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NEW STUDY RANKS AMERICA’S MOST LIBERAL AND CONSERVATIVE CITIES
Bay Area Center for Voting Research ^ | August 11, 2005 | Bay Area Center for Voting Research

Posted on 08/11/2005 1:13:23 PM PDT by TheMole

BERKELEY, CA – A new nationwide study released today by the nonpartisan Bay Area Center for Voting Research (BACVR) ranks the political leanings of every American city and finds that Detroit, Michigan is the most liberal and Provo, Utah the most conservative.

In all, the BACVR researchers examined voting patterns of 237 American cities with populations of over 100,000 and ranked them each on liberal and conservative scales.

The list of America’s most liberal cities is dominated by cities with large African American populations that are concentrated in the Northeast, Midwest and California. Conversely, the study found that the staunchest conservative cities are clustered in the South and interior West and have extremely low numbers of African American residents.

“Detroit and Provo epitomize America’s political, economic and racial polarization,” said Jason Alderman a BACVR director. “As the most conservative city in America, Provo is overwhelmingly white and solidly middle class. This is in stark contrast to Detroit, which is impoverished, black and the most liberal.” Gary, Indiana, a rust belt former steel town, comes in as America’s second most liberal city, followed by Berkeley, California, which ranks third. Washington, D.C. comes in as the fourth most liberal and Oakland, California comes in fifth.

On the list of the nation’s most conservative cities, Texas cements its reputation as America’s most rock-ribbed state, having three cities in the top five. Lubbock and Abilene, Texas rank as the second and third most conservative cities, respectively, followed by Hialeah, Florida in fourth place and Plano, Texas in fifth.

BACVR researchers found a direct correlation between a city’s political ideology and its racial makeup. “The great political divide in America today is not red vs. blue, north vs. south, costal vs. interior or even rich vs. poor – it is now clearly black vs. white,” said Phil Reiff, a BACVR director.

“While there are a few liberal cities without large African American populations, these wind up being the exceptions. College towns like Berkeley and Cambridge have modest black populations but remain bastions of upper middle-class, white, intellectual liberalism. These liberal white communities, however, are more reminiscent of penguins clustering together around a shrinking iceberg than of a vibrant and growing political movement,” Reiff said.

The Bay Area Center for Voting Research is a nonpartisan think tank based in Berkeley, California. A full copy of the report and the complete list of rankings for all 237 cities are available at www.votingresearch.org.

America’s 25 Most Liberal Cities
(in descending order)
1 Detroit Michigan
2 Gary Indiana
3 Berkeley California
4 Washington, D.C.
5 Oakland California
6 Inglewood California
7 Newark New Jersey
8 Cambridge Massachusetts
9 San Francisco California
10 Flint Michigan
11 Cleveland Ohio
12 Hartford Connecticut
13 Paterson New Jersey
14 Baltimore Maryland
15 New Haven Connecticut
16 Seattle Washington
17 Chicago Illinois
18 Philadelphia Pennsylvania
19 Birmingham Alabama
20 St. Louis Missouri
21 New York New York
22 Providence Rhode Island
23 Minneapolis Minnesota
24 Boston Massachusetts
25 Buffalo New York

America’s 25 Most Conservative Cities
(in descending order)
1 Provo Utah
2 Lubbock Texas
3 Abilene Texas
4 Hialeah Florida
5 Plano Texas
6 Colorado Springs Colorado
7 Gilbert Arizona
8 Bakersfield California
9 Lafayette Louisiana
10 Orange California
11 Escondido California
12 Allentown Pennsylvania
13 Mesa Arizona
14 Arlington Texas
15 Peoria Arizona
16 Cape Coral Florida
17 Garden Grove California
18 Simi Valley California
19 Corona California
20 Clearwater Florida
21 West Valley City Utah
22 Oklahoma City Oklahoma
23 Overland Park Kansas
24 Anchorage Alaska
25 Huntington Beach California


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bayarea; conservativecities; liberalcities; study; topten; zaq
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To: TheMole

Hey.... they forgot Lake Forest, Ca. (south orange county) maybe be small but solid red. Garden Grove, Ca????? They have alot of liberals in that city including my brother-in-law)


21 posted on 08/11/2005 1:20:25 PM PDT by newfrpr04
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To: TheMole

Wow, a lot of depopulating, declining Midwestern cities are on the liberal list.


22 posted on 08/11/2005 1:20:26 PM PDT by rasblue (What would Barry Goldwater do?)
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To: raccoonradio

Lubbock...yeah how about "Waylon and WILLIE and the boys..."


23 posted on 08/11/2005 1:20:34 PM PDT by Commander Salamander (Some attain greatness going through what you're going through)
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To: TheMole
This is also a guide as to the inhabitability of the varius cities. Liberal Detroit is uninhabitable and is an empty ghost town. Most of the productive people are fleeing. The city is becoming a wasteland under socialism, oops I meant liberalism.


24 posted on 08/11/2005 1:20:39 PM PDT by FormerACLUmember
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To: Rosemont

yep. Notice Newark is also in the top 10? Big Surprise...NOT.


25 posted on 08/11/2005 1:20:49 PM PDT by FeliciaCat (I like my money where I can see it...hanging in my closet.)
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To: TheMole
"Impoverished, black and mostly liberal...."

and there is NO connection, eh?

26 posted on 08/11/2005 1:20:53 PM PDT by ken5050 (Ann Coulter needs to have children ASAP to pass on her gene pool....any volunteers?)
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To: Sterm26

BTW, "Intellectual liberalism"? Isn't that an oxymoron??


27 posted on 08/11/2005 1:21:29 PM PDT by Sterm26 (Recount Pennsylvania! (And Wisconsin!))
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To: raccoonradio
How does that explain Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, who's from Lubbock?

She was probably dropped on her head several times as a baby.

28 posted on 08/11/2005 1:22:19 PM PDT by Night Hides Not (The only NOC list containing the name of Valerie Plame was stolen by Ethan Hunt.)
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To: TheMole
I read the liberal list and every other city is a crime hell-hole.

But on the conservative list, Allentown, PA? Maybe it's been a while, but I thought that was a solid part of the rust belt. Over Lancaster? I guess Lancaster, PA just wasn't large enough.

29 posted on 08/11/2005 1:22:26 PM PDT by AmishDude (Join the AmishDude fan club: "ROFLOL!" -- tuliptree76)
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To: TheMole
Peoria, Arizona!!??

Is there a Peoria in Arizona?

And, if there is, is it trule more conservative than Peoria, Illinois?

30 posted on 08/11/2005 1:22:27 PM PDT by chs68
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To: raccoonradio
How does that explain Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, who's from Lubbock?

Poor upbringing.

31 posted on 08/11/2005 1:22:40 PM PDT by randog (What the....?!)
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To: TheMole

14 Baltimore Maryland

At least we're lower in being liberal than we are in Crime. LOL! HELP!


32 posted on 08/11/2005 1:22:42 PM PDT by Commander Salamander (Some attain greatness going through what you're going through)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

The study missed Madison, WI locally known as 48 square miles surrounded by reality. May have missed it because it does not have a large minority population and that would dispute their thesis.



33 posted on 08/11/2005 1:22:51 PM PDT by bballbob
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To: al_c
Those other cities must be really bad!
34 posted on 08/11/2005 1:22:54 PM PDT by rwrcpa1 (April 15. Let's make it just another day.)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

Boulder CO would be another one missed on this list. probably santa cruz ca too.


35 posted on 08/11/2005 1:23:00 PM PDT by Huck (Whatever.)
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To: raccoonradio

Natalie Maines was anathema in Lubbock after that little incident.


36 posted on 08/11/2005 1:23:39 PM PDT by Ranald S. MacKenzie (Its the philosoophy, stupid.)
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To: Sterm26
"Intellectual liberalism"? Isn't that an oxymoron??

Probably a self-description. They like to think they are smarter than anyone else. LOL

37 posted on 08/11/2005 1:23:44 PM PDT by mollynme (cogito, ergo freepum)
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To: TheMole

South Dakota didn't make the list?


38 posted on 08/11/2005 1:24:15 PM PDT by Finalapproach29er (America is gradually becoming the Godless,out-of-control golden-calf scene,in "The Ten Commandments")
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To: TheMole
Great post:

College towns like Berkeley and Cambridge have modest black populations but remain bastions of upper middle-class, white, intellectual liberalism. These liberal white communities, however, are more reminiscent of penguins clustering together around a shrinking iceberg than of a vibrant and growing political movement,”

39 posted on 08/11/2005 1:24:56 PM PDT by GOPJ (A person who will lie for you, will lie against you.)
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To: TheMole

All Right!

I've lived in 3 of the top 6 most conservative!


40 posted on 08/11/2005 1:25:01 PM PDT by linear (Repeal the Second Law of Thermodynamics!!)
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