Naperville getting more liberal/progressive? (Chicago, DeKalb: low income, high crime, public schools)

[Diws]

I've lived in Naperville for about 11 years, and it seems to me that the residents are becoming more liberal.

Dupage county, once a Republican stronghold, is basically purple now, so perhaps Naperville following this trend is no shock. But it seems to me that there is a greater presence of deep blue liberalism here now.

One anecdotal example - on another site forum which is catered to very local concerns, a user made a passing reference to the area near Bailey and Washington as being high crime. This is pretty well known to locals. She was immediately attacked for indirectly suggesting that low income and high crime might be coorelated, with support running for these attacks by a good 3-1, it seems. Certainly this is unscientific, but that a significant number of people living in south Naperville would consider even mentioning such issues completely beyond the pale is of note, I think, and all the more so because the forum is not anonymous.

Further evidence - my subdivision went about 3.5-1 for Romney in 2012, but went comfortably for Hillary in 2016. Part of this can be explained by affluent suburban voters being uncomfortable with Trump, but this explanation only goes so far.

Finally, in the recent local city council elections the candidate with by far the most votes was Judy Brodhead, who is pretty openly left-liberal (and was quoted as wanting to make Naperville a 'fair housing leader'). Meanwhile the most open Tea Party type candidates, Strick and Berkowicz faield to pick up one of the open seats.

Now, debating on whether this move leftward is a good thing is not all my intent. I am interested on whether it is in fact occurring in Naperville, and if so whether Naperville is in any way uniquely affected, and why.

My sense is that liberals tend to be drawn to high amenity areas, and that Naperville is clearly one of the highest amenity areas in the western suburbs. The publicized '2nd best small city to live in the Midwest', good public schools, etc. may simply appeal to affluent liberals more than other groups.

[JJski]

if i am correct - the 1st best small town in the article was Ann Arbor MI?

The connection to this thread would be is Ann Arbor is liberal, WAY, WAY LEFT... so maybe naperville just heading down that same road...

[Diws]

Originally Posted by JJski

if i am correct - the 1st best small town in the article was Ann Arbor MI?

The connection to this thread would be is Ann Arbor is liberal, WAY, WAY LEFT... so maybe naperville just heading down that same road...

My sense is that Naperville is moving in that direction, but cities like Ann Arbor and Madison are college towns, which will have a strong leftward pull - I am thinking that the presence of such major institutions is the primary factor there. After all the enrollment accounts for about 35% of Ann Arbor's and 20% of Madison's population, and that's not factoring in faculty and staff. Naperville just has North Central, a small liberal arts college, which accounts for maybe 2% of the population, so you don't have that additional pull factor.

[BRU67]

I believe that as the "haves" become more wealthy relative to the rest of the population they will become more liberal. Refer to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. I think this is inevitable. And in many ways unfortunate as it will solidify a growing chasm in political beliefs between the urban affluent and the rest of the country.

[KerrTown]

I just wish Texas was really purple. People keep saying it but there are other factors in play (GOP control brings out voter suppression techniques that target the Democratic base).

It's surprising that in general that American suburbs are becoming purple in general, if you don't take the South into account. Yesterday's result of the special election in suburban Atlanta contradicts that conclusion.

Illinois in general is a standout compared to the neighboring states which are going from blue-collar Democratic to Sunbelt Republican in a stitch of time. Chicagoland is increasingly becoming a blue island oasis in a Great Lakes region of red.

Originally Posted by BRU67

I believe that as the "haves" become more wealthy relative to the rest of the population they will become more liberal. Refer to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. So I think this is inevitable, yes.

You clearly haven't been to the South lately. The affluent suburbanites here still think that minorities and others are mooching off of them and complain about their taxes being too high because of that. I was floored to hear on WBBM news radio when I visited after Thanksgiving that Kane County passed a tax increase for the park system. That's almost unheard of here in Texas (and I almost fainted while driving on the Addams in Huntley on my way back to Chicago).

[Diws]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

You clearly haven't been to the South lately. The affluent suburbanites here still think that minorities and others are mooching off of them and complain about their taxes being too high because of that. I was floored to hear on WBBM news radio when I visited after Thanksgiving that Kane County passed a tax increase for the park system. That's almost unheard of here in Texas (and I almost fainted while driving on the Addams in Huntley on my way back to Chicago).

I am very familiar with Dallas/Ft Worth. Seems to me that some of the inner ring suburbs like Richardson are purple, as well as a few of the outers like Frisco and maybe even Plano to an extent (with corporate relocations bringing in a lot of people from other areas of the country). But the exurbs like Flower Mound, and Allen are deep red.

There is a good article in the City Journal about how Texas' drift to purple plays against what has made the state a magnet for growth:

https://www.city-journal.org/html/re...ies-14731.html

[TheTimidBlueBars]

Haven't DuPage, Lake, Will, and DeKalb Counties gone blue for the last three or so elections? I don't know if I'd call that "purple" anymore.

Anyway, regarding Naperville specifically, I do get the sense that the good "amenities" are a part of the reason why it's getting more liberal especially fast. Namely, it seems to me that conservatives tend to prefer cheaper suburbs where they can live apart from the world and the amenities aren't necessary, whereas liberals are okay with higher taxes if it means their kids can go to better schools, they can have nicer parks around, and so on.

[strawflower]

Originally Posted by TheTimidBlueBars

Haven't DuPage, Lake, Will, and DeKalb Counties gone blue for the last three or so elections? I don't know if I'd call that "purple" anymore.

Anyway, regarding Naperville specifically, I do get the sense that the good "amenities" are a part of the reason why it's getting more liberal especially fast. Namely, it seems to me that conservatives tend to prefer cheaper suburbs where they can live apart from the world and the amenities aren't necessary, whereas liberals are okay with higher taxes if it means their kids can go to better schools, they can have nicer parks around, and so on.

Yep, this. I can see where Naperville (at least the "inner-ring" part) would be really appealing to liberals - it's walkable, has some very good locally owned restaurants/shops/etc., solid public services, public transportation, and fantastic schools. And North Central College, while small, adds some nice vibrancy.

[ez1234]

I'm not into the whole partisan politics thing, but are the Naperville liberals anything like the zealots/'bad'-type liberals in Chicago? Not bashing the left (or right) but my wife and I are looking to move from the city and just fed up with the general intolerance that comes from extreme/deep politics. We've been through Naperville many times, people are generally well-mannered, considerate and happy. It'd be a shame if that changed.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by ez1234

I'm not into the whole partisan politics thing, but are the Naperville liberals anything like the zealots/'bad'-type liberals in Chicago? Not bashing the left (or right) but my wife and I are looking to move from the city and just fed up with the general intolerance that comes from extreme/deep politics. We've been through Naperville many times, people are generally well-mannered, considerate and happy. It'd be a shame if that changed.

The vast majority of people living in most nicer suburbs are not particularly obnoxious regarding their own political leanings. You could argue that whether they lean more right or left they have more in common with their mostly well off but far from "rich and powerful" neighbors than they do with either politicians like Hillary Clinton or "industrialists" like the Koch Brothers -- they see the value of taxes reflected in well maintained schools, libraries, parks et cetera. There are plenty of right leaning folks who are very supportive of private charities, some of which are specifically designed to help folks overcome temporary setbacks and put their lives back on track. Similarly there are lots of left leaning folks in the suburbs that are openly critical of the policies of insiders in Illinois politics that have made it all but all but impossible for folks to ever escape the underclass.

Where there are "activists" they are largely motivated to bring attention to what they perceive as mismatch between the stated conservatism of some incumbents and the support that such folks have gotten from groups that have largely increased the costs of elections with the "money battle". Mostly it is hard to disagree with their motivation, the issues however often are hard to sum up as there is not much a pipeline going from somebody who maybe served on an unpaid suburban zoning board being part of the US Congress making decisions about trillions of dollars in spending...

My experience with folks in the suburbs who consider themselves to be more aligned with folks who are members of the Democrat Caucus is that they are saddened / disgusted by the sort of thing that seem more commonplace -- https://dailynorthwestern.com/2016/1...trump-rallies/ Judge allows workplace case against Tammy Duckworth to go to trial - Chicago Tribune

With these sorts of things in the back drop the smarter neighbors spend more effort talking about what they agree on than trying to get anyone to switch sides...