Which is more conservative: Dallas or Houston? (Austin, Fort Worth: neighborhood, property tax)

[MrJester]

We'll have to settle this contentious debate once and for all.

Most people seem to say Dallas, and say Dallas is actually an ultra conservative, religious place while Houston is markedly more liberal. But Dallas County actually went for Hillary more heavily than Harris County or even San Diego County in California.

Then there'll be some rebuttal saying that, "oh, Dallas is a far bigger portion of Dallas County than Houston is of Harris County, so naturally the statistics are skewed, because the city proper is more liberal than the suburbs."

Dallas population (2017): 1,341,075
Dallas County population (2017): 2,618,148
Dallas' population is 51.2% of Dallas County's population (I know, Dallas spreads into other counties, but MOST of Dallas is in Dallas county)

Houston population (2017): 2,312,717
Harris County population (2017): 4,652,980
Houston's population is 49.7% of Harris County's population

Hmmm... 49.7 % vs. 51.2% of a county's population... we're really splitting hairs here.

For the purposes of this comparison, exclude Tarrant County/Fort Worth from "Dallas." No one's doubting that Fort Worth is more conservative than Houston. For this comparison, Dallas will include Dallas, Collin, and Denton Counties.

People say Dallas is far more religious-conservative than Houston, as if Houston doesn't have any Southern Baptist influence. Could someone explain?

But on the other hand, it seems like Houston's "no zoning ordinances" eludes Houston's more libertarian undertones vs. Dallas.

[MustermannBB]

Originally Posted by MrJester

We'll have to settle this contentious debate once and for all.

This debate has been, or to be more precise, is being settled "once and for all" about once a month!

[supfromthesite]

The same

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by MrJester

People say Dallas is far more religious-conservative than Houston, as if Houston doesn't have any Southern Baptist influence. Could someone explain?

But on the other hand, it seems like Houston's "no zoning ordinances" eludes Houston's more libertarian undertones vs. Dallas.

Houston/Galveston is the primate diocese for the Roman and Episcopal churches in Texas. As Texas grew, pieces of Texas were severed from Galveston to "regional" control until it was eventually confined to the Greater Houston area (or in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas' case, Galveston/Houston along with Waco/Bryan, Austin, Tyler, and Beaumont).

The Anglican Ordinariate for ex-Episcopalian/Anglican converts to Rome bolsters Houston as a center of Episcopalianism/Anglicanism. The North American (U.S. and Canada) "Diocese" is based in the Spring Branch neighborhood of West Houston. Surprisingly most of the former and current clergy at the cathedral are ex-Episcopal priests from Fort Worth, better known for low church, Evangelical churchmanship than the high church, liturgical Catholicism they had to eventually adopt (or tolerate).

The Roman Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston is headed by a cardinal, one of 6 in the U.S. (and the only one in the South). Apparently Houston is an important center to the Vatican that they finally elevated it into an Archdiocese in 2004 and assign DiNardo here in 2006. Ironically, DiNardo's predecessor was also the president of the U.S. bishop's conference, the most important position among American bishops.

Fort Worth was notable for being one of the 4 Episcopalian dioceses that seceded in 2008. The Wikipedia article has a citation to support Dallas seceding from the Episcopal Church (presumably to the same Africa-based Anglican splinter group) if it leaves the Anglican Communion. Very scary!

The Diocese of Texas did not go along with the secession efforts. The territory is vast, but surely in the Greater Houston area, it's more broad church. There are some Evangelical-leaning parishes (mostly suburban near upscale master-planned communities) and there may be no Anglo-Catholic high church parishes (resembling the Tridentine or earlier Medieval masses that can be found on both coasts), but for the most part the Greater Houston area (and presumably the rest of the diocese) is very similar to the normal post-Vatican 2 Catholic homogenous parishes.

Regarding the city planning and zoning, Houston and Dallas are virtually indistinguishable despite zoning codes and planning. They both look the same along the freeways and major thoroughfares with commercial along the freeways and major streets and residential tucked-in between freeway spokes and behind commercial strips.

Houston has ordinances and a regional planning organization. It also has extensive control of the ETJs (new law may affect that though) in building codes and other development matters. It may not have a zoning map, but surprisingly the layout is still the same.

[As Above So Below...]

As a city, Dallas is more liberal and Houston is more libertarian. Neither city is conservative and anyone who tells you otherwise is clueless.

[Mr. Clutch]

It depends on whether you look at conservative from a fiscal or social sense. I think in general Houstonians are a little more fiscally conservative than Dallasites are. Does Dallas have a revenue cap that caps property tax collections (and thus usually results in a constantly declining rate) for example? This probably does track a generally more libertarian tilt here in Houston.

Dallas does seem a bit more socially conservative on the ground, but voting patterns definitely don't reflect that. My older relatives who have been in Texas all their lives universally consider Dallas more conservative - I think its reputation in the past as a bastion of Southern Baptists and the like probably follows it to today. But the reality is a lot more nuanced.

Also keep in mind that Harris County is twice the size of Dallas County with a lot more reddish suburbs, so its not really an apples to apples comparison. I think if you take it on a metro by metro level and add the Ft. Worth side in, they are pretty much the same.

[TxStorm72]

Both cities went overwhelmingly for O'Rourke in the midterm. I say about the same.

[madrone2k]

How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? :-)

[RJ312]

Neither, both of the cities are liberal. The only places near Dallas or Houston that could be called conservative are suburbs of the main cities.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

If it is city proper bs city proper by percentage, Houston is a bit more conservative city proper wise. But if it’s metro vs metro, DFW is more conservative. This is reflected in many ways such as religious distribution, political voting, and laws.