Which of the big 3 cities is the most conservative: NYC, LA or Chicago?

[Docere]

Probably not L.A., even though it would have been the most Republican/conservative by far back in the days when it was dominated by white Protestant Midwesterners.

Chicago is probably the most Democratic of the three, but it's largely machine Democrat rather than liberal Democrat.

NYC has its "liberal elite" swath of Manhattan and gentrified Brooklyn and the city is stereotypically ultra-liberal (Ted Cruz lashed out against "New York values" in the GOP primary; Newt Gingrich in the 1990s called New York an enclave of out of touch liberal/elitist values). But it probably has bigger swaths of political conservatism than Chicago does.

[Leo the Dog]

Originally Posted by Docere

Probably not L.A., even though it would have been the most Republican/conservative by far back in the days when it was dominated by white Protestant Midwesterners.

Chicago is probably the most Democratic of the three, but it's largely machine Democrat rather than liberal Democrat.

NYC has its "liberal elite" swath of Manhattan and gentrified Brooklyn and the city is stereotypically ultra-liberal (Ted Cruz lashed out against "New York values" in the GOP primary; Newt Gingrich in the 1990s called New York an enclave of out of touch liberal/elitist values). But it probably has bigger swaths of political conservatism than Chicago does.

My first thought was Chicago(land). It's an urban bubble surrounded by rural counties and states for hundreds of miles in each direction.

But then you have LA, which has the IE and OC that are definitely more conservative than Central LA.

NY is so massive that it contains large populations of everything, so maybe NY...

[chris08876]

It's either between NY and Chicago if I were to speculate. I'd say Chicago. No way for LA given the ethnic makeup.

As a % or ratio per 100,000, my money's on Chicago.

I think if we factor in the metro area, Chicago would be #1 in regards to the OP question. Even basing it on election data per county. Not to say that the NY metro doesn't have its conservative pockets, because it does. Actually, if anything, this election was an eye opener.

[Leo the Dog]

Originally Posted by chris08876

Even basing it on election data per county. Not to say that the NY metro doesn't have its conservative pockets, because it does. Actually, if anything, this election was an eye opener.

Yeah but which election? I would think that local elections would be a better indicator than presidential elections. Maybe state representatives? Mayors? City council members?

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by Leo the Dog

Yeah but which election? I would think that local elections would be a better indicator than presidential elections. Maybe state representatives? Mayors? City council members?

Presidential based on the turnout for a guestimate on the OP's question. I think if we were to look at mid terms, it might change the ranking per say.

But local as well, although I'd imagine the presidential would see higher turnout. Local can vary as it's not so much ego based. Take NJ, we elected Christie, in a democratic fortress.

[jtown,man]

Have you seen the voting map for New York vs Chicago?

NYC is more conservative without a doubt.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Leo the Dog

Yeah but which election? I would think that local elections would be a better indicator than presidential elections. Maybe state representatives? Mayors? City council members?

If local elections, NYC is almost certainly most liberal, Chicago most conservative. NYC is the only place in the U.S. where most housing is non-market, where unions dominate, pre-1990's welfare still exists, where stuff like free pre-K, free college, free public hospitals, etc. are pretty much a local consensus.

If Presidential elections, and going by party only, the reverse could be argued. NYC has the massive Hasidic populations that can go Republican, plus Soviet emigrees vote reflexively Republican, regardless of candidate, and Italian enclaves in the Northeast liked Trump (though don't usually trend so Republican).

Chicago doesn't have these demographics, and is pretty much a solid Dem town, though Dem doesn't mean liberal/progressive, of course (Rahm is almost certainly far to the right of Bloomberg, to say nothing of DeBlasio). I'm not sure a solid Dem white ethnic cop neighborhood in Chicago is more liberal than a Republican leaning equivalent in NYC; it's just a reflection of demographics and local voting cleavages.

And NYC "cop neighborhoods" generally aren't in NYC; as there are no city residency requirements. Employees like teachers, firefighters, etc. are scattered about the region, so you don't have city worker constituency neighborhoods, to the same extent.

[Crawford]

Are you talking city or metro?

Also, how are you defining conservative?

[pdxtex]

Originally Posted by Docere

Probably not L.A., even though it would have been the most Republican/conservative by far back in the days when it was dominated by white Protestant Midwesterners.

Chicago is probably the most Democratic of the three, but it's largely machine Democrat rather than liberal Democrat.

NYC has its "liberal elite" swath of Manhattan and gentrified Brooklyn and the city is stereotypically ultra-liberal (Ted Cruz lashed out against "New York values" in the GOP primary; Newt Gingrich in the 1990s called New York an enclave of out of touch liberal/elitist values). But it probably has bigger swaths of political conservatism than Chicago does.

im guessing the new york metro would be the most conservative. im glad you make the distinction between labor democrat and social democrat. that was hillary's biggest misstep in the great lakes and probably cost her the election. LA's large mexican and immigrant population might make it lean a bit more conservative on reproductive rights and family issues though.

[Docere]

Of the big three cities in Canada, Toronto, although a generally progressive city, is the most conservative.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Docere

Of the big three cities in Canada, Toronto, although a generally progressive city, is the most conservative.

Agree and surprisingly a lot of that conservatism is due to immigration. Western liberal views like gender equality, LGBTQ rights, abortion, and atheism often conflict with the views of these immigrant groups. A huge number of immigrants voted for Rob Ford, for instance.

Support for multi-culturalism/diversity is the one area where it's Montreal that's the most conservative of the 3 big cities. Some of it is due to Quebec not signing the 1982 Canadian Constitution which includes the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter fundamentally changed how Canadians viewed their country. As Quebec never signed this didn't happen in Quebec. By extension, multiculturalism is less ingrained there.

Quebecois have historically felt the french fact under threat in an anglo north America so multiculturalism/diversity is seen as another threat rather than a benefit. Quebecois are far more likely to desire that newcomers adhere to entrenched behaviour when it comes to language, religion, dress, customs, traditions, past times.

Anglo Canadians are far less likely to define their nationality by language and culture but by a shared set of Canadian values as hashed out in the Charter. I'm a child of the Charter and view it as what defines me as a Canadian rather than language, playing hockey, or being a Christian. It's a very post-modern way of defining nationality; one that is diametrically opposed to how nationality is defined in other countries.

[dc_denizen]

If we are talking metro areas, LA is the least conservative. ethnic whites are pretty darn conservative (Italians, Irish, east Europeans) and they are heavily represented in NY and Chicago.

[The North One]

They're all very liberal cities, this is like asking which latte is the least liquidy.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by The North One

They're all very liberal cities, this is like asking which latte is the least liquidy.

Sure, but it makes for more interesting discussion than which is more conservative: Seattle or Tulsa?

[JDRCRASH]

Don't know about overall, but when it comes to development policy it's not even a discussion.

EDIT: nevermind, I didn't realize this was about the actual populace.

[nei]

Trump did better in the NYC metro than the other 3 and its not close. Trump did better in the NYC suburban counties than Illinois ones. Though it was clearly a home state boost. The Nassau County Republican Party endorsed Trump early on; county executive endorsed both Trump and Cuomo.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by nei

Trump did better in the NYC metro than the other 3 and its not close. Trump did better in the NYC suburban counties than Illinois ones. Though it was clearly a home state boost.

That doesn't make any sense as 1. NY State had a significantly lower proportion of Trump voters than Illinois and 2. About half the NYC metro isn't in NY State.

Trump did (relatively) well on Long Island because of the unique demographics, not because of a home-state advantage. Long Island has tons of Orthodox Jews, South Italians and Russians. If you draw down to census tract you see he won where those groups predominate. Note that Westchester had few Trump voters; it also doesn't have nearly as many such ethnic enclaves.

If anything, Trump is least popular where he's best known (he got destroyed in Manhattan; I think worse than any urban county in the U.S.).

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Crawford

That doesn't make any sense as 1. NY State had a significantly lower proportion of Trump voters than Illinois and 2. About half the NYC metro isn't in NY State.

Trump did (relatively) well on Long Island because of the unique demographics, not because of a home-state advantage. Long Island has tons of Orthodox Jews, South Italians and Russians. If you draw down to census tract you see he won where those groups predominate. Note that Westchester had few Trump voters; it also doesn't have nearly as many such ethnic enclaves.

If anything, Trump is least popular where he's best known (he got destroyed in Manhattan; I think worse than any urban county in the U.S.).

He was/is a rockstar in Upstate New York. I was back home for my gran's funeral a few months ago and I noticed far more Trump signs (sometimes multiples in the same yard) than anywhere around here in TX. My wife, a Texan, even noted this as well. Had it not been NYC, NYS would have probably voted for Trump or been a very very close race. Like Florida close.

[Private Dick]

Originally Posted by JManc

He was/is a rockstar in Upstate New York. I was back home for my gran's funeral a few months ago and I noticed far more Trump signs (sometimes multiples in the same yard) than anywhere around here in TX. My wife, a Texan, even noted this as well. Had it not been NYC, NYS would have probably voted for Trump or been a very very close race. Like Florida close.

Much like Pennsylvania... except PA did go for the buffoon thanks to normally solid blue suburbs and the always red rural areas. Signs were everywhere, particularly noticeable once you got about 2 miles outside of any city. Blue collar (former) democrats there voted for him in large numbers.


But how about we stop talking about this asshole?

[nei]

Originally Posted by JManc

He was/is a rockstar in Upstate New York. I was back home for my gran's funeral a few months ago and I noticed far more Trump signs (sometimes multiples in the same yard) than anywhere around here in TX. My wife, a Texan, even noted this as well. Had it not been NYC, NYS would have probably voted for Trump or been a very very close race. Like Florida close.

Is it possible lawn signs aren't done that much in Texas? Where I grew up on Long Island does lawn signs less New England. I saw lots of Trump signs in rural New England even though he lost there.

Saw someone do the numbers for NY State, and with NY City removed, Trump would have lost slightly. 2012 Obama won upstate NY by about 9 points or so.