Posted on 08/16/2005 5:52:26 AM PDT by meandog
NEW STUDY RANKS AMERICAS MOST LIBERAL AND CONSERVATIVE CITIES
Detroit tops liberal list; Provo, UT most conservative
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 Americas 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 Americas political, economic and racial polarization, said Jason Alderman, a BACVR researcher. 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 Americas 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 nations most conservative cities, Texas cements its reputation as Americas 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 citys 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.
Americas 25 Most Liberal Cities
(in descending order)
Rank City State
1 Detroit Michigan
2 Gary Indiana
3 Berkeley California
4 Washington, D.C. Dist. of Columbia
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
Americas 25 Most Conservative Cities
(in descending order)
Rank City State
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
bump
Texas Bump!
Madison, Wi didn't make liberal list. Hmmmm, Shudda been there in late 60's.
God bless Texas!
Sometimes when you add 2 and 2, you get 4. It's a miracle. Conservative ideology means working for what you get, respecting the rule of life, law and other people's property, and liberal ideology means handouts, dependency, victimhood, welfare, and no personal responsibility. There is no surprise the demographics break this way, it's how the "new" civil rights movement has indoctrinated blacks everywhere across the country as part of the Great Society.
upper middle-class, white, intellectual == liberal
poor black == liberal
Cambridge is a city ... Newton is an exclusive white suburb.
I noticed that and wonder why Norfolk, Virginia Beach etc were left out.
It's odd that NOBODY seems to print the entire list??
Almost nobody!
A new study by the Bay Area Center for Voting Research ranks the nations 237 cities with populations of more than 100,000 in two categories...most politically conservative and liberal.
America's Most Liberal Cities
1 - - Detroit, Michigan
2 - - Gary, Indiana
3 - - Berkeley, California
4 - - District of Columbia
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
26- - New Orleans, Louisiana
27- - Ann Arbor, Michigan
28- - Jersey City, New Jersey
29- - Portland, Oregon
30- - Daly City, California
31- - Atlanta, Georgia
32- - Dallas, Texas
33- - Hayward, California
34- - Madison, Wisconsin
35- - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
36- - St. Paul, Minnesota
37- - Los Angeles, California
38- - Rochester, New York
39- - Memphis, Tennessee
40- - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
41- - Vallejo, California
42- - Dayton, Ohio
43- - Bridgeport, Connecticut
44- - Springfield, Massachusetts
45- - Syracuse, New York
46- - Jackson, Mississippi
47- - Jackson, Mississippi
48- - Akron, Ohio
49- - Denver, Colorado
50- - Richmond, Virginia
51- - El Monte, California
52- - Pasadena, California
53- - Toledo, Ohio
54- - Eugene, Oregon
55- - Elizabeth, New Jersey
56- - Cincinnati, Ohio
57- - Santa Rosa, California
58- - Worcester, Massachusetts
59- - Kansas City, Missouri
60- - Kansas City, Kansas
61- - Durham, North Carolina
62- - Sunnyvale, California
63- - Alexandria, Virginia
64- - Fremont, California
65- - Tallahassee, Florida
66- - Pomona, California
67- - Lansing, Michigan
68- - Erie, Pennsylvania
69- - Savannah, Georgia
70- - Long Beach, California
71- - Sacramento, California
72- - Greensboro, North Carolina
73- - Hollywood, Florida
74- - San Jose, California
75- - Norwalk, California
76- - Lowell, Massachusetts
77- - Aurora, Colorado
78- - Columbus, Ohio
79- - Concord, California
80- - Norfolk, Virginia
81- - Salinas, California
82- - Columbia, South Carolina
83- - South Bend, Indiana
84- - North Las Vegas, Nevada
85- - Oxnard, California
86- - Fort Lauderdale, Florida
87- - Portsmouth, Virginia
88- - Raleigh, North Carolina
89- - Pembroke Pines, Florida
90- - Burbank, California
91- - Glendale, California
92- - Stamford, Connecticut
93- - Austin, Texas
94- - Virginia Beach, Virginia
95- - Salt Lake City, Utah
96- - Tacoma, Washington
97- - Des Moines, Iowa
98- - Athens, Georgia
99- - Bellevue, Washington
100 - Hampton, Virginia
101 - Brownsville, Texas
102 - Little Rock, Arkansas
103 - West Covina, California
104 - Orlando, Florida
105 - St Petersburg, Florida
106 - Downey, California
107 - Fontana, California
108 - Tampa, Florida
109 - San Bernadino, California
110 - Augusta, Georgia
111 - Beaumont, Texas
112 - Stockton, California
113 - Aurora, Illinois
114 - Warren, Michigan
115 - Laredo, Texas
116 - El Paso, Texas
117 - Grand Rapids, Michigan
118 - Coral Springs, Florida
119 - San Diego, California
120 - Miami, Florida
121 - Nashville-Davidson, Tennessee
122 - Santa Ana, California
123 - Joliet, Illinois
124 - Rockford, Illinois
125 - Charlotte, North Carolina
126 - Tempe, Arizona
127 - Yonkers, New York
128 - Fayetteville, North Carolina
129 - Cedar Rapids, Iowa
130 - Reno, Nevada
131 - Fort Collins, Colorado
132 - Pueblo, Colorado
133 - Las Vegas, Nevada
134 - San Buenaventura, California
135 - Moreno Valley, California
136 - Tucson, Arizona
137 - Ontario, California
138 - Huntsville, Alabama
139 - Newport News, Virginia
140 - Salem, Oregon
141 - Peoria, Illinois
142 - Knoxville, Tennessee
143 - Spokane, Washington
144 - Winston-Salem, North Carolina
145 - Albuquerque, New Mexico
146 - Honolulu, Hawaii
147 - Columbus, Georgia
148 - Grand Prairie, Texas
149 - Chattanooga, Tennessee
150 - Green Bay, Wisconsin
151 - Louisville, Kentucky
152 - Waterbury, Connecticut
153 - Lakewood, Colorado
154 - Montgomery, Alabama
155 - Indianapolis, Indiana
156 - Shreveport, Louisiana
157 - Independence, Missouri
158 - Westminster, Colorado
159 - Manchester, New Hampshire
160 - Chula Vista, California
161 - Palmdale, California
162 - Sterling Heights, Michigan
163 - Fort Worth, Texas
164 - Topeka, Kansas
165 - Vancouver, Washington
166 - Fresno, California
167 - Mobile, Alabama
168 - Riverside, California
169 - Irvine, California
170 - Lexington-Fayette, Kentucky
171 - Torrance, California
172 - Phoenix, Arizona
173 - McAllen, Texas
174 - Arvada, Colorado
175 - San Antonio, Texas
176 - Henderson, Nevada
177 - Houston, Texas
178 - Springfield, Illinois
179 - Evansville, Indiana
180 - Livonia, Michigan
181 - Baton Rouge, Louisiana
182 - Irving, Texas
183 - Omaha, Nebraska
184 - Boise City, Idaho
185 - Thousand Oaks, California
186 - Mesquite, Texas
187 - Lincoln, Nebraska
188 - Sioux Falls, South Dakota
189 - Modesto, California
190 - Costa Mesa, California
191 - Oceanside, California
192 - Naperville, Illinois
193 - Fort Wayne, Indiana
194 - Springfield, Missouri
195 - Chesapeake, Virginia
196 - Pasadena, Texas
197 - Waco, Texas
198 - Jacksonville, Florida
199 - Chandler, Arizona
200 - Anaheim, California
201 - Clarksville, Tennessee
202 - Carrollton, Texas
203 - Corpus Christi, Texas
204 - Scottsdale, Arizona
205 - Fullerton, California
206 - Santa Clarita, California
207 - Glendale, Arizona
208 - Wichita, Kansas
209 - Garland, Texas
210 - Rancho Cucamonga, California
211 - Tulsa, Oklahoma
212 - Lancaster, California
213 - Huntington Beach, California
214 - Overland Park, Kansas
215 - Anchorage, Alaska
216 - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
217 - Clearwater, Florida
218 - Corona, California
219 - Simi Valley, California
220 - West Valley City, Utah
221 - Garden Grove, California
222 - Cape Coral, Florida
223 - Arlington, Texas
224 - Allentown, Pennsylvania
225 - Peoria, Arizona
226 - Escondido, California
227 - Mesa, Arizona
228 - Orange, California
229 - Lafayette, Louisiana
230 - Bakersfield, California
231 - Colorado Springs, Colorado
232 - Gilbert, Arizona
233 - Plano, Texas
234 - Hialeah, Florida
235 - Abilene, Texas
236 - Lubbock, Texas
237 - Provo, Utah
Having been born and raised in Gary, this is no surprise to me...
Nope -- always been that way (at least as far back as I can remember...)
So if you can believe this study, it defines Middle America--whatever's not on either list.
It's not that NYC is so low, but that the other cities are so high...on the surface, I would have expected Atlanta to show higher than the #31 it got.
Don't know about Huntington Beach, but Garden Grove is heavily populated with the descendents of Viet refugees. Lots of RVN flags in shop windows. No suprise its conservative.
"These liberal white communities, however, are more reminiscent of penguins clustering together around a shrinking iceberg than of a vibrant and growing political movement."
The mental picture this creates is great. Think I'm going to refer to white liberals as "penguins" from now on.
I am #2 on most conservative cities to live... YEAH. Maybe future home of the President George W. Bush Library.
I wonder what the criteria was for this. Certainly, ifi they define liberal as democrat, it would be that way but if they are talking about gay issues, abortion and stuff, I would think blacks would be very conservative.
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