4 ms·

I honestly think migration out of cities will not make areas more blue, but will generally increase the conservative population in the US. It's possible I have

I honestly think migration out of cities will not make areas more blue, but will generally increase the conservative population in the US. It's possible I have my causal arrow wrong, but at least in my youth, living in a city had a big impact on me because I was suddenly living and working with a much more diverse group of people. Cities have long been hubs of exchanging ideas and culture. Many people who are moving back, at least in my anecdotal experience, are moving back closer to where they grew up. This might initial shift some of these areas a bit blue, but after 4, then 8 years people will return to a sense of regionalism, forget a bit how it feels to be in a hub filled with different experience and different view points. Of course it is still possible that I'm completely wrong (I hope I am) and we'll see this shift out of cities get more people with conflicting political viewpoints in the same room which might help reduce some extremism. Or it could be both. The center continues right but we pull back some of the more extreme right wing views out there.

papito 6y ago
Your gut is not wrong. Population density is directly proportional to more progressive political views, and the other way around. It's that simple.
- tharne 6y ago
  evidence?
  - papito 6y ago
    Literally any by-county electoral map in any presidential election this century. Texas is red, but all the bigger cities are blue. Always. There IS one exception - military towns, but even that has been upended this cycle. The explanation is reasonably simple. If a population is spread out, you mind your own business and you are generally opposed to the Law Man telling you what to do. A dense area changes the dynamics. You have to be more considerate - to keep the peace, there are more laws, regulation, and norms because naturally some people try to break the peace and disturb the herd, and in an urban setting that has an amplified effect. This is a very natural trend in any society.
heavyset_go 6y ago
I know plenty of New Yorker "expats" who moved to suburbs or rural areas, and they've kept their political views. Many of them left their initial suburban/rural homesteads because of their neighbors' politics, and not wanting to raise their kids around racists, to more left-leaning suburbs and small towns. I lived in an area that I used to say was where people who are too conservative for the city, but still want access to it, moved, and they kept their politics, too, so it works both ways.
- tharne 6y ago
  > because of their neighbors' politics, and not wanting to raise their kids around racists You may want to consider that not everyone who disagrees with you politically is a racist.
  - whimsicalism 6y ago
    > You may want to consider that not everyone who disagrees with you politically is a racist. I don't think they said that. Since I'm white and have witnessed racist shit growing up (and honestly, I'm a pretty unobservant guy), I'm guessing it does happen and it also happens more in rural areas and the South.
  - heavyset_go 6y ago
    I never suggested that. I do, however, have family that chose to move from the city to different rural areas, and as dark-skinned Italians, they were at the receiving end of racism from their neighbors who didn't like living next to people with dark complexions. They didn't want their kids to grow up in such an environment, and I don't blame them.
sukilot 6y ago
> I honestly think migration out of cities will not make areas more blue, but will generally increase the conservative population in the US. It's most likely that both will happen, thanks to Simpsons paradox: The area with immigration shifts toward the newcomers (since they aren't going to be MORE provincial than the natives, even if they partly convert), while also shifting the political power from the urban emigration are to the immigration area.

papito 6y ago

Your gut is not wrong. Population density is directly proportional to more progressive political views, and the other way around. It's that simple.

tharne 6y ago
evidence?
- papito 6y ago
  Literally any by-county electoral map in any presidential election this century. Texas is red, but all the bigger cities are blue. Always. There IS one exception - military towns, but even that has been upended this cycle. The explanation is reasonably simple. If a population is spread out, you mind your own business and you are generally opposed to the Law Man telling you what to do. A dense area changes the dynamics. You have to be more considerate - to keep the peace, there are more laws, regulation, and norms because naturally some people try to break the peace and disturb the herd, and in an urban setting that has an amplified effect. This is a very natural trend in any society.

heavyset_go 6y ago

I know plenty of New Yorker "expats" who moved to suburbs or rural areas, and they've kept their political views. Many of them left their initial suburban/rural homesteads because of their neighbors' politics, and not wanting to raise their kids around racists, to more left-leaning suburbs and small towns. I lived in an area that I used to say was where people who are too conservative for the city, but still want access to it, moved, and they kept their politics, too, so it works both ways.

tharne 6y ago
> because of their neighbors' politics, and not wanting to raise their kids around racists You may want to consider that not everyone who disagrees with you politically is a racist.
- whimsicalism 6y ago
  > You may want to consider that not everyone who disagrees with you politically is a racist. I don't think they said that. Since I'm white and have witnessed racist shit growing up (and honestly, I'm a pretty unobservant guy), I'm guessing it does happen and it also happens more in rural areas and the South.
- heavyset_go 6y ago
  I never suggested that. I do, however, have family that chose to move from the city to different rural areas, and as dark-skinned Italians, they were at the receiving end of racism from their neighbors who didn't like living next to people with dark complexions. They didn't want their kids to grow up in such an environment, and I don't blame them.

sukilot 6y ago

> I honestly think migration out of cities will not make areas more blue, but will generally increase the conservative population in the US. It's most likely that both will happen, thanks to Simpsons paradox: The area with immigration shifts toward the newcomers (since they aren't going to be MORE provincial than the natives, even if they partly convert), while also shifting the political power from the urban emigration are to the immigration area.