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I have not been to the former but I have been to the latter and it's lovely. Western NC is the last place that I expected to find an artsy/liberal oasis.
I would tend to think a small town in Vermont or the "Iron Range" of Minnesota. It's said Crosby, Minnesota was the first town in America to have a Commuist mayor. Granted that was during the Great Depression.
For moderate I'll give the offhand guess of Central Iowa.
I went back to my home state of KS to finish college at KU and loved Lawrence. It's not really a small town -I'd call it a big town or small city, but it has a lot of small town charm. The only place in Kansas I'd ever live.
So why is it that all the liberal towns and cities are so expensive to live in? Seems like the more liberal, the more expensive? Like here in Denver it's fairly expensive, even moreso in Boulder.
This is just a hypothesis. In the case of social liberalism in particular they tend to be disproportionately unmarried, educated, young, and affluent than average. Those groups are a bit more "mobile" than average. So if they hear of a "liberal" city that appeals to them they might go. They might also be more likely to spend when they get there.
There are many highly educated and wealthy conservatives, but they might choose to stay where they are due to family connections or rootedness. Or they might be more frugal. Either way those things may make it where they don't have the same effect on the cost-of-living in conservative towns.
There are many towns of "blue-collar liberals" but they might be relatively moderate to conservative on social issues. Their liberalism being more about things like unions, worker protections, wealth redistribution, social safety-net, and maybe marijuana legalization. Not so much anti-gun, animal rights, or gay rights. (Maybe not against those things, but not as into them)
Location: Philadelphia, PA (Wanting to move) --Burlington, VT, Asheville, NC, Boulder, CO?
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Burlington, VT compared to ?
I am wanting to explore these places:
Portland, OR Burlington, VT
Asheville, NC Boston, MA Cambridge, MA Northhampton, MA San Francisco, CA Berkely, CA Ann Arbor, MI Ithaca, NY Boulder, CO
and learn about how they compare to where I am living now, which is Burlington, Vermont. I actually LOVE Burlington, VT-- it is full of artists, writers, and musicians and is VERY liberal and progressive. It's also health conscious and there are many intellectual liberals here. Liberals/Libertarians.
How are the above cities similar and different to Burlington, Vermont particularly in weather comparison, cost, gay/lesbian friendly, etc?
Portland, OR Burlington, VT
Asheville, NC Boston, MA Cambridge, MA Northhampton, MA San Francisco, CA Berkely, CA Ann Arbor, MI Ithaca, NY Boulder, CO
and learn about how they compare to where I am living now, which is Burlington, Vermont. I actually LOVE Burlington, VT-- it is full of artists, writers, and musicians and is VERY liberal and progressive. It's also health conscious and there are many intellectual liberals here. Liberals/Libertarians.
How are the above cities similar and different to Burlington, Vermont particularly in weather comparison, cost, gay/lesbian friendly, etc?
Thanks!
I doubt any of those cities would fit the description of ---Rural and small town living.
It's rough being a liberal who enjoys small town / country life. I love the political and social climate of the big city, but I can't take the hectic pace all the time.
I know of only two small liberal towns....Oberlin and Yellow Springs in Ohio. However, I'd like to move from Ohio, so I'm trying to find a friendly, progressive small town.
Any suggestions?
I live in Port Townsend and it is indeed a small town and quite liberal. Though there are mucho republicans not far away in Port Ludlow they don't have much of an effect on PT. PT is a beautiful town that actually has some history: nice Victorian atmosphere, a good mix of retirees and working class people. Fairly affluent but no caste system. A nice place to live with lots of recreational ops.
How do liberals come off to some people as more "accepting"? You never hear people say "I'm moving to town, what's a real Republican area there? I want to live somewhere where I don't encounter anyone of those liberals."
But people say the same thing the other way around all the time. I just don't think of that as being accepting of other cultures/beliefs if you purposely avoid areas where some people may disagree with you ideologically. Its no different than someone saying "I want to find a town who's residents are overwhelmingly white."
Of course right-wingers (aka "conservatives") seek out non-liberal places to live. Somewhere where they wouldn't find "a lot of those liberals around". I've heard it expressed many times. My own brother moved from Seattle to Spokane, indicating among other things that he wanted to get away from all those "Communist liberals" who populate western Washington. Spokane and eastern Washington in general is very conservative.
Few conservatives who I know would be happy living in a mecca of liberal ideologies. It's not so much an issue of one-on-one interaction with people in such places on the part of anyone I think. I suspect it's mostly a matter of being either subjected to "liberally run" government vs "conservatively run" government. If you go somewhere liberal, there's a good chance you'll be governed by liberal-leaning laws. If you go somewhere conservative, the opposite is true.
Additionally, most people prefer that the "character" of a place offer the sort of amenities that appeal to them. If you like to wear (east) Indian clothes and want places to buy them, then Spokane is not the place to go. If you want cowboy-wear, this is the place to be - many shops. If you want to see Morris dancing, Spokane is not the place to go. If you want to attend school somewhere like "The Experiment in International Living" (real, see google), you won't find something like it in Spokane. And finally, if you like co-op grocery shopping for any number of reasons, until this past year you wouldn't find such a place in Spokane. By the way, our new co-op totally rocks. :-)
As far as your last sentence goes, the the question you state has nothing to do with what the posters in this thread are asking about. Your hypothetical statement is racist which is a whole different attitude from what's expressed here. The people looking for a liberal place to live are not motivated by race, they're motivated (mostly I think) by politics, a desirable cultural "aura" to a place, and the ability to satisfy their particular interests and activities in a place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nva79
How do liberals come off to some people as more "accepting"? You never hear people say "I'm moving to town, what's a real Republican area there? I want to live somewhere where I don't encounter anyone of those liberals."
But people say the same thing the other way around all the time. I just don't think of that as being accepting of other cultures/beliefs if you purposely avoid areas where some people may disagree with you ideologically. Its no different than someone saying "I want to find a town who's residents are overwhelmingly white."
How do liberals come off to some people as more "accepting"? You never hear people say "I'm moving to town, what's a real Republican area there? I want to live somewhere where I don't encounter anyone of those liberals."
But people say the same thing the other way around all the time. I just don't think of that as being accepting of other cultures/beliefs if you purposely avoid areas where some people may disagree with you ideologically. Its no different than someone saying "I want to find a town who's residents are overwhelmingly white."
You must not spend as much time on C-D as I do.
They usually use phrases such as: "conservative" and "family-friendly" or "church-going". I've read threads where the poster wanted less "diversity" and was specifically looking for home-school groups.
Luckily, the U.S. is a pretty big country.
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Burlington, VT compared to ?
