." It may have its good points, but if a city is "cool" it is in spite of its Conservatism, not because of it.
"Liberal" city: vibrant and evolving arts and music scene, culture, unique and independent stores and venues, all sorts of different life styles, downtown and apartment living, public transportation and civic events.
"Conservative" city: 9 to 5, family chain restaurants, big American cars, mega malls and mega churches, TV, golf courses, suburbs ,segregation by class, race, or religious affiliation.
Now, both cultures are present in all American cities, but some cities (say, Portland OR, are skewed one way, while other cities, say Colorado Springs, are skewed the other.)
Maybe you prefer the conservative way, but there is nothing "cool" about it. it is what it is.
Newport Beach= conservative cool ....outdoor minded,surfing mecca,beautiful people,amazing coastal scenery..California does conservative better than any other state IMO...and it's only three miles north of one of the countries most gay friendly liberal bastions of Laguna Beach...Comes with a huge price tag, but what great areas don't.
I think San Diego would be the coolest 'conservative city.' It has nice beaches, some good restaurants and night life, but none of the 'edge' or 'soulfulness' more liberal cities generally have.
cool is where and how you make it. being able to have a "cool" identity in a small artsy community within a conservative city is infinitely better than being faceless in a sea of so called "cool" folks in a more liberal city. even in a conservative cities like Amarillo and Salt Lake City there are pockets of hipsters and local artists that thrive. whereas in paces like Portland and austin, the scene will always be more difficult to become accepted in. you might not have all of the shops and hotspots that you desire, but there will always be a group of like minded people wherever you go. it just might take a little work to find them. these groups are usually more tight knit and loyal to each other as well.
There is nothing "cool" about Conservatism. It is the antithesis of "cool." It is the moral philosophy opposite "cool." It may have its good points, but if a city is "cool" it is in spite of its Conservatism, not because of it.
"Liberal" city: vibrant and evolving arts and music scene, culture, unique and independent stores and venues, all sorts of different life styles, downtown and apartment living, public transportation and civic events.
"Conservative" city: 9 to 5, family chain restaurants, big American cars, mega malls and mega churches, TV, golf courses, suburbs ,segregation by class, race, or religious affiliation.
Now, both cultures are present in all American cities, but some cities (say, Portland OR, are skewed one way, while other cities, say Colorado Springs, are skewed the other.)
Maybe you prefer the conservative way, but there is nothing "cool" about it. it is what it is.
tell that to all these conservative Christian hipsters. Southern cities are full of them.
I consider myself a liberal, but I can certainly have fun in conservative cities (like OKC). I do not really think of Fort Worth as conservative (or liberal or really anything), but it is one of my favorite cities in the US.
It's really not. At least, the city itself isn't for the most part. It's mainly the outer suburbs.
Fort Worth is, however, in a "red county" (that may not be that much "red" in the coming years...). But at the end of the day, does it really matter?
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