Is RI REALLY that liberal? (Providence, Cranston: crime, elementary school, college)

[seanpecor]

Hey Rnrboy, if you can find me a beautiful 4br house within 2 miles of the ocean on about 10 acres for under $900K, I'll buy it

Sean

[Rnrboy]

If you've got that much money to blow and can't find it yourself, I'd be amazed. haha

[tps2008]

R.I. is essentially governed by 2 strange bedfellows, namely, the R.C. Diocese of Providence and the remnants of the Irish/Italian organized-crime gangs (who now occupy key positions in the state legislature). Most of the working-class people are moderate to liberal in their political views. The City of Providence has essentially been overtaken by illegal aliens because of a mayor and police chief who cater to them.

[dutch10]

Originally Posted by tps2008

R.I. is essentially governed by 2 strange bedfellows, namely, the R.C. Diocese of Providence and the remnants of the Irish/Italian organized-crime gangs (who now occupy key positions in the state legislature). Most of the working-class people are moderate to liberal in their political views. The City of Providence has essentially been overtaken by illegal aliens because of a mayor and police chief who cater to them.

I lifted this from another thread, but I immediately thought of it after reading your post.

I'll say this straight up... probably more than 50% of what is posted on this board is NOT good information...some of it is absolute garbage.

[Jay F]

Originally Posted by person

Dude, most good job markets are in liberal cities and liberal states, There are many good job markets in conservative states, but those are in their cities, which often than not, the cities are going to be liberal. So you have to choose, you want to deal with liberals or you want to be in a less than desirable job market.

You are wrong about this. Let's take a look at the 5 states with the highest and lowest unemployment rates as of June 2008.

Highest:
Michigan 8.5%...obviously due to the declining U.S auto industry and manufacturing base. A blue state that re-elected it's Democrat Governor despite having the worst economy in the U.S

Rhode Island 7.5%...Since I live across the country and don't know much about RI I am rather shocked it ranks #2 in unemployment. It never used to rank that high...fastest rising rate in the U.S. The most liberal state, at least when it comes to Presidential elections.

California 6.9% The Housing crash plays a big part in this. Another extremely liberal state.

Mississippi 6.9% Always ranks low in every economic indicator. It's the state with the highest % of African-Americans, a group with higher than avrage poverty levels. Very much a red state.

Alaska 6.8% Conservative

Illinois 6.8% Liberal, the home of Obama

Lowest

Nebraska 3.3% Always a Red state

North Dakota 3.2% Red state turning purple

Utah 3.2% Obviously extremely conservative

Wyoming 3.2% Solid Republican state. The economy is booming to the point where they are recruting workers from Michigan!

South Dakota 2.8% Red state

So the states with the highest unemplyment rates are mostly liberal while ALL the states with the lowest unemployment rates are conservative.

As a conservative myself I have a higher opinion of Rhode Island than New Hampshire. RI has always been
liberal, even when most of the country was conservative. NH on the other hand used to be a special Libertarian/Conservative/anti-tax state surrounded by a sea of Liberalism. Now it's becoming just like any other liberal New England state. My guess is many people moved there from Massachusetts to escape from high taxes and in the process has watered down the Libertarian "Live Free or Die" tendencies the state used to have.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by Jay F

You are wrong about this. Let's take a look at the 5 states with the highest and lowest unemployment rates as of June 2008.

Highest:
Michigan 8.5%...obviously due to the declining U.S auto industry and manufacturing base. A blue state that re-elected it's Democrat Governor despite having the worst economy in the U.S

Rhode Island 7.5%...Since I live across the country and don't know much about RI I am rather shocked it ranks #2 in unemployment. It never used to rank that high...fastest rising rate in the U.S. The most liberal state, at least when it comes to Presidential elections.

California 6.9% The Housing crash plays a big part in this. Another extremely liberal state.

Mississippi 6.9% Always ranks low in every economic indicator. It's the state with the highest % of African-Americans, a group with higher than avrage poverty levels. Very much a red state.

Alaska 6.8% Conservative

Illinois 6.8% Liberal, the home of Obama

Lowest

Nebraska 3.3% Always a Red state

North Dakota 3.2% Red state turning purple

Utah 3.2% Obviously extremely conservative

Wyoming 3.2% Solid Republican state. The economy is booming to the point where they are recruting workers from Michigan!

South Dakota 2.8% Red state

So the states with the highest unemplyment rates are mostly liberal while ALL the states with the lowest unemployment rates are conservative.

As a conservative myself I have a higher opinion of Rhode Island than New Hampshire. RI has always been
liberal, even when most of the country was conservative. NH on the other hand used to be a special Libertarian/Conservative/anti-tax state surrounded by a sea of Liberalism. Now it's becoming just like any other liberal New England state. My guess is many people moved there from Massachusetts to escape from high taxes and in the process has watered down the Libertarian "Live Free or Die" tendencies the state used to have.

unemployment state is that the military, especially the Air Force, plays a big part in the economy. For instance, the biggest employer in the state of Utah is Hill AFB near Ogden:Hill Air Force Base - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Also, most of the major cities in those states are growing and/or aren't over suburbanized. Just look at Omaha, Sioux Falls, Cheyenne, Fargo, Grand Forks, Salt Lake City, etc......

[POhdNcrzy]

Well, the TheCaptain seems to have sailed away, and perhaps unknownStuntman is too busy blowing up for Racquel Welch or
Tarzan-ing from a vine to post here anymore. Meanwhile, numerous posters have attempted to explain our peculiar little
mish-mash of a state in the context of liberal versus conservative.
I think it's safe to say RI isn't the place for hardline religious right-wingers or those who desire only the most limited,
diminuitive government. Like the other posters here, I don't think concern about political beliefs is anywhere near the top
of the list of important things to consider about moving to RI.
Having grown up here, moved out West for 15 years, and now living in Rhody again, I've made some observations about Rhode
Island that might interest people contemplating moving here.
1. In terms of the mindset and politics of the inhabitants, RI could best be viewed as 2 distinct areas, Providence and
vicinity (urban), and everywhere else (a sort of rural suburbia).
2. You might say Providence is a mini San Francisco. The majority of RI's academics, arch-liberals, progressives, gays,
artists, intellectuals, ethnic minorities, and movers 'n shakers of business and government are concentrated in and around
Providence. Folks from these groups can be found all over the state but at a concentration of perhaps 1% of the population
rather than let's say 35% in the Providence area. You can't understate the contrast, even in such a small state. A
government attorney or high-tech entrepreneur somehow living in Little Compton, or Foster, or Wakefield, for example, might
feel as though they were in South Dakota or West Virginia. Another example: an out gay man or a butch lesbian working as a
waiter/waitress in Providence would not be unusual, an out gay man or a butchy dyke waiting tables anywhere else in RI, even
in Newport, would be fired or never even hired in the first place.
3. RI is unbelievably provincial and insular. This is probably the defining characteristic of the state after
sailboats/beaches/ocean fishing/coastal tourism. The roots run deep here and the state is richly enfused with it's own
history, totally unlike somewhere like Denver, for example, where the majority of folks are recent transplants from other
parts of the country. Nine out of ten people here live and die in RI and rarely venture outside its borders. They even have
their own garbled version of the english language. I think this would be one of the most unsavory and difficult things for
an out-of-stater moving here to deal with, sort of like attempting to join an exclusive club or something to further your
career, but as you make inroads, things get really strange and you're not sure you really want to join anymore.

4. Politics and Rhode Islanders. The vast majority here are middle-of-the-road Democrats and Republicans, with a heck of a
lot more of the former. There's no traditional base of conservatives here other than a very small minority of super-rich
upper-crust types, so Rhode Islanders don't relate to right-wing politics. The "people's history of Rhode Island" is working
-class union-members, farmers and artisans. But the manufacturing/factory base of the state's economy died off decades ago,
and the relatively few remaining union jobs are in public schools and government, comprising some of the highest-paying jobs
in the state for those with tenure. Decent paying jobs are distinctly hard to come by here. Nepotism is rampant and for
many jobs you need a friend in the right spot, even to land a job on the crew of the local garbage truck. In recent decades
taxes, especially property taxes, and the overall cost of living in RI have risen dramatically. Most everybody here will
tell you taxes are much too high and that they receive very little government services in return. This is why "liberal"
Rhode Islanders keep voting Republican governors into office. The sentiment boils down to "As long as so and so lowers my
taxes I don't care what they do." To label RI "very liberal" is incorrect, and there isn't much liberal political activism
here. That may have something to do with...

5. There is a lurking fear and authoritarianism under the placid surface of modern-day life in RI. Rhode Island was one of
the largest hubs of the colonial trade in African slaves. This dark history has been getting some press lately, and many
Rhode Islanders, myself included, have been unaware of the state's involvement in this incredibly brutal and cruel industry.
I strongly suspect this has something to do with the very prominent attitudes of "Better toe the line, Jack" and "Don't be
different" that you notice here. Most Rhode Islanders would strongly deny this, but actions speak louder than words, as the
saying goes. There is a real sedentary, pacified character to Rhode Islanders. Everybody here conforms to the Rhode Island
"ways of life" and many people and places here are just like they were nearly a hundred years ago. This is something really
quite odd and unappealing about Rhode Island. A cyclist or even a jogger on the roads here is really a very rare event.

4. I don't spend much time in Providence, but I do wish to offer some stereotypes of Rhode Islanders you meet in the
suburban-rural areas away from the capital.
A. Aging retirees. These folks are all over the place in Rhode Island! Unless dirt poor, these guys have it made.
Their homes have deca-dupled in value and they have pensions and social security. They live like kings basically, eating and
drinking and gaining weight, socializing, mowing their lush lawns, polishing their boats, and driving real nice late model
automobiles.
B. College graduates and thirty-somethings. These guys are missing in action. They left Rhode Island to find jobs
that pay a middle-class income in a state where real estate is still somewhat affordable.
C. "Working class" people. Cooks, tradesman, waiters, landscapers, etc. Some of these people are doing surprisingly
well financially, having profited from the equity and housing bubbles or inheritances. Most however are working very hard to
pay for an outrageously high cost of living on low pay. Watch out! A lot of these folks seem friendly on the surface, but
they are incredibly grouchy and negative. They are ready to stab somebody in the neck. Man, these folks are grumpy! Many
have alcohol and/or substance abuse problems, understandably so.
D. Down-to-earth friendly people. They may not be ambitious in the traditional sense of the word, but most Rhode
Islanders are polite, humble and approachable. A lot of places have these jaded, "nouveau riche" Americans who put on airs,
act super-snobby, and won't look you in the eye. With the exception of maybe a few Newporters and city-slickers in
Providence, this trend has thankfully not caught on in RI.

[GermanSpy]

Excellent post from POhdNcrzy. Somebody should sticky that thing.

[Rnrboy]

I beg to differ. I found large portions of it to be highly dubious.

[Rnrboy]

Let me be specific: How are Rhode Islanders' action conveying a sentiment of "Don't be different, better tow the line"? He lists no examples. I'm a transplant from FL who's lived here 5 years now, and I can tell you my impression is quite the opposite. Rhode Island seems to embrace the unconventional, even if it is in a more muted fashion than some out West may be used to.

As for joggers and bicyclists, that's total hooey! I must pass a jogger or bicyclist every day on my way from Cranston to my job in Warwick. And I know there are tons of them in and around Providence as I used to live there.

I don't know where he gets this "lurking fear and authoritarianism" from. One of the most dramatic and over the top statements I've ever seen in reference to such a laid back place as Rhode Island. In fact, this description is far better suited for Florida than it is for Rhode Island. If he actually wants to make the assertion that slavery's horrible legacy actually pervades into the subconsciouss of every Rhode Islander, then he might as well wriet off the whole country. Whether it be out West, down South, or here in the Northeast, blood of the Native peoples and African Americans has stained the soil everywhere. ANd as unfortunate as this is, I am glad that Rhode Islanders tend to be pretty progressive in their views about other people. I find them (for the most part) to be far more understanding and less prone to criticism than people down in FL.

I also disagree that in Newport people are less socially accepting of those who are "different". This may be true for a sliver of the population, but I have seen plenty of "out" homosexuals all over South County working jobs like anyone else would. I don't see any major discrimination here. It's South County, not South Texas.

I do agree with the poster though that Rhode Islanders are insular. At first this can definitely be off-putting to new comers. But once you get to know people here you realize they are actually some of the most easy going and least judgemental people one could know.

There are obviously always exceptions to the rule, but in general I love Rhode Island and find Rhode Islanders to be very easy people to get along with.

I'm sorry but I had to say that.