Arizona is one of the top 5 states liberals are moving to (Phoenix: fit in, 2013)

[Slater]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

Fine, buy an Ak and AR-15. I don't care about that, but really do you need to allow them into government buildings and college campuses? NO! That's the problem in AZ, they take it too far. There is no common sense. They can't just have their rare weapons, they have to be able to carry them hidden and onto school campus too. That's the problem here, they go to extremes. So yeah bring in more "liberals" aka "moderates" here.

Oh believe me, there's nothing "rare" about an AR-15. Especially in Arizona

[Prickly Pear]

Arizona is sort of a strange phenomenon politically in comparison to a lot of other states. Our main city, Phoenix proper, is conservative. Some of the suburbs are liberal however the majority of the metro is conservative. Other major population centers in the state are liberal, like Tucson, Flagstaff, Sedona, etc. but even with that a lot of the counties still vote red. Most other states are liberal big city, smaller conservative towns. We don't follow this model and I can't think of another state that does where the big city is conservative and the smaller towns are liberal. The Phoenix metro is 5 million+ and growing and is still red overall... I cannot think of another metro that is close to this size and Republican. It would take a whole hell of a lot of Democrats in order to change the political leaning of one of the largest metros in the nation. In order for Arizona to change, Democrats would have to be moving in to Phoenix proper as its the largest and would also change Phoenix's reputation of being a conservative haven (thus drawing more liberals). But outside of Downtown, Phoenix proper isn't home to the best neighborhoods in the metro (Alhambra, Maryvale, Sunnyslope, south Phoenix, etc.) and those aren't being gentrified to be nice places to live which would attract transplants (even though I believe Sunnyslope could with the right resources). Most people I know moving to Phoenix metro are picking suburbs that are already somewhat liberal like Scottsdale and Tempe and I don't blame them for that as they are nice places to live. But their impact is not as significant doing that as they are not influencing the major population center that is Phoenix proper.

However I highly doubt people move to any location in hopes they change the political leaning as that is not anyone's goal. I don't see conservatives moving to Philadelphia to try to make it red, I think overall in the political realm a conservative would try to dodge a place like Philadelphia. So what could bring a conservative to a liberal haven like Philadelphia? A job, family, weather, etc. every other factor that 100% of people consider when relocating, outside of politics of course. But people still bring their ideologies with them, you don't seriously believe that if a liberal moved to Phoenix that suddenly they will vote Republican simply because they relocated to a place with an overall opposing ideology and that somehow Phoenix must be better since they chose to leave wherever they came from? Chances are most people who relocate do not believe their old home is "failing" in the political arena thus seeing nothing wrong voting for the same party. For those that do however, I would be likely to believe that they are already ones who support the other party anyway. Political ideologies don't simply change.

In sum, I don't think Arizona will ever be blue without a significant amount of changes... and I know I've stated this before on the Arizona forum, but I believe a balance of political ideologies is good for everyone, so I don't mind the liberals coming in... as long as they do NOT touch the gun laws!

[GeneR]

Originally Posted by :-D

Arizona is sort of a strange phenomenon politically in comparison to a lot of other states. Our main city, Phoenix proper, is conservative. Some of the suburbs are liberal however the majority of the metro is conservative. Other major population centers in the state are liberal....

This is exactly right. For example, take San Francisco, San Jose and L.A. out of CA and you have a conservative state (okay, Marin County has to go too). I suspect it's because city dwellers are much more dependent on government services than are their counterparts in the suburbs.

[LBTRS]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

Fine, buy an Ak and AR-15. I don't care about that, but really do you need to allow them into government buildings and college campuses? NO! That's the problem in AZ, they take it too far. There is no common sense. They can't just have their rare weapons, they have to be able to carry them hidden and onto school campus too. That's the problem here, they go to extremes. So yeah bring in more "liberals" aka "moderates" here.

So the legal law abiding Arizonan carrying a concealed weapon on a college campus or government building is what concerns you and keeps you up at night??? Heck, I hope there are lots of legal and law abiding gun owners around me when a nutjob shows up to commit a crime.

Again, the baffling way the liberal mind works.

[Potential_Landlord]

Why don't we let the market decide like all good conservatives pretend they like? The RE market in California Metro areas is up by 100% since 2000 whereas it's up by 50% in Phoenix. That means Phoenix is now 100% less attractive to people than it was in 2000 compared to California. In other words only cheap low-lifers move to Arizona. That's not my opinion, that is what the market says and what all conservatives should belief in like it's the highest law. And please don't be hypocrite about it.

[Slater]

Fair enough. I'd have to identify with the "pro-gun cheap low lifes" though.

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by :-D

Arizona is sort of a strange phenomenon politically in comparison to a lot of other states. Our main city, Phoenix proper, is conservative. Some of the suburbs are liberal however the majority of the metro is conservative. Other major population centers in the state are liberal, like Tucson, Flagstaff, Sedona, etc. but even with that a lot of the counties still vote red. Most other states are liberal big city, smaller conservative towns. We don't follow this model and I can't think of another state that does where the big city is conservative and the smaller towns are liberal. The Phoenix metro is 5 million+ and growing and is still red overall... I cannot think of another metro that is close to this size and Republican. It would take a whole hell of a lot of Democrats in order to change the political leaning of one of the largest metros in the nation. In order for Arizona to change, Democrats would have to be moving in to Phoenix proper as its the largest and would also change Phoenix's reputation of being a conservative haven (thus drawing more liberals). But outside of Downtown, Phoenix proper isn't home to the best neighborhoods in the metro (Alhambra, Maryvale, Sunnyslope, south Phoenix, etc.) and those aren't being gentrified to be nice places to live which would attract transplants (even though I believe Sunnyslope could with the right resources). Most people I know moving to Phoenix metro are picking suburbs that are already somewhat liberal like Scottsdale and Tempe and I don't blame them for that as they are nice places to live. But their impact is not as significant doing that as they are not influencing the major population center that is Phoenix proper.

However I highly doubt people move to any location in hopes they change the political leaning as that is not anyone's goal. I don't see conservatives moving to Philadelphia to try to make it red, I think overall in the political realm a conservative would try to dodge a place like Philadelphia. So what could bring a conservative to a liberal haven like Philadelphia? A job, family, weather, etc. every other factor that 100% of people consider when relocating, outside of politics of course. But people still bring their ideologies with them, you don't seriously believe that if a liberal moved to Phoenix that suddenly they will vote Republican simply because they relocated to a place with an overall opposing ideology and that somehow Phoenix must be better since they chose to leave wherever they came from? Chances are most people who relocate do not believe their old home is "failing" in the political arena thus seeing nothing wrong voting for the same party. For those that do however, I would be likely to believe that they are already ones who support the other party anyway. Political ideologies don't simply change.

In sum, I don't think Arizona will ever be blue without a significant amount of changes... and I know I've stated this before on the Arizona forum, but I believe a balance of political ideologies is good for everyone, so I don't mind the liberals coming in... as long as they do NOT touch the gun laws!

Yes and no, Phoenix proper is a left leaning city that gets more liberal the closer to the center like anywhere else. Phoenix just re elected a democrat mayor and has been for decades it also passed a 30 billion dollar transportation bill. Tempe is a liberal college town and south Scottsdale tends to lean liberal. Likewise North Scottsdale, Gilbert, Mesa and Glendale tend to lean much more conservative. Chandler is pretty mixed.

Small towns, Pinal county is conservative, Mohave County is conservative, Yuma and La Paz counties are conservative. Heck even Tucson is conservative once you venture out of Downtown and Midtown. The only small counties that lean liberal are Coconino and Pima and id wager the universities play a role in that.

It's not really all that different, as a metro Phoenix is suburban by nature, suburban areas tend toward conservative residents. It has a large proportion of conservatives in this manner, but the reality of the voters are more of a purple. The political clout in this state resides in the East Valley which, save for Tempe and Chandler is incredibly conservative. Hence why our state politics represent very different parties than our local politics do.

I actually think Arizona will get more purple with time not more conservative.

[autism360]

Originally Posted by Potential_Landlord

Why don't we let the market decide like all good conservatives pretend they like? The RE market in California Metro areas is up by 100% since 2000 whereas it's up by 50% in Phoenix. That means Phoenix is now 100% less attractive to people than it was in 2000 compared to California. In other words only cheap low-lifers move to Arizona. That's not my opinion, that is what the market says and what all conservatives should belief in like it's the highest law. And please don't be hypocrite about it.

The RE market in California Metro areas is up by 100% since 2000 whereas it's up by 50% in Phoenix. That means Phoenix is now 100% less attractive to people than it was in 2000 compared to California.

You just stated properties in AZ are much more affordable than Cali and that drives people away?

[Hschlick84]

Question is, why do liberals and democrats in general have to depend on government services and live in centralized big city cores? Are they not able to be more self sufficient and mind their own business?

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by autism360

You just stated properties in AZ are much more affordable than Cali and that drives people away?

Actually I think what the other poster was trying to say is that the greater rise in property values in California occurred because of greater demand there and that the greater demand is indicative of California being "more desirable" than Arizona. Greater desirability leads to greater demand, which leads to a greater increase in home prices.

At least I think that was the point trying to be made.

Ken