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"Cities are becoming more blue because the educated and young are leaving the dying small towns"
Wrong. More are moving OUT of the cities because they can do their work from their computers at HOME!
"small towns that generally have small-minded people and backwards ideologies."
Ah, the true mustang shows his head, "I am SUPERIOR that all those rural "hicks" people combined!"
2. Not trying to insult anyone, but it's the truth. People who have bachelor and masters degrees typically lean Democratic, especially women. Small towns and rural areas generally don't offer opportunities for significant employment if you have a higher education degree, so young people move to the cities where the jobs are. This is nothing new and has been going on for a century now.
The small towns that used to have a diversity of people (whether that is education, background, skillsets, etc.) end up with an aging population that increasingly becomes less diverse, more insular, and less interested in investing back into the community. I know, because I grew up in one of those dying small towns. No one wants their taxes raised, so infrastructure falls into disrepair, school funding is cut, property values decrease, and they can't attract employers because they don't have a competitive labor pool. They're now trying to focus on trade education, which is good and may keep more young people in town, but honestly it seems too little too late.
Ironically, GOP policies are in no little part what's killing the small towns. They've been solidly backing (or have been backed by, difference without distinction - donors are policy-makers) people like the Waltons for decades. So Wal-Mart zooms in, kills off the local retail businesses without blinking, and the money that used to stay local now goes onto Wal-Mart's bottom line.
So it goes for small-town America: A handful of big-box stores, a handful of chain restaurants, a handful of gas stations, two chain hotels and the ever-present hum of the freeway. There's the car assembly plant, or the Amazon warehouse, or perhaps a correctional facility for work. But the wealth being produced goes elsewhere. And people are wondering what the hell happened. Of course the smart kids leave.
When Obama said something about clinging to guns and religion, he was way out of line. It was disrespectful. But it wasn't entirely wrong.
Agreed. It's even worse for the small towns that are not near a major highway, because they don't even get the big box stores or fast food restaurants...they end up with a gas station and maybe a local tavern among their handful of surviving businesses, while the majority of Main Street is boarded up and desolate.
Where I grew up in Iowa, you will literally find town after town where the population has shrunk 40% or more over the last 50 years. Politically they used to be about a 50/50 split between Republicans and Democrats, but these towns get more red as time goes on and also more homogenized. They don't like outsiders. They don't want their taxes raised. They don't want to invest any time or money in making the community a place that would be desirable for newcomers or new employers. They keep voting in the same Republican representatives, senators, and governors that have done little to nothing to improve conditions in rural areas or attract employment for 40 years now. Or deal with the drugs and mental illness issues.
These towns are going to be largely ghost towns in a couple more generations at the rate things are declining.
Last edited by mustang84; 12-30-2021 at 11:25 PM..
2. Not trying to insult anyone, but it's the truth. People who have bachelor and masters degrees typically lean Democratic, especially women. Small towns and rural areas generally don't offer opportunities for significant employment if you have a higher education degree, so young people move to the cities where the jobs are. This is nothing new and has been going on for a century now.
The small towns that used to have a diversity of people (whether that is education, background, skillsets, etc.) end up with an aging population that increasingly becomes less diverse, more insular, and less interested in investing back into the community. I know, because I grew up in one of those dying small towns. No one wants their taxes raised, so infrastructure falls into disrepair, school funding is cut, property values decrease, and they can't attract employers because they don't have a competitive labor pool. They're now trying to focus on trade education, which is good and may keep more young people in town, but honestly it seems too little too late.
Many small towns are surrounded by farms of all types. Some small, some big.
MANY of the farmers HAVE COLLEGE degrees in agriculture, etc.
Many small towns are surrounded by farms of all types. Some small, some big.
MANY of the farmers HAVE COLLEGE degrees in agriculture, etc.
I never said farmers don't have college degrees. Some do, many don't (only about 25-30% have a degree). You keep diverting away from the main point I was making...which is the original point of this post...that the reason cities are becoming more "blue" is because young, college educated people are moving there where the majority of jobs are. And young, college educated people typically vote for Democrats.
I am not sure why you are bringing up farmers, because the small and midsize family farm is another sector that is unfortunately dying. Family farms that have been in a family for generations are getting bought out and turned into large corporate farming enterprises that employ fewer people per acre than family farms traditionally had. Or they are selling because they can no longer compete with large farms and have no offspring that want to continue the business. I have several uncles that are farmers or retired farmers, and none of their children are going into farming. One is in an agricultural related field, but he doesn't farm. I have a lot of cousins, we all grew up in rural Iowa, and over 80% of them now live in cities. We are a microcosm of the national trend.
Which goes back to the point I was making--the more red and less diverse these areas get, the fewer people that want to move there and raise a family, which results in more decline. Rise and repeat. And they keep voting in the same Republican leadership that has overseen this decline for decades.
Democrats and the liberal idiocy that has taken over the big cities have turned them into cesspools of crime and filth. Very few people, especially conservatives won't even go to these places much less move there.
The only hope might be if the residents of these places get angry and fed up enough that they start voting these uber-liberal mayors and D.A.'s out of office in favor of someone that wants to crack down on the lawlessness and clean these places up.
BS.
The most populous counties—I said counties—in Texas have been voting blue for more than a dozen years:
Harris - Houston is blue
Dallas - Dallas is blue
Bexar - San Antonio is blue
Travis - Austin is blue
Tarrant voted Biden - Fort Worth turned blue in 2020
Anyone describing any of those cities as "cesspools of crime and filth" exposes an astounding level of ignorance.
DFW (4th largest metro in USA with 7.5 million people and growing fast), where I live, is killing just about every nationwide stat you can name: population growth, jobs, company relocations, you name it. And the suburbs are diverse, too. Asians make up more than 20% of Plano's population, and Plano is a wealthy city.
The house I bought in 2019 (built 1979, 2600 sq. ft.) has appreciated 25% in value. In city of Dallas.
The demographics train in Texas is leaving the station, and it's unstoppable. Get on or get left behind.
Fun fact: Californians are moving to Texas in droves.
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