What are Atlanta's "granola" enclaves? (Dunwoody, Decatur: appointed, sales)

[cittic10]

Is the question where to find hippies or people with left-leaning politics?

Metro atlanta has this reputation for being ultra right-leaning politically, but going back to the 2008 presidential elections, the northern counties results something like 45% Obama to 55% McCain. That's obviously not a thin margin but even if you round down, there's still 4 out of 10 people that voted for Obama.

How many do you need? If you have a group of several friends that align with you politically, what more do you need? Do you really need the whole darn city to agree with you? What if one day you change your political views? Then you'd be in trouble.

Metro atl is relatively balanced compared to some neighboring states like TN for example. Some cities in TN like Knoxville, are more like 25 Obama to 75 Mccain. Now that's not very balanced. I do see a surprising number of left-leaning bumper stickers up here in the north metro, just as I see a lot of right-leaning ones. In fact I saw one a couple weeks ago, HUGE sticker that read "I support marriage equality". And I regularly see another car with the equality icon sticker on it. And back in 08 someone plastered Kucinich stickers everywhere.

I'll also add that there's probably more total people who voted for Obama in metro Atlanta than in Madison and Asheville combined which would seem to indicate there's plenty of opportunity for establishing friendships with these people.

[DunwoodyPanhandle]

Originally Posted by cittic10

Is the question where to find hippies or people with left-leaning politics?

Metro atlanta has this reputation for being ultra right-leaning politically, but going back to the 2008 presidential elections, the northern counties results something like 45% Obama to 55% McCain. That's obviously not a thin margin but even if you round down, there's still 4 out of 10 people that voted for Obama.

How many do you need? If you have a group of several friends that align with you politically, what more do you need? Do you really need the whole darn city to agree with you? What if one day you change your political views? Then you'd be in trouble.

Metro atl is relatively balanced compared to some neighboring states like TN for example. Some cities in TN like Knoxville, are more like 25 Obama to 75 Mccain. Now that's not very balanced. I do see a surprising number of left-leaning bumper stickers up here in the north metro, just as I see a lot of right-leaning ones. In fact I saw one a couple weeks ago, HUGE sticker that read "I support marriage equality". And I regularly see another car with the equality icon sticker on it. And back in 08 someone plastered Kucinich stickers everywhere.

I'll also add that there's probably more total people who voted for Obama in metro Atlanta than in Madison and Asheville combined which would seem to indicate there's plenty of opportunity for establishing friendships with these people.

These are some great points. Tolerance of all views, except those that differ from our own.

[DunwoodyPanhandle]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

This can be said of any city though North, South, East, West. Conservatives can easily be found in New York City just as liberals can be found in the heart of a Mississippi swamp. Hell, New York City is one of the most conservative cities out there. I mean hello, they haven't had a Democratic mayor since 1993.

I do agree with your assessment though. It's part of the problem we have today (well for a while now) with politics in this country. We try to assign all of these irrelevant items to voting and political stances. Just because someone owns nothing but Apple products, lives ITP, and has a breakdown the minute they go OTP doesn't preclude them from being a fervent Tea Party member (I actually know at least three people like this).

Mayor Bloomberg is a Democrat, and a pretty liberal one at that. New York is certainly not a conservative city in any sense of that word, though some conservatives do live there.

[DunwoodyPanhandle]

I was under the impression most of the east side had become hipster, with the capital being East Atlanta. Am I correct on this, or is it more granola?

BTW, I am 20-something, and I know what granola means and have heard it used plenty of times.

[cqholt]

East Atlanta is hipster central, but I have seen more granola in Kirkwood and Edgewood.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by DunwoodyPanhandle

Mayor Bloomberg is a Democrat, and a pretty liberal one at that. New York is certainly not a conservative city in any sense of that word, though some conservatives do live there.

Mayor Bloomberg was a Republican up until 2007, then he became an "independent". He has never been a member of the Democratic party.

As for the rest of New York City...I'm guessing you are one of those who have only been to Manhattan types. The rest of New York City goes from being liberal, to mixed, to nothing at all (on a account of all immigrants), to downright ultra conservative *cough* Howard Beach *cough*. Let's also not forget it is easily one of the most segregated cities in the country despite how diverse it is. The version of New York City shown in movies and in Times Square is a fantasy.

Of course that conservatism is of a very different nature than that of what you would find in say Forsyth County or any other Southern suburban locale. Nor does it mean they vote Republican. This map from '08 election however tells the story pretty well: http://www.urbanresearch.org/maps/Obama_2008.pdf

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

As for the rest of New York City...I'm guessing you are one of those who have only been to Manhattan types. The rest of New York City goes from being liberal, to mixed, to nothing at all (on a account of all immigrants), to downright ultra conservative *cough* Howard Beach *cough*. Let's also not forget it is easily one of the most segregated cities in the country despite how diverse it is. The version of New York City shown in movies and in Times Square is a fantasy.

Of course that conservatism is of a very different nature than that of what you would find in say Forsyth County or any other Southern suburban locale. Nor does it mean they vote Republican. This map from '08 election however tells the story pretty well: http://www.urbanresearch.org/maps/Obama_2008.pdf

So funny that I "check in" on my thread about "granola" neighborhoods and we're at Queens NY. Isn't Howard Beach solidly Italian, for the most part? Funny, I think of them as Dems, but maybe, as they've Americanized, they're Republicans now. Part of it might be the perceived need to keep their ethnic fabric intact. Who knows. I just looked at the map. Wow! Most of Staten Island, Bensonhurst, and parts of Queens (HB, Bayside, etc.) DIDN'T vote for Obama. A=B=C. Therefore, the Italian community probably didn't vote for Obama.

Forsyth County....I thought that place was loosening up, in conjunction with the North Fulton corridor. While I don't expect to see "granolas" in Alpharetta or Milton, they've become a mixed bag of lifestyles and ethnicities.

I thought Decatur became slightly expensive. Isn't it more or less white-collar "granolas" that live there?

[DunwoodyPanhandle]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

Mayor Bloomberg was a Republican up until 2007, then he became an "independent". He has never been a member of the Democratic party.

As for the rest of New York City...I'm guessing you are one of those who have only been to Manhattan types. The rest of New York City goes from being liberal, to mixed, to nothing at all (on a account of all immigrants), to downright ultra conservative *cough* Howard Beach *cough*. Let's also not forget it is easily one of the most segregated cities in the country despite how diverse it is. The version of New York City shown in movies and in Times Square is a fantasy.

Of course that conservatism is of a very different nature than that of what you would find in say Forsyth County or any other Southern suburban locale. Nor does it mean they vote Republican. This map from '08 election however tells the story pretty well: http://www.urbanresearch.org/maps/Obama_2008.pdf

We are both correct, in a sense. He was a Democrat until 2001. I suspect his motives for switching party affiliations were not genuine.

I spent four months living in Manhattan and two months living just outside of New York in Hoboken, New Jersey. During that stint, I also spent some time in Brooklyn (Williamsburg). What's your point? Do you have to live somewhere to get a feel for its politics? The overall culture of New York is liberal to the core, and I would be interested to hear, specifically, why you disagree with that.

[ATLTJL]

I think that what the OP really meant goes beyond politics.

When I think of granolas, I think of people who like to grow their own vegetables in urban gardens, compost everything they can, buy used clothes instead of new, ride bicycles made out of bamboo, try to buy local food at places like farmers markets, attend every outdoor neighborhood party/art festival, listen to Phish, and smoke a lot of weed. Maybe not each and every one of those attributes, but at least more of them than not.

They are just a modern take on the classic hippy.

You can be liberal without being granola. I think in the suburbs you find a slightly different kind of hippy, more along the line of people who are more mainstream but still buy organic food, go on a lot of outdoor hikes, and so on. These people may not even lean liberal politically, but I think most of the traditional modern hippy people do.

Just watch Portlandia. They make fun of granolas and hipsters all the time. And they're generally pretty spot on.

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

I think that what the OP really meant goes beyond politics.

When I think of granolas, I think of people who like to grow their own vegetables in urban gardens, compost everything they can, buy used clothes instead of new, ride bicycles made out of bamboo, try to buy local food at places like farmers markets, attend every outdoor neighborhood party/art festival, listen to Phish, and smoke a lot of weed. Maybe not each and every one of those attributes, but at least more of them than not.

They are just a modern take on the classic hippy.

You can be liberal without being granola. I think in the suburbs you find a slightly different kind of hippy, more along the line of people who are more mainstream but still buy organic food, go on a lot of outdoor hikes, and so on. These people may not even lean liberal politically, but I think most of the traditional modern hippy people do.

Just watch Portlandia. They make fun of granolas and hipsters all the time. And they're generally pretty spot on.

Excellent. So this then means that "granolas" can live in either Decatur or Duluth. And the Portlandia comment is hilarious. And I think the previous posts named all the neighborhoods where there might be a higher concentration of these types of people. This also goes to show that metro Atlantans have a good sense of humor and can laugh at themselves. In a Seattle or Portland sub-forum, this "label" could get some people seeing red.