Red State, Blue City: How the Urban-Rural Divide Is Splitting America

[RKP5637]

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/red-state-blue-city-how-the-urban-rural-divide-is-splitting-america/265686/

(Posted for queentonic " ... if someone who does (have enough posts) and would like to make this a separate thread, please do. I feel this information is very important to understanding what is going on in this country. Thanks.)

NOTE: There is a pictorial in this article that if you've not see it, you might find it very interesting.

Partisan lines that once fell along regional borders can increasingly be found at the county level. What does that mean for the future of the United States?

Starting before the Civil War era, America's political dividing lines were drawn along state and regional borders. Cities and the then-extensive rural areas shared a worldview North and South of the Mason-Dixon line. While there was always tension within states, they were bound by a common politics. The city of Charleston, for example, was as rabidly anti-North as some inland plantation areas. Economic engines, ways of life, and moral philosophies changed at the 36th parallel, where the North began.

Today, that divide has vanished. The new political divide is a stark division between cities and what remains of the countryside. Not just some cities and some rural areas, either -- virtually every major city (100,000-plus population) in the United States of America has a different outlook from the less populous areas that are closest to it. The difference is no longer about where people live, it's about how people live: in spread-out, open, low-density privacy -- or amid rough-and-tumble, in-your-face population density and diverse communities that enforce a lower-common denominator of tolerance among inhabitants.

The gap is so stark that some of America's bluest cities are located in its reddest states. Every one of Texas' major cities -- Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio -- voted Democratic in 2012, the second consecutive presidential election in which they've done so. Other red-state cities that tipped blue include Atlanta, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Birmingham, Tucson, Little Rock, and Charleston, S.C. -- ironically, the site of the first battle of the Civil War. In states like Nevada, the only blue districts are often also the only cities, like Reno and Las Vegas.

[jsr]

1. Great article.

[dballance]

2. I live in reliably blue Oregon but it's true here too

The counties where Romney beat Obama are mostly outside of the Portland Metro Area and Salem. They tend to be the more rural counties to the South and East of Portland.

[RKP5637]

3. When I was young, rural tended to be fun and interesting places to visit. At one time I wanted to

live in a rural area, but now I avoid it ... too many have become teabaggerish and not those I want to be around. I just found this to be true again during some cross-country driving. Some places were scary.

[dballance]

4. I Grew up in Rural TN

You're right, there were lots of interesting things to do and see outside the city. However I can assure your the majority of people where I grew up would not have voted for a black man for President. To many of them it was bad enough white women were getting into politics. The county in which I grew up went 70% for Romney and 28% for Obama. I'm not sure how all those Southern Baptists mentally dealt with having to vote for a Mormon. There were also judges who would throw female lawyers out of their court if they weren't wearing a dress.

You're also right that lots of them have now become very polarized because of Limbaugh, FAUX news and the Tea Party. In lots of the places there is still a strong undercurrent of racism and misogyny. They usually tend to hide it better than did in the last election but they just seemed to come unglued.

[AndyTiedye]

5. You Need to Find the Places That Were Settled by Hippies Going "Back to the Land"

[RKP5637]

8. K&R !!!

[AndyTiedye]

6. The Article Puts the Cart Before the Horse

The voting data suggest that people don't make cities liberal -- cities make people liberal.

More likely that liberals are better able to tolerate city living, and…

some of America's bluest cities are located in its reddest states.

…may find the rural environment in those states to be overly hostile.

[RKP5637]

7. Very astute, particularly your last sentence!

[bluestate10]

9. The same dynamic exists in some reliably Blue states. That is why in states like

Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, republicans are working to grab power and neutralize the political power of cities, they have had some success on the Congressional level, but are now working to figure out ways to make their tactics work during statewide elections, like the one for President.

[RKP5637]

10. The republicans are such a consistently evil force in this country anymore. They are

interested in mostly tearing the country apart. In my lifetime I've never seen such consistently evil and unAmerican behavior displayed by the GOP.

[bluestate10]

13. More reason why we must prevent them from having ultimate success.

The thing with 2008 voters not voting in 2010 is the type of stuff that plays into republican hands. Republicans took control of legislatures in key states and have done nothing but evil mischief since. Any one that don't vote in 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 because they don't think democrats are getting enough done are fools, democrats don't get more done because they are hindered by republicans that get elected when people don't vote.

[Agony]

11. An education makes people liberal.

"The voting data suggest that people don't make cities liberal -- cities make people liberal."

[RKP5637]

12. I think education is a very key factor, although, there are some highly educated individuals that

are extremely conservative. However, I certainly agree, the proper education makes people more liberal.

[FarCenter]

14. County level maps obscure the divisions between municipalities surrounding cities.

For example, although the counties adjacent to Detroit went blue, they contain quite a few red municipalities.

About 25% of population is rural/small town, 25% is city, and 50% is suburban.