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Originally Posted by Shawn
These are all really important points.
Another factor I have been mulling over: just how big can cities in the 21st century actually get in red states with anti-urban, anti-transit, small-gov, low-tax majorities in state Congresses? I’m seriously asking.
Or let’s flip this and say that were Dallas and Houston to actually pass Chicago in metro sizes and were Austin’s to reach 4-5 million, Texas would be California / New York blue.
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The problem I see is people try to equate voting Democrat as you are for transit, for urban projects, etc. Meanwhile if you vote red, then you're somehow against those things. It's not mutually exclusive. Texas cities has seen an increase in favorability for transit and urban development and it's been this way for going on 20 years now. Even the most red major Texas city, Fort Worth, has seen those increases and now has a rail line to DFW Airport and new development around its downtown.
One thing I appreciated about Texas that I didn't realize when I left for California was there is definitely a more diversity of ideas and opinions. It's not an echo chamber like California is. The housing issue in CA is way worse and it's because those same people "voting blue" tend to vote against any dense housing development because of some mundane reason like views or shadows. Like the only problem the "red state leaders" have had with Austin's growth so far has been the huge increase in homeless but that was entirely due to a city law the mayor passed.