Dallas More Liberal Than Austin?

[The Great Hizzy!]

Dallas Hippies Vs Austin Hippies

Obviously, context is important, but a funny article nevetheless.

[kjb434]

i think this is because Austin sits in the center of a large county with lots of suburbs that tend to be conservative. Dallas county really doesn't have much suburbs. It is smaller and focuses primarily on the city itself. This is where analyzing data could be used to produce results you may not expect.

Anyway, it's more fodder for city vs city.

[RedScare]

I wonder why the Chronicle didn't feel compelled to tell where Houston ranked? We were 177th most liberal, or 62nd most conservative.

http://www.votingresearch.org/

Funny thing is, Dallas is 32nd most liberal, but 4 Dallas suburbs were ranked in the top 34 most conservative, 6 in the top 56.

[kjb434]

Imagine if Dallas County was a larger county in land area? Dallas would have been rank lower on the liberal scale and higher on the conservative.

[kirbyaustex]

Who'd a thunk it. Were black people the only basis for this lib/con scale?

[westguy]

Its pretty much the pattern across the country where cities vote one way and their suburbs vote another. Wealthy inner neighborhoods are usually pockets of conservatism, with exceptions. In Houston, the Memorial areas support Republicans, West University and Bellaire support Democrats, and River Oaks residents hedge their bets by supporting both.

[Heights2Bastrop]

Now you have me wondering. If Robert Tilton was still in Dallas, would that make them more Liberal or more Conservative? Or would it just make them more ashamed?

[YakuzaIce]

Who'd a thunk it.  Were black people the only basis for this lib/con scale?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Seems like it if you look at the percentage black of the top ten lib/conserv cities. But I think it is mostly just 2004 votes. But an example is Detroit, very black, votes democrat, but for social issues they would probably lean towards conservative viewpoints. On some issues.

[tamtagon]

If Robert Tilton was still in Dallas, would that make them more Liberal or more Conservative?

Sa'ba atee, da'nanda ba a soya.

[Guest nefarious]

Seems like it if you look at the percentage black of the top ten lib/conserv cities. But I think it is mostly just 2004 votes. But an example is Detroit, very black, votes democrat, but for social issues they would probably lean towards conservative viewpoints. On some issues.

Only blacks on welfare are liberal. The ones that are not vote Republican.

[RedScare]

Only blacks on welfare are liberal. The ones that are not vote Republican.

I have read a lot of comical posts on this board, but this one may top them all. Blacks not only vote 85 to 95 % Democrat, a recent NBC poll showed president Bush's approval rating among Blacks at 2 percent!

There are a lot of reasons Black voters do not trust Republican politicians, and it involves a lot more than income.

[Talbot]

I am surprised at how many California cities are conservative. I thought Cali was one of the most liberal states, though they did vote for Schwarzneggar.

[HarryMoto]

I am surprised at how many California cities are conservative. I thought Cali was one of the most liberal states, though they did vote for Schwarzneggar.

Outside of the Bay Area and much of metro L.A., California is pretty conservative. It's just that the large populations of L.A. and the Bay Area tend to dominate. But remember this is the state of Ronald Reagan, Pete Wilson, and very conservative congressmen like Dana Rohrabacher and Robert Dornan.

Orange County (including the cities of Garden Grove and Orange, which were on the most conservative list), Kern County (Bakersfield), San Diego County, Santa Barbara County, etc. all tend to veer Republican. Even parts of the wider metro L.A. area (Simi Valley, Pasadena, San Fernando Valley, Antelope Valley, the Inland Empire of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties) either lean Republican or have a large Republican minority. It's only in the Bay Area where Republicans are as hard to find as ice in the Sahara.

Having lived in both LA and Dallas, I'd guess California conservatives (like those in the mountain and far west in general) may be slightly more libertarian and less evangelical than their Texas counterparts -- offering more support for, say, medical marijuana and gay marriage, which would explain Schwarzenegger's success.

[houstonfella]

And, oh yeah, Shreveport, Louisiana is way more liberal than Houston. Jeez, who comes up with these lists?

[WTx]

I think one measure that Austin is more liberal was the recent prop 2 vote. If I am not mistaken Dallas County was 35% for while Travis County was 60% for. In fact were their any other Texas counties that voted for this other than Travis?? Am I wrong for citing this as a liberal viewpoint??

[HarryMoto]

I think you mean against, right? Austin voted 65% or so against Prop. 2 which amended the state constitution to define marriage.

[WesternGulf]

I think one measure that Austin is more liberal was the recent prop 2 vote. If I am not mistaken Dallas County was 35% for while Travis County was 60% for. In fact were their any other Texas counties that voted for this other than Travis?? Am I wrong for citing this as a liberal viewpoint??

I think the county that Texas State University sits in was the closest to Austin's votes in the state.

[TxDave]

Austin remains to be the most liberal area of Texas. But as time passes, Dallas (city/county) will get a chance to catch up and Houston will lag longer than it should.

Here's why:

Austin is the undisputed “liberal” core of Texas. However, as Austin grows and sprawls towards its suburbs (as Houston and Dallas have already done); Austin’s liberal culture will continue to be diluted. Only the core of Austin will remain the liberal center of Texas – other areas within the farther reaches of Austin City Limits/Travis County (e.g. Williamson County), will continue to be more conservative.

Meanwhile Houston and Dallas, with their own epic sprawl, are developing core urban centers which will tend to be more open minded and “liberal”.

People with more conservative viewpoints are spreading to the suburbs in both cities (Houston/Dallas). But given the City of Houston’s large land area and ability to annex, many of those “suburbs” are still within the city limits. Therefore, the conservative viewpoint is not yet really getting outside of Houston.

Meanwhile, in Dallas, many of the more conservative viewpoints have moved on to separate cites (suburbs); and often to another county (e.g. Collin, Denton) leaving the city of Dallas “proper” to be more liberal.

Dallas remains unique in Texas in that it is land-locked and cannot grow any more geographically through annexation. That constraint will lead to the continued refinement and development of Dallas’ core and will eventually make it the most sophisticated city in Texas

Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and Fort Worth will continue to grow through annexation; continually diluting the “urban culture” and character of those cities through suburban growth. Meanwhile Dallas will be able to continue to focus primarily on its urban core development and growth. From an Urban / potentially ”liberal” standpoint, this gives Dallas a real edge over the rest of the state.

Dallas will be the most progressive

[WTx]

I think you mean against, right? Austin voted 65% or so against Prop. 2 which amended the state constitution to define marriage.

Travis County(Austin) was one, if not the only, county to vote to allow gay marriage. I can't remember if for or against meant which or what.

http://204.65.107.70/enrnovgen05.htm

[tamtagon]

Meanwhile Houston and Dallas, with their own epic sprawl, are developing core urban centers which will tend to be more open minded and “liberal”.

Dallas remains unique in Texas in that it is land-locked and cannot grow any more geographically through annexation.

Dallas will be the most progressive

I agree that Dallas and central Houston will develop into liberal strongholds over time. City dwellers are always more open minded. Austin will always have the most potent collection of Texas liberals. I'm really hoping Texas will lead the country and give political stability to a viable alternative to traditional Democratic and Republican parties.

Dallas is landlocked to the North and West, but not to the East and South. South Dallas County will see Texas-sized population and industrial growth in the near future, and the city of Dallas will probably annex.

[RedScare]

Dallas is landlocked to the North and West, but not to the East and South. South Dallas County will see Texas-sized population and industrial growth in the near future, and the city of Dallas will probably annex.

Dallas is surrounded on its Southern, Western, Northern and Eastern borders. The only spot where Dallas is not hemmed in is the Trinity River Flood Plain in far Southeastern Dallas County. Even here, Seagoville has annexed to the Trinity River bank on the east, and Red Oak has annexed on the west up to the river bottoms. I suspect the ETJ of the two towns meet or overlap, preventing Dallas from annexing further.

Even if Dallas could annex through the Trinity flood plain to get past Seagoville, there is no financial incentive for Dallas to do so. It is mostly floodplain, no development is occurring in the area, and services to the area would be very expensive, compared to the tax revenue return.

A look at the Dallas city limit maps on the city website shows that the city is not interested in annexation. There has been almost no annexation in the city since the 1980s. Even if the agile port was located in far southeast Dallas County, it is not likely that the city would annex out to there, and even less likely that an industrial site would spur massive residential development next to it. Quite the opposite.