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Oh really? According to the sources I've seen (US Census) Lubbock and Amarillo are gaining quite a bit of population, not as much as the bigger cities, but they are gaining not losing population.
Sure not all of West Texas is losing population, but many counties are //www.city-data.com/forum/gener...08-county.html Texas Ahead: Rural Areas
Googling Texas Population Change shows several maps which show that the vast majority of counties which are losing population are in West Texas. So yeah Lubbock and Amarillo may be gaining, but most of the West Texas Counties are losing population
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I wouldn't be so sure that these trends are going to last.....
Go to that link and on the right click the "voting shift" tab. It will show the shift in voting by displaying counties as either being more blue or more red.
The only part of the country that is more red than before is a narrow belt extending from Tennesse through Arkansas and into Texas. Only Lousiana, Arkansas, tennessee and Oklahoma were more red than before. Every other state was much bluer than before, including Utah.
Texas is one of only very few states that had a signifcant amount of counties go more red than before. Granted, they are outnumbered by the blue.....but the point is that several exist across the state.
However, the rest of the country outside that little belt was a lot more blue than before. Texas was significanlty less affected than most of the rest of the country was.
This is just to show that the blue trend is national, not a Texas thing. If anything, Texas is below the national average in terms of getting bluer this election.
My point is that this is a national trend, not a Texas trend. So either this country is fast approaching a one party political atmosphere or the trend will dissipate soon.
What you posted was the trends for the Presidential Level. Despite the GOP improvement in rural Texas Obama closed the gap significantly on McCain in '08. If you compare the trends in the most populated counties. Harris, Dallas, Bexar, Tarrant, Travis, El Paso you see that all have been becoming more Democratic in the election cycles since Clinton. Gore didn't even win Austin in 2000 much less Dallas, Houston or San Antonio. Plus West and East Texas are pretty much maxed out on their support for the GOP, once that 80~90% level is hit that is pretty much it.
Presidential Elections don't show the whole picture for political support which is why I brought up the Democratic Success in Dallas Country with regards to the State House Elections because that goes back to '06 even though there was a peak in '08 with the Obama coattails.
The difference between Texas and other southern states like Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina is that Texas has the major cities which have heavier Democratic voting tendancies.
Sure not all of West Texas is losing population, but many counties are //www.city-data.com/forum/gener...08-county.html Texas Ahead: Rural Areas
Googling Texas Population Change shows several maps which show that the vast majority of counties which are losing population are in West Texas. So yeah Lubbock and Amarillo may be gaining, but most of the West Texas Counties are losing population
What you posted was the trends for the Presidential Level. Despite the GOP improvement in rural Texas Obama closed the gap significantly on McCain in '08. If you compare the trends in the most populated counties. Harris, Dallas, Bexar, Tarrant, Travis, El Paso you see that all have been becoming more Democratic in the election cycles since Clinton. Gore didn't even win Austin in 2000 much less Dallas, Houston or San Antonio. Plus West and East Texas are pretty much maxed out on their support for the GOP, once that 80~90% level is hit that is pretty much it.
Presidential Elections don't show the whole picture for political support which is why I brought up the Democratic Success in Dallas Country with regards to the State House Elections because that goes back to '06 even though there was a peak in '08 with the Obama coattails.
The difference between Texas and other southern states like Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina is that Texas has the major cities which have heavier Democratic voting tendancies.
Perhaps, but there was a huge blue shift nationally and Texas was actually below that shift. If the national shift fades and the Texas shift persists then maybe Texas is getting bluer but until such time I'm not convinced.
And the blue to red shift does not neccesarily equate to a conservative to liberal shift......I have a very hard time imagining Texans turning in their pickups for hybrids, turning in their guns and abolishing the death penalty.....
But we're way off topic. This exact issue is being in debated in the Texas forum so we should take it there.
On topic: Austin is overrated at least on the liberal aspect. It is no San Francisco like some claim it is. Of course, it's also no Oklahoma City. Austin is somewhere between the two in politics....Austin is similar to Tallahassee politically.
Overrated. There is not the road infrastructure to support anymore coming in! Plus, all the good real estate is taken --- and even the not-so-good stuff is overpriced. I mean, this is a recession... and Austin isn't a coastal town or anything. Why should it be so expensive? Sure, it is safe and nice here.. but at SD prices? No, not a good idea for most people.
Overrated. There is not the road infrastructure to support anymore coming in! Plus, all the good real estate is taken --- and even the not-so-good stuff is overpriced. I mean, this is a recession... and Austin isn't a coastal town or anything. Why should it be so expensive? Sure, it is safe and nice here.. but at SD prices? No, not a good idea for most people.
I never understood the attraction of a coastline. I could live in a coastal area but a coastline is a non-factor for me when determining where to live.
Location: The land of sugar... previously Houston and Austin
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Originally Posted by SouthmoreAve
Houston's about to become the 1st major city with an openly gay mayor who just happens to be democratic. Montrose, Houston's "hip" neighborhood/LGBT community was one of the top 10 neighborhoods proving that Houston has a thriving LGBT community.
Montrose isn't just a gayborhood anymore, it's a place that many young people enjoy because of the proximity to nightlife, unique shops and restaurants, the museum district, etc. It's definitely unique. But it's not Houston's only unique neighborhood, and the lack of formal zoning in Houston has a part in that; what many outsiders use as a point of criticism actually is a big contributer to Houston's "weirdness" (that word again, something which Austin uses as a selling point!)
Back on topic... I was a resident of Austin for many years and agree in most ways, it's overrated. At least in its current form (I'm sure it was probably great in the 70's-80's and up until it was "discovered")
What on earth do politics and liberal v conservative have to do with Austin being over or underrated? I don't see the connection.
Because Austin is hyped as a liberal mecca, sometimes called the new San Francisco. I believe the liberalism in Austin is exaggerated and therefore overrated
Houston's about to become the 1st major city with an openly gay mayor who just happens to be democratic. Montrose, houstons "hip" neighborhood/LGBT community was one of the top 10 neighborhoods proving that Houston has a thriving LGBT community.
Houston had a very large gay community even back in the early-mid 90's.
Harris county only went blue by 18,000 votes out of over 1,000,000+ total....hardly a solid liberal majority.
Never said it was. I just said it is becoming more and more democratic. Harris County is following the same trend that Dallas County went through from 2004-2008.
I dunno... I'm not much of a fan of these type cities... austin, madison, portland, raleigh... just not my thing.. .prefer the bigger cities. The whole college, stuff white people like, post college, hipster, scenester stuff don't do much for me...
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