112
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by ALostInquirer@lemm.ee to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

When you read up on U.S. political basics, you can't help but come across the detail that many of the people in cities in the U.S. seem to lean left, yet what isn't as clear is why and what influences their concentration in cities/urban areas.

Cities don't exactly appear to be affordable, and left-leaning folks in the U.S. don't seem to necessarily be much wealthier than right-leaning folks, so what's contributed to this situation?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] discusseded@programming.dev 69 points 1 year ago

I'm not sure that it's simply that a city attracts left leaning people.

I grew up conservative, religious, and from the country, and had to move to the city because that's where my mom took us. My move to the left ocurred due to what the city offered: cultures. I was exposed to many other ways of thinking, to art, to music, to trends, to drugs. I came to see other types of people as just people like me, with different points of view but each deserving their own chance at the American dream. I also became atheist.

The city might attract the left, but it also creates the left.

Incidentally, I want to move to a more secluded part of the state, probably where you'd see the F**k Biden billboards. We can't all be pigeon holed so easily.

[-] Anticorp@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 year ago

Incidentally, I want to move to a more secluded part of the state, probably where you'd see the F**k Biden billboards. We can't all be pigeon holed so easily.

I'm trying to move to the sticks right now, and a high likelihood of having trumpers for neighbors is honestly one of the things that's bothering me the most.

[-] MrMobius@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 year ago

I concur, cities are cosmopolitan in their nature. Being confronted to diversity brings socialist ideas more easily than living in a secluded countryside, where everyone is the same.

Though it can bring rejection and discrimination as easily.

[-] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 year ago

Not even "Socialist ideas".

Just simply a better understanding that people are people, no matter what they look like.

[-] 2nsfw2furious@lemmynsfw.com 3 points 1 year ago

Exactly where I was going to go with it. This question comes with a lot of assumptions about causation rather than just examining the correlation of political views and population density.

It's as weird as asking the question as "why are conservatives moving to the middle of nowhere?"

[-] ALostInquirer@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Tbh I was considering flipping the question and asking, "Why aren't leftists moving to rural areas?" but that seemed a similarly mucked up form of the question.

The question wasn't aiming to be academic, so wasn't carefully formed to account for causation and examining demographic details, but regardless, it could be better. I'm simply not sure how I might better ask the sort of question I'd like to ask to get the kind of info & responses that would satisfy my curiosity concerning this area.

Despite the malformed query, some of the responses here have given some useful insights, direct or indirect as they may be.

Edit:
Also, despite several of the anecdotes about moving to the city and city life influencing them to more left-leaning views, part of what influenced this question is experience in rural areas and developing as a leftist there among other left-leaning folks.

[-] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 2 points 1 year ago

I think if you had asked " “Why aren’t leftists moving to rural areas?” " you'd get a lot of "because rural areas suck" answers. Because holy shit unless you're there specifically for nature and isolation they're inferior on every metric.

[-] FringeTheory999@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I’ve lived in both rural and urban areas. Rural areas do indeed suck. People there lead boring purposeless lives so they’re always up in your business. If you keep to yourself they’ll just make shit up. This is not a problem in the city.

this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2023
112 points (95.9% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26669 readers
2204 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics.


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS