DM or CR - more conservative? (Des Moines, Cedar Rapids: versus, suburbs, residential)

[Northern Traveler]

Overall metro areas - which would you say is more conservative?

Des Moines or Cedar Rapids? (Don't include Iowa City in CR metro, they're not the same)

[hugepossum]

I was going to say Des Moines would be more conservative, considering that it seems like the further west you go in Iowa, the more conservative it becomes, overall.

But I think the 'big city' factor probably has a large effect on the Des Moines metro area, so I will go ahead and say that the CR area is probably more conservative.

I am from the Quad City area and have experience with both locales.

[DMRyan]

Cedar Rapids is way more conservative than Des Moines.

[SharpHawkeye]

Originally Posted by DMRyan

Cedar Rapids is way more conservative than Des Moines.

Agreed 100%. It's been like that for as long as I've been on the scene, but I wonder if it's always been that way.

But my impression comes from a sort of a "feels that way" standpoint. Interestingly enough, if you look at the election results Linn county actually voted more strongly for Obama than Polk did. Anyone care to take that one on?

[Northern Traveler]

Well one of the reasons I find this hard to pin point is because the Des Moines metro has over half of it's heavily populated area in suburbs - and the suburbs tend to be a lot more conservative, especially around here.

As far as CR goes - there aren't really "suburbs" - just Marion really.

[Chicago60614]

I think overall Cedar Rapids is less conservative than people might view it on the surface, and Des Moines is probably a little more conservative than one might think.

[DMRyan]

I think that Des Moines has wider extremes. There is probably more of the ultra liberal crowd in Des Moines versus the blue collar always-been-a Democrat type voter bloc that's very prevalent in Eastern Iowa. I have no facts to base this on other than my personal experiences. I will say that Des Moines has made more strides to be tolerant of race and sexual preference than the city of Cedar Rapids has. I also think Des Moines has done more for becoming more environmentally friendly than CR, but it sounds like the rebuilding of CR will focus on green development as well.

The percentage difference that Linn voted for Obama over Polk County is only 3-4%.

[zz4guy]

I think without the State government smack dab in the middle Des Moines would be a lot more conservative than CR. Cedar Rapids is more of a blue collar democrat base.

As you go from Mississippi to Missouri river things get progressively more conservative. Just look at an election return map sometime. All of the dark blue counties are in eastern iowa and Polk and all the Red counties are in western, central, southern, and the counties sourrounding Des Moines.

[slavrenz]

In the recent presidential election, Des Moines voted 57% Democrat, compared to 60% for Cedar Rapids. As a 20 year native of Cedar Rapids, I don't think we're more conservative. I just think we're more stubborn.

[Northern Traveler]

Originally Posted by slavrenz

In the recent presidential election, Des Moines voted 57% Democrat, compared to 60% for Cedar Rapids. As a 20 year native of Cedar Rapids, I don't think we're more conservative. I just think we're more stubborn.

I don't think this election is by any means accurate to use as a stat whether an area is red or blue. NOT a typical election what-so-ever.