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I think the trend is more progressive here. It's simple demographics of those moving to the area and where they are moving from. It does sometimes feel a bit conservative though because of the religious aspect. Although a lot of people here wear their religion quite prominately and I didn't feel like that was the case in the Midwest.
Cary is like many "affluent bedroom communities" outside cities.
It has a lot of Republicans by registration, but they tend to be "country-club Republicans" who vote with their wallet, but are not generally Right-Wing on social issues. It's very family-oriented (in the TRUE sense of the world, not the Religious-right hijacked sense) and a lot of young professionals who are open minded on things like abortion, gay rights, etc however often vote Republican because they don't approve of government spending.
Carrboro is the most "granola/crunchy" area; Chapel Hill is more "academia liberals"; Durham is more "urban liberal" (Bluest county in the state), and Raleigh is pretty moderate, though similar to Cary because so much of Raleigh is suburbs. The downtown Raleigh area is much more liberal.
Actually NC is in the middle of a political upheaval right now--though we are probably the "Purplest" state there is at the National level (went Blue by the thinnest margin in 2008 and Red by the thinnest margin in 2012), NC used to have a strong Democratic presence at the gubernatorial and state legislature level. However, the Tea Party takeover of many state legislatures in 2010 really hit hard in NC, and that trend continued in 2012 (thanks in a great part to redistricting) and we now have a Republican governor who has appointed some controversial figures to his cabinent....but I digress from the Raleigh metro area....generally the whole Triangle is one of the more liberal spots of the state.
Garner and the outlying eastern towns of Wake county would be the only places in the Triangle where "conversatism" really stands out.
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It's simple demographics of those moving to the area and where they are moving from.
In general you are mostly right, though there have always been plenty of "homegrown liberals" in the Raleigh area--they move here from the small towns across the state where they grew up, for college at UNC, NCSU, or Duke, and stay. And, the Catholic population has exploded in this area in the last 10 years due to huge numbers of Northeastern Catholic transplants, which has made some areas actually more conservative than they used to be. A huge cathedral is getting ready to be built off Western Blvd.
Well, every precinct in Cary voted against the constitutional ban on gay marriage, so I would say it is a bit more open-minded than other parts of the state in that regard.
I'd say that Cary has been trending both more culturally diverse and progressive over time. It's important to understand that what makes up Cary today is a collective of people who have generally moved to the Triangle from other places including the Northeast, West Coast and even (South) Asia.
There is a similar trend for much of Wake County. After a few presidential cycles, it's becoming clearer that Wake is trending much more blue over time. While Wake has typically been more blue than the rest of the state in national elections, it has recently become more blue compared to its own past election performances.
Having moved from out of state (CO and OH) into Cary in the last few months, my feel of Cary is that it is conservative and traditional. It doesn't feel liberal at all in these parts. Just my two cents.
I'd say that Cary has been trending both more culturally diverse and progressive over time. It's important to understand that what makes up Cary today is a collective of people who have generally moved to the Triangle from other places including the Northeast, West Coast and even (South) Asia.
There is a similar trend for much of Wake County. After a few presidential cycles, it's becoming clearer that Wake is trending much more blue over time. While Wake has typically been more blue than the rest of the state in national elections, it has recently become more blue compared to its own past election performances.
Going to humbly disagree... I lived in the Raleigh area for 25 years...if anything, my hunch is that Wake County is trending more Conservative. 25 years ago, it was hard to tell the difference between Chapel Hill and Raleigh. The entire Triangle was Progressive (perhaps it just felt that way because outside NC's cities, NC Was far more Conservative?) -- Today it seems like the eastern Triangle (Wake and Johnston counties) and the west (Orange and Durham) are trending in different directions? With the west more Progressive, and the east more Conservative. I think part of this is that the eastern Triangle is attracting transplants who are more Conservative and "traditional"; while the west is attracting folks who are more non-traditional and Progressive?
I doubt that you're in much danger of encountering conservatism anywhere in the Triangle. Unless you think that anyone who goes to church or drives an American car is a crazy conservative.
I doubt that you're in much danger of encountering conservatism anywhere in the Triangle. Unless you think that anyone who goes to church or drives an American car is a crazy conservative.
S
Good points. I can't figure out if NC is drifting Right or Left? I think it's more solidly middle of the road politically compared to our neighbors but lately it seems to less "progessive" than it was historically compared to our neighbors. It seems like we are becoming more like South Carolina than Virginia...politically at least. Obviously, this subject is WIDE open for interpretation/discussion...
From a political standpoint, NC is drifting far to the right . . . Republican governor, republican-controlled state senate, republican Senator Richard Burr is far right, Kay Hagan, a democrat, might as well be a republican, 9 republicans in the house to 4 democrats.
Cary, compared to the rest of the state is more liberal, but then that's not saying much. Durham, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro are more progressive, and some parts of inner city Raleigh.
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