“I have to wonder what it is about urban areas that turns people into liberals.”
I’ve thought about that, too, and I don’t think it so much turns them into liberals as it attracts all the liberals.
How? Plenty of welfare. Many soup kitchens and the like. Major colleges and universities. Union activism. Large tracts of public housing. Illegal drug availability. “night life.” Sanctuary city policy.
Not found in nearly the quantity in suburban/rural areas?
And so, the rural and suburban life attracts the conservatives who find those things anywhere from annoying to disgusting...