Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Wouldn't low taxes and low gov spending be considered fiscally conservative?
In modern America? Yes. In many countries "liberal" means pro-capitalist as it did in earlier times here. Liberalism is a philosophy of maximizing freedom. Sort-of like libertarianism with a few exceptions. (From what I've read classic liberals were usually less okay with suicide and maybe more open to government spending for the elderly and infirmed. Not sure on that last)
In alphabetical order I'd think of the following cities as "American liberal."
Atlanta, Georgia
Boston, Massachusetts
District of Columbia
Madison, Wisconsin
Portland, Maine
Portland, Oregon
Providence, Rhode Island
San Francisco, California
Santa Cruz, California
Seattle, Washington
Cities I might think of as either "Classic liberal" or more accurately "socially liberal, but not as Leftist."
Galveston, Texas - High population of gay-couples and in Ron Paul's district.
Las Vegas, Nevada - Tops "Reason's" list of libertarian cities.
Miami, Florida - Second on "Reason's" list, in city-data's top 101 of gay-couples.
Denver, Colorado - In city-data's top-20 for gay-couples and "Reason's" top 5 for libertarian cities albeit grudgingly so.
Kansas City, Missouri - In city-data's top 101 for gay couples and rounds out "Reason's" top-5 libertarian list.
After those five the next five for "socially liberal with less Leftism" will be alphabetical and based on city-data lists. So far the only ones I found relevant are cities with a combined high in "top 101 homosexual couples" list and the "101 lowest real-estate tax" lits. By that I mean a city with 71st on one and 13th on the other would be an 84. I didn't include cities that received over a 90.
Long Beach, California
New Orleans, Louisiana
San Diego - Low on Reason's list though.
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Fe, New Mexico
I think Portland is the most socially liberal city in the country. Not sure about fiscally, but I know tax increase measures never fail to get passed by the voters.
Wouldn't low taxes and low gov spending be considered fiscally conservative?
Good question. Maybe I misspoke earlier. What I was trying to say was that it is difficult to find areas in the US that are liberal socially (e.g, accepting of diversity, lifestyles, etc.) and, at the same time, do not rake people over on taxes and government spending.
Good question. Maybe I misspoke earlier. What I was trying to say was that it is difficult to find areas in the US that are liberal socially (e.g, accepting of diversity, lifestyles, etc.) and, at the same time, do not rake people over on taxes and government spending.
I think one cannot look for socially liberal cities without considering the states in which they reside because so many laws are at the state level.
For instance, greater Miami/Ft. Lauderdale are very gay friendly but they reside in a state with some of the most hostile laws towards gays and lesbians. While Floridians are used to this strange juxtaposition, other states are not. I think this is why there was such an uproar over the passage of prop. 8 in CA. It was taken as a slap in the face to those living in the liberal urban areas. In Florida, an even more stringent marriage amendment passed and the liberal areas in the state weren't surprised at all.
I am not sure that one will find many, if any, socially liberal major cities that reside in states that are equally socially open and fiscally conservative. If that exists, I'd be interested in hearing about such a place.
I can think of a college town that fits that bill: Iowa City, IA. It's very liberal socially yet it's still a sensible Midwest town. And, it's in a state where gay people can get married.
Chicago is very fiscally liberal, but is not even close to being socially liberal. A key example is that Chicago has a fairly large gay community, that is nearly silent. Chicago has a strong presence of conservative Catholics and socially conservative African-Americans, as well as very conservative (both fiscally and socially) Asian population.
New York City has liberal pockets, but much of the Bronx, Queens, and much of the suburban areas are quite conservative.
1. San Francisco
2. Portland
3. Boston
4. New York City
5. Los Angeles
6. Seattle
7. Philadelphia
8. Washington, DC
9. Baltimore
10. Austin
Good list. It's stupid that Portland is being left off of these ridiculous lists.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
