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It's more common-sense liberal...that's the way I like it. Some liberal idea are way over the top for me - I'm very liberal but I don't support every liberal cause.
People have this idea that everyone on the West Coast is a flaming hippie but it's really not true at all. Truth is the politics on the West Coast are not that much different from Texas or anywhere else in the country. It's mostly moderate to conservative and the liberalism that does exist on the West Coast is pretty tokenistic.
This isnt just true for Southern cities. This is true of ALL cities, even those in the liberal Northeast.
For what it's worth, ALL cities and metros are purple. Nowhere has all liberals or all conservatives. The variation of purple will be different from place to place.
There are also some differences between a city's general electorate and progressive climate and its political representation at the local, county, state and US government representation. In many circumstances, some of this representation is shaped by forces outside of local control. In the case of US house and local statewide representation, gerrymandering plays a huge role and, as everyone knows, US Senate representation is a statewide election.
This all said, I think that Raleigh is an interesting case to study. It's the state's second largest city in its second most populated (will probably be #1 within the next decade) county in and its county demographics mirror that of the state most closely compared to NC's other urban counties. Raleigh has also been identified as the most political city in the US and the engagement of its citizens is very palatable and evident.
Until the early 2000s, Raleigh and Wake County was the consummate balanced place politically in an often politically balanced state. Based on its demographics, vis-a-vis the state, it also typically mirrored the direction of the state itself. Since then, both the county and the city have been moving consistently to the left of the state. In both 2008 and 2012, Obama won the county by double digits. In the 2012 primary election where 61% of NC voters voted in favor of the now defunct Marriage Amendment, Wake voted 57% against it. In 2014, during the second Republican national wave under the Obama administration, Raleigh and Wake elections went completely blue locally with Democratic control of the county commission and Raleigh's city council and total control of the county school system. Of the 24 elected positions between the city and county, 21 are now held by Democrats. One independent, the mayor of Raleigh, caucuses with the Democrats.
Raleigh and Wake are often identified as the less progressive side of the Triangle but it's a charge made without context. It's important to understand that while Durham County (with its much larger percentage of African American voters) and Orange County/Chapel Hill (with its population anchor springing from a university town) form a metro with a built-in highly Democratic voting base, Raleigh and Wake are a much larger and more complex entities with more than double the population of Durham and Orange Counties combined and a set of demographics that wouldn't necessarily build a permanent base of progressive voters. Nonetheless, Raleigh and Wake continue to march toward more progressive politics.
In the end, the Triangle as a whole: Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill form one of the most politically progressive metros in the south and are arguably the reason why NC is such a balanced state in the first place. Without the Triangle, the state would certainly be more "red". As the Triangle continues to grow rapidly, expect that its influence in statewide and national elections will push the state further toward the "blue".
I grew up in North Raleigh and couldn't tell if it leaned more towards the conservative or liberal side. Certainly all of my high school teachers were liberal, though. However, I had kids in my classes who expressed delight when NC passed the Amendment 1 back in 2012 (I graduated the next year). Not trying to judge or stereotype, but I grew up with tons of preppy kids with political views leaning more towards the right (you could tell many of these kids were actual natives of NC). However, I also had tons of friends who were more liberal, and most of these kids were transplants or the children of transplants. When the Obama/Romney campaign went down, it literally divided the school. Arguments popped up in class all the time. Like I said, my political views lean more towards the left, but I think people give Wake County more liberal credit than it deserves. I think we're a solid purple county, we could go either way. However, maybe I'm wrong.
Most liberal cities in order are probably Austin > Atlanta/NOLA/ Miami > Raleigh > then everything else. I find Atlanta to have a liberal city core, not on the level of SF or Seattle, but probably a tier lower.
Democrat and liberal aren't the same thing. I also notice that you've left out Dallas and Houston. I would ask why but I already know the answer.
People have this idea that everyone on the West Coast is a flaming hippie but it's really not true at all. Truth is the politics on the West Coast are not that much different from Texas or anywhere else in the country. It's mostly moderate to conservative and the liberalism that does exist on the West Coast is pretty tokenistic.
The Central Valley definitely offsets some of the more liberal urban areas as do the suburbs.
The Central Valley definitely offsets some of the more liberal urban areas as do the suburbs.
Even suburban Portland/Seattle and a lot of the Bay Area has a very large conservative population. I know the Bay is home to at least one or two highly successful talk radio programs which are conservative. I'm very left wing/liberal myself but I'm glad there is a diversity of political opinion on the West Coast. People often act like there are no conservatives west of the Rockies but that's just ridiculous and untrue.
Democrat and liberal aren't the same thing. I also notice that you've left out Dallas and Houston. I would ask why but I already know the answer.
Atlanta and Austin if I can recall are the only two 100 scoring southern cities on the Municipal Equality scale. Houston scored a 54 and Dallas scored a 91.
That's why Atlanta and Austin are the top 2 most liberal cities in the South among other things. Houston being as big as it is should be scoring 90+, if not 100. 54 is just pathetic. At least Dallas is trying and will probably get there in the next few years.
Atlanta is considered a gay capital and has been for 2-3 decades now. When you're gay capital, most likely you have a liberal core or are a liberal city.
Atlanta and Austin if I can recall are the only two 100 scoring southern cities on the Municipal Equality scale. Houston scored a 54 and Dallas scored a 91.
That's why Atlanta and Austin are the top 2 most liberal cities in the South among other things. Houston being as big as it is should be scoring 90+, if not 100. 54 is just pathetic. At least Dallas is trying and will probably get there in the next few years.
Atlanta is considered a gay capital and has been for 2-3 decades now. When you're gay capital, most likely you have a liberal core or are a liberal city.
Key word: "municipal"
Municipal Houston is four times the size of Atlanta and contains many more Republican voting areas that make the city appear very conservative on paper and perhaps in some policies. This point has been made enough times in this forum that you would think everyone gets it by now. I guess not.
As "pathetic" as you think Houston is, it is still the very first major American city to elect an openly gay mayor. That fact alone proves Houstonians aren't as conservative as people like to suggest.
In day to day life there is no discernible difference in the sociopolitical attitudes of the average Atlantan, Houstonian, Dallasite or Austinite. Miami is the only real outlier here, as far as I'm concerned, and that's only because it lacks the evangelical culture of the other cities.
It doesn't really matter if it's 4 times larger in city size. Those people are still voting on issues regardless of whether or not they are living 2 miles of downtown or 10 miles of downtown so it affects everyone within the city.
Municipal Houston is four times the size of Atlanta and contains many more Republican voting areas that make the city appear very conservative on paper and perhaps in some policies. This point has been made enough times in this forum that you would think everyone gets it by now. I guess not.
As "pathetic" as you think Houston is, it is still the very first major American city to elect an openly gay mayor. That fact alone proves Houstonians aren't as conservative as people like to suggest.
In day to day life there is no discernible difference in the sociopolitical attitudes of the average Atlantan, Houstonian, Dallasite or Austinite. Miami is the only real outlier here, as far as I'm concerned, and that's only because it lacks the evangelical culture of the other cities.
Are you kidding about Miami? It has MANY large evangelical churches. I'm not sure what you mean by evangelical culture, because I don't equate that with any large urban area...maybe the suburbs but not the city.
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The Central Valley definitely offsets some of the more liberal urban areas as do the suburbs.
