Heard a news item the other day relating to the most liberal and most conservative cities in the U.S.. This study was done by the Bay Area for voting research group, who studied the results of the 2004 elections in cities with populations of 100,000 or more.
The most liberal city really surprised me. It was Detroit. Seattle ranked 16th most liberal. Number 3 was Berkley, Ca.

Most conservative city was Provo, Utah. Spokane ranked #95. There is some hope for my growing burg. Boise Idaho is even further to the right at # 54.

[ August 14, 2005, 06:53 AM: Message edited by: puckman1 ]

Hmmm...I wonder if they're measuring most liberal or most likely to vote Democrat. The combination of powerful labor unions and a predominantly black population put Detroit very solidly in the Democratic column. I bet the Greens do a lot better in Berkeley, though.

Gary, Indiana came in second place! Hooray! Finally, we are second place for something other than the murder rate! Happy days in Steel City! Happier days at Miller beach!

Most of the most liberal cities have sizable Black populations. That, and the nature of the group doing the poll, lead me to wonder with JC if it's Demo votes they were really measuring.

There's a line between liberal and law-abiding, even if it's a bit blurred in Philadelphia, as this story notes. What is Philly's mayor doing about this?

So they think cops are evil? Just wait until someone is raping their mother or robbing their house. Let's see how evil the police are then. Sorry gmginsfo, I am a flaming liberal and I still believe in law and order. We can have no liberal without law and order. It reminds me of a recent ignorant stunt by some morning d.js in Florida, I believe, where they gave instructions on-the-air as to how to disarm police and overtake them if caught in a drug bust. The two idiot d.js were promptly fired.

If you read that list the methodology must be very strange.

Burlington, VT - surly one of the most liberal states and cities in the country isn't even listed.

(Viable statewide third political party; the only independent/socialist in congress; some would say extremely, socially liberal)

Other cities which are also very socially or environmentally advanced fared badly in this list.

Rob

What no linkage regarding this mysterious list? I tried Googling, and came up empty.

You must not google too well ... try practicing Remember what they say: it's not the size, its the technique.

It was the number 1 hit on my search :cool: ...

BA Voting Research

Rob

Thanks Rob. wink

I also wonder about the methodology and what's meant by the term "liberal," since it does not always equate with "Democratic Party." How is Detroit more "liberal" than Cambridge or Providence, Rhode Island, for example? Or New York City or Madison or Ann Arbor or Los Angeles? Until these folks provide some definitions of their terms or methods, I'll take this list with a grain of salt. And if a large Black population equates with liberalism (should this be contextualized more clearly?), then why aren't Atlanta, New Orleans, Kansas City, Camden, Richmond, Charleston, etc., higher on the list? I hope these people are NOT affiliated with any reputable institution of higher education....

[ August 16, 2005, 10:01 AM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

FT, they aren't, as far as I can tell from their site, which also omits the survey's questions, unless they're hidden several levels down in the links they provide there. Seeing those would go a long way towards making some sense of this study.

We're 24! We're 24! *LOL

There's some pretty bizarre results there. Dallas is more liberal than Madison, Wisconsin, but Austin is nearly as conservative as Virginia Beach and Salt Lake City?

We're #25! We're #25......

and just how did Jackson, Mississippi get counted twice at 46 and 47

Multiple personalities...

R

It's Mississippi. Haley Barbour had to take his shoes and socks off to count that high.

The same thing he's doing about everything else? Nothing.