How did Seattle become so liberal? (Everett, Olympia: transplants, how much, homes)

[xboxmas]

How long has it been liberal? Was it like this 50 or 60 years ago? What caused it to be liberal- The Scandinavian immigrants or the California transplants, or both?

Just curious to see the history of the politics of the city.

[homesinseattle]

Scandinavians in general are pretty societally conscious or what you might call "liberal". Many of them were instrumental In the early days of Seattle. Couple that with a lot of open minded people who came west, strong labor movement roots and perhaps the power of churches (or at least the kind of churches you might associate with more conservative parts of the country) not being as strong here.

Environmental stewardship (generally associated with those evil libs is pretty widespread here, hard to look around and not be connected to protecting what is beautiful. Seattle to me for years has had a strong connection with Asia, waves of immigrants from Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia. Those people have undeniably affected the ethos here, leading to yoga, meditation, reflective qualities that are often warning signs of a gestating liberal.

Health foods have been huge for years, as well as the organic growers to support the movement. Californians? Not really, Seattle was already liberal and they (as well as those from all over the country attracted to what was here) just bolstered the numbers.

I'll let others chime in, those are a few things that come to mind.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

Scandinavians in general are pretty societally conscious or what you might call "liberal". Many of them were instrumental In the early days of Seattle. Couple that with a lot of open minded people who came west, strong labor movement roots and perhaps the power of churches (or at least the kind of churches you might associate with more conservative parts of the country) not being as strong here.

Environmental stewardship (generally associated with those evil libs is pretty widespread here, hard to look around and not be connected to protecting what is beautiful. Seattle to me for years has had a strong connection with Asia, waves of immigrants from Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia. Those people have undeniably affected the ethos here, leading to yoga, meditation, reflective qualities that are often warning signs of a gestating liberal.

Health foods have been huge for years, as well as the organic growers to support the movement. Californians? Not really, Seattle was already liberal and they (as well as those from all over the country attracted to what was here) just bolstered the numbers.

I'll let others chime in, those are a few things that come to mind.

I think you articulated it well. Seattle's liberal nature is one of it's many great qualities. I definitely think the incredible beauty draws environmentalists. Environmentalists tend to be liberal and we have an ecosystem that needs to be fiercely protected. REI and Eddie Bauer are headquartered here. You add a liberal tech industry that drives creativity and diversity along with its very capitalist nature and you have Seattle.

Washington voted for gay marriage in no small part because of the Seattle metro and a lot of, but not all, that funding came from tech companies.

Everyone thought Republican Rob McKenna was going to be a moderate AG that wanted to run for governor. The Tea Party pops up and he's suddenly making Tea Party speeches in Olympia, opposes gay marriage and joins the lawsuit against Obamacare. That was it and I would be surprised if another Republican is trusted after that.

[Gardyloo]

Originally Posted by xboxmas

How long has it been liberal? Was it like this 50 or 60 years ago? What caused it to be liberal- The Scandinavian immigrants or the California transplants, or both?

Just curious to see the history of the politics of the city.

Do your homework: The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History - HistoryLink.org

[thatguy950]

Lack of sun=lack of vitamin D which in turn makes males especially prone to low testosterone.

[IheartWA]

Seattle has always been known for left leaning politics.
Seattle General Strike

[CrazyDonkey]

It depends. A mob riot expelled the Chinese from Seattle in 1886. Was that "liberal"? Seattle was a union town, even pulling off the first General Strike in a major U.S. city in 1919. On the other hand, Seattle's unions were segregated well into the 1960s. There were regular raids of gay clubs in Pioneer Square in order to nab men dancing (or worse) with men, proudly publicized in the newspapers (your police at work).

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, "liberal" Seattle consisted of a dozen or so bars, mostly on Capitol Hill and in the U District, with a smattering in Fremont, Downtown (Pig Alley, for instance), and Pioneer Square, or where gay bars/clubs might be found (Shelley's Leg in Pioneer Square, for instance). A "liberal" bar, by the way, was one in which whites and blacks (and often gays) openly congregated and socialized (the Gaslight, Elite, De Luxe, Comet, Broadway, Eastlake Zoo, Blue Moon, Century, the original Red Robin, etc.). The majority of other bars were segregated ("black" bars included the Belmont and Smokey Joe's, for instance; while bars openly hostile to blacks or longhairs included the 507, later the Hopvine Pub, and the Blackhawk, both on 15th Avenue E). Ballard might as well have been in Siberia, West Seattle on the Moon.

[GatsbyGatz]

Seattle city proper is liberal and cosmopolitan. Once you're outside of city limits, that character totally disappears and Seattle's suburbs as well as the outer region feels very rural. The greater Seattle region is very conservative and more Midwestern in values and culture. Lots of gun-slingin', Jesus-lovin', and drink-lovin' folks. (In a more sinister note, the rural parts of the Seattle region suffers from quite a big drug abuse problem, particularly with heroine and meth).

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by GatsbyGatz

Seattle city proper is liberal and cosmopolitan. Once you're outside of city limits, that character totally disappears and Seattle's suburbs as well as the outer region feels very rural. The greater Seattle region is very conservative and more Midwestern in values and culture. Lots of gun-slingin', Jesus-lovin', and drink-lovin' folks. (In a more sinister note, the rural parts of the Seattle region suffers from quite a big drug abuse problem, particularly with heroine and meth).

I live in Woodinville which might be considered semi-rural but I see no conservatism, quite the opposite. I do think there are areas though, like Marysville, North Everett, places like that that are more conservative but they are hardly considered Seattle and are not particularly desirable to most. Here is a proportional map of the 2012 election to give a better perspective of how much the blue vote dominates in Washington.

Election maps

[Ruth4Truth]

I've been told that Seattle was conservative until sometime after the Vietnam War, the counter-culture movement, and other political and cultural changes affected local politics, in a similar way that Berkeley, CA, was once conservative but changed radically after the 60's and 70's. Though Seattle's transformation wasn't as extreme. Environmental stewardship used to be a conservative vocation; it was about environmental conservation. Redlining and neighborhood racial covenants corralled African Americans in the Central District well into the 60's.

http://www.seattlemag.com/article/se...-neighborhoods