Conservative St. Louis (University City, Kirkwood, Maryland Heights: college, live in, military)

[zackie23]

I tend to think just the opposite - great place to live, terrible place to visit.

Originally Posted by northbayeric

Me too! To me, this is quickly turning into one of those "It's a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there" places.

Well, I see that Rawlings, who started this thread, is now listed as "not a member." I hope he decides to rejoin and let us know what he's decided to do! All the best to him, anyway!

[northbayeric]

Originally Posted by zackie23

I tend to think just the opposite - great place to live, terrible place to visit.

Now I just want to be certain that you know that I was referring not to St. Louis, but to California instead. St. Louis is a terrific place to visit; and with the exception of a few areas, a fine place to live.

California, on the other hand, is still a great place to visit, especially if you're between Highway 99 and the Nevada border, or between Interstate 5 and the Nevada border if you're north of Sacramento. But you don't want to live here. That especially goes for the Bay Area and Los Angeles County. Fresno has improved somewhat in recent years, but the only thing to recommend it is its proximity to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

Anyway, welcome to these Missouri forums!

[northbayeric]

Originally Posted by zackie23

St. Louis is a conservative town. I'm an ardent Dem and live in D.C. now. St. Louis goes Democratic because it is working class and even still driven by labor unions. but the values are conservative and the attitude is conservative. Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but if you are a Reagan Dem, this is your city.

Compared to D.C. and San Francisco, St. Louis is relatively conservative, but its newspaper is as liberal as the Washington Post. Reagan Democrats would probably enjoy Hazelwood and Bridgeton the most, but consider St. Louis and University City too liberal.

[bilikins]

I've only lived here for a few months, but St. Louis seems a lot more moderate than the cities I've lived in previously.

My husband and I attended college in Boston, and I can tell you that whether St. Louis is conservative or not, it is a LOT more tolerant of conservative ideas. I think the same is true of the midwest in general. My family and I have definitely had a good experience here so far.

[stlnative29]

Town and Country and Ladue in west county! I am liberal and feel like a fish out of water

[imedfan]

Ladue, Clayton, Creve Coeur, Frontenac, Huntleigh, Town and Country...
Yes, St Louis is conservative, more of a midwestern town.
I've lived here my whole life.

[goat314]

I think everyone here is forgetting that the St. Louis area is probably the only blue strong hold in the entire state of Missouri. St. Louis is not necessarily a place that many republicans would consider a red stronghold. In fact I believe both St. Louis City and St. Louis County vote consistently blue. Another thing is Ladue, Clayton, Creve Coeur, Frontenac, Huntleigh, Town and Country is not a good representation of the region as a whole. The St. Louis area also has about 500,000 Blacks which consistently vote liberally. I don't get the idealism that St. Louis is some conservative cowtown, when I can think of so many more areas that are more conservative in St. Louis in and outside the midwest. The only problem with St. Louis is that it is a relatively liberal city in a pretty conservative state. If the capital were in St. Louis, Missouri would probably be a more liberal state.

[bigtallredhead]

Originally Posted by ajf131

I disagree about St. Louis generally being conservative, but oh well. Our opinions will differ. St. Louis certainly is not as conservative as rural Missouri. And again, if it is so damn conservative, why has it lately been voting for Democrats in St. Louis County and the city? You can't dismiss as it "Oh it must be voter fraud." i never thought of it as being conservative like Cincinnati or Indy in any case. You can't deny that St. Louis County and city have not been supportive of Republican candidates lately. It's fact. If you can't accept facts, I guess i'm wasting my time.

There is such a thing as a conservative democrat. I am one to a large extent, but I also consider myself to be independent in my beliefs, as I am "moderate" about many things, and on some issues could be characterized as being quite liberal or even leftist -or not- -depending on the issue and what one means by such terms.

According to a typology that the pew center for the people and the press did based on it's polling data, the 2004 voter base could be divided into 9 main ideologies based on voting trends and beliefs, all with significant internal diversity in beliefs.

The point is, it all depends on what one means by "conservative" or "liberal", -the reality of political belief is a lot more complex than just left vs. right or in between. -Emil.

[bigtallredhead]

Originally Posted by goat314

I think everyone here is forgetting that the St. Louis area is probably the only blue strong hold in the entire state of Missouri. St. Louis is not necessarily a place that many republicans would consider a red stronghold. In fact I believe both St. Louis City and St. Louis County vote consistently blue. Another thing is Ladue, Clayton, Creve Coeur, Frontenac, Huntleigh, Town and Country is not a good representation of the region as a whole. The St. Louis area also has about 500,000 Blacks which consistently vote liberally. I don't get the idealism that St. Louis is some conservative cowtown, when I can think of so many more areas that are more conservative in St. Louis in and outside the midwest. The only problem with St. Louis is that it is a relatively liberal city in a pretty conservative state. If the capital were in St. Louis, Missouri would probably be a more liberal state.

Blacks do NOT "consistently vote liberally" even though they DO for the most part consistently vote for Democrats. A lot of democrats are not "liberal", -nor are all republicans "conservative". One large segment of black voters are actualy quite conservative democrats, and many others are quite 'liberal", or moderate, or independent... well, you get my point, -things are really quite simple, arnott they. The point is, both conservative and liberal can mean quite diferant things to diferant people.

As I said in my previous post, ideology is actualy far more complex then just a spectrum of left to right. -Emil.

[bigtallredhead]

I gave you rep. for this post. -Good way of putting it!

Originally Posted by slengel

i must take issue with fishtaco's account of the climate in st. louis. i am a third-year medical student at washington university in st. louis. i am originally from the suburbs of philadelphia and studied pre-med at u. of chicago. i feel as though i have a pretty credible opinion of st. louis.

i will begin by saying that i do not think st. louis city (not to be confused with the suburbs) is any more or less conservative than chicago. chicago is a lot bigger and has much more going on, but politically and socially the two cities are much more alike than fishtaco wants to admit. they are both hardline democratic and have been for a very, very long time. both cities have the same basic structure and industrial history, albeit on different scales. these cities both are blue to the core and unfailingly vote accordingly in every election. in some ways, i think chicago proper is even more influenced by the conservative republican party if for no other reason than there is a lot more very wealthy people in the city of chicago than in the city of st louis.

as for social conservatism, both cities are about the same when it comes to race relations, gay rights and general attitudes. i don't see much of a difference here at all. chicago has a more vocal liberal community, but it is by no means a mecca of tolerance and progressive thought vis-a-vis new york or san francisco. the chicago tribune is much more conservative than the st. louis post-dispatch, if that means anything at all. my homosexual friends in st louis are from all over the world and they certainly don't complain of problems here, in fact some have said that it's a great place to be gay.

i would say that both cities have pretty conservative suburbs with some exceptions. st louis suburbs maybe lean a tinge more to the right than chicago's, but the difference is negligable at best. there are lots of conservatives in the chicagoland area too.

the thing i always encounter is a certain degree of chicago arrogance about other cities within the midwest without really having any substance to back it up.

-Emil.