SW Minneapolis too liberal for us? (St. Paul, Eden Prairie: to live, moving to, suburbs)

[green_mariner]

Well, if SW Mpls is that liberal, maybe I'll might fit right in.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

Slig, my impression is that Powderhorn is far more liberal than many parts of SW Minneapolis, or maybe I should say liberal in a different way, and Kingfield seems sort of in-between the two.

I think you might be right on this. If anybody disagrees with us about the Southside's extreme liberalness, check out an issue of the community newspaper, Southside Pride. I've never seen such blatant liberal propoganda. It makes for some interesting reading though, I must say.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Slig

I think you might be right on this. If anybody disagrees with us about the Southside's extreme liberalness, check out an issue of the community newspaper, Southside Pride. I've never seen such blatant liberal propoganda. It makes for some interesting reading though, I must say.

I just looked at the online version of Southside Pride. It reminds me of those old Mao Zedong posters, well, at least the persons depicted in the painting do. There is one guy holding a copy of Mao's little red book. It talks about class war, and environmental issues. It sounds pretty liberal to me. I can understand about class issues and environmental issues. Those are up my alley in some way.

[US-Traveller]

I'm sorry but what is liberal about Edina????

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by US-Traveller

I'm sorry but what is liberal about Edina????

Good point; the OP doesn't need to be worried if she's moving to Edina, as Edina isn't exactly die-hard DFL territory. I think most people were focusing in on the SW Minneapolis part of the question, which generally is more liberal than most of Edina.

I don't pay much attention to Edina politics, but I do remember seeing the precinct reports for the 2008 presidential election; the parts closest to SW Minneapolis were solidly blue, and then the map gradually transitioned to solid red on the outskirts.

My general impression of Edina is that it's pretty solidly in the moderate camp with a lot of fairly centrist Republicans and Democrats. I know some of their politicians have flirted with both parties.

[MplsTodd]

I think the OP would do fine in SW Mpls. My neighborhood--Linden Hills--is dominated by democrats, but there also is a strong showing of independants. Although our City Council member (Betsy Hodges) is a DFLer, the two previous council members --Steve Minn and Barrett Lane--were independants who were generally fiscally conservative.

I'm a moderate democrat myself, but I'd generally welcome a Republican to the city, as it would be nice to actually get a conservative who may have an interest in urban issues. I think its essential that our political system be represented by both liberal and conservative views. Unfortunately, our society seems to be organizing itself geographically by political orientation (see the book "The Big Sort" if you want to explore this topic further). This, I fear, is contributing to the excessive polarization of our nation. So, jeez, OP, in a way its your patriotic duty to move into the city!!

[uptown_urbanist]

I agree with MplsTodd. One of the annoying things about Minneapolis politics is that at the local level there's a lack of real choice, because with some exceptions -- strong independent candidates at times, for example -- local elections are basically decided with the DFL endorsement process. People also seem to have what I consider odd ideas of what are "liberal" issues and what aren't. And I also agree that this polarization of the country as a whole is a bad thing, and there's really no reason that cities should be exclusively liberal bastions while the exurbs are conservative.

[northside4life]

Originally Posted by Vintage_girl

Be careful when putting up your signs for supporting Republican politicians-- people here tend to get real nasty. I know a lady who told me about her daughter's teacher had her McCain sign damaged a few times in 2008, and if you have a pro-life sign, some idiot feels the need to write over it "pro-choice", even though it's on your own dang property.

Yep. We had our car keyed and our McCain sign ripped to shreds. And thats on the non-voting northside.

[MSMCGirl]

I moved to the area from Southern California (I'm pretty liberal)...made the mistake of moving to the North Metro. I feel SO out of place up here (and cannot wait to move!!)...but I feel right at home in South Metro - with the yoga studios, vegetarians, Obama/Wellstone/Franken stickers...LOVE IT! So with roles reversed, I wouldn't recommend South Metro for a Republican. It seems like politics WOULD be an issue if you're asking about it in a forum (if only I had been so smart)!! Now, several of my ULTRA conservative coworkers live in Eden Prairie and LOVE it there...so that area might work for you?

[Mark_22]

I am a moderate-conservative that lives in St. Paul. St. Paul is not as liberal as SW Minneapolis but it's close. I have never had a problem living here. I figure life's too short to only associate with people who think like me. It is unfortunate that people seem to keep segregating themselves by politics more and more. Where is it written into law that if a person likes living in an urban, walkable neighborhood and believes in the responsible use of natural resources he or she must also be in favor of a government takeover of healthcare and against school vouchers? I applaud the OP for considering SW Minneapolis and wish there were more people willing to consider neighborhoods that might be ourside their comfort zone.