Why is it that most...?

Question

people in big cities are very Liberal and most people in small towns are very Conservative?

Not saying that all are this way, but I am originally from a small town and since I have been married we've been living in the city. I have noticed that a lot of houses in big cities have "Obama 08" signs up and g*y pride flag hanging, but small farm-oriented towns have more "McCain 08" signs and you never see a g*y pride flag up. Why do you think this is?

Answer 1

i think maybe people with conservative values tend to place  importance on a sense of community and the perceived safety of small towns.  whereas people who are more liberal just want to get away from conservatives ;)

Answer 2

Good question. I think that liberals like being "where the action is" as it makes them feel important. Wouldn't want to miss out on the Ween concert or the night clubs or the opportunity for random sexual encounters. Conservatives prefer the simple life. Family, church, quietness, clean air.

Answer 3

I've noticed that, too, and I honestly have no idea why. Maybe I'll do a piece on this trend for my show.

Answer 4

People in small towns have more personal judgment from their neighbors.

Answer 5

Country Folks are more private, plus when you know most of the people in your town 9 times out of 10 you really don't want everyone knowing your business. In a large city its easier to remain anonymous even if you voice your opinion there are more people that agree with your views and ideas than in smaller towns.  Besides smaller town people tend to be more judgmental and have a stick together attitude.

Answer 6

There's a greater variety of people in large cities and you have to adjust to change more quickly.  People who are different, or more libersl in their views get out of small town, USA, because the atmosphere is pretty stifling unless you "fit the mold."  

In larger cities there's more theater, and larger newpapers, and you are more in touch with the world.  In a small town, you can pretend like it's 50 years ago, and no one will care.  There are more old people in small towns, because there aren't that many jobs, and the younger people leave to get jobs.  

In general younger people are more liberal - fiscally.  "I want my share of what life has to offer and I will take it from wherever I choose," is the thought pattern.  Older people are usually conservative, because they have retired and they are on a fixed income and they believe any change is bad.  They want things to stay the same as they were when the people were younger.  Older people think, "I worked hard all my life and nobody's going to take away my money, or I won't have enough for the lifestyle I want to live."  They have accumulated goods, and don't want taxes to take anything away.  Younger people are usually just starting out and are not rich, and they want the rich to get taxed at a higher rate than the poor, because it distributes the wealth, and gives them a chance to start to accumulate wealth.  So younger people are usually more liberal and adapt more easily to change.  In fact, they usually want things to change.

Answer 7

I think people in big cities are exposed to more so the feel more comfortable with liberal ideas than those of smaller towns.  I also think those in smaller towns have stayed in smaller towns because they prefer conservative ideas, which (as you said) remain in smaller towns.

Add:

My husband and I literally grew up 10 miles away from one another and even went to the same high school (though we did not know one another then).  He grew up on in a farming area and I grew up in a large town/small city (about 60,000).  If you talk to us we will probably give off the stereotypical vibes, but when it actually gets down to the issues were are very much a like.

Answer 8

Growing up I lived in both the sticks and the middle of a big city...

In the city on the street I lived on I was probably one of the few people who's family owned the house they lived in. I was surrounded by single welfare moms and their mobs of babies whom they never looked after.

These types of people tend to be liberal.

Answer 9

This phenomenon is usually referred to as cultural lag. Because people in large cities tend to be exposed to a greater variety of people and to more cultural, racial/ethnic and economic diversity they tend to develop a more inclusive and therefore liberal way of thinking.

Not to discredit them, but people from rural regions or smaller settlements/towns tend to be more homogeneous. As such, their views are infrequently challenged by those who are different from them and because they are exposed to a smaller degree of diversity they tend to have a lower tolerance for differences and develop more conservative points of view.

Smaller towns, particularly those who have more agricultural-oriented economies tend to be more traditional and embrace more traditional values and therefore tend to be less educated about and less exposed to liberal values. As a result they are much less likely to adhere to them.

Also, if you look at demographics, city dwellers tend to be younger as well. Since younger people tend to be more liberal, and older folk tend to retain more conservative values, the distribution makes sense.

Answer 10

I've seemed to notice this too.  For one, it seems country people are more likely to value hard work and traditional values consistantly.  This is further propagated by the strong sense of community fostered in small towns.  In big cities, with huge varieties of people and values, you might not even know all the people who live on the same floor in your apartement building.

Answer 11

Liberals believe they can please everyone.  It's open-mindedness to the point of stupidity.

Conservatives are smart enough to know that they can't please everyone, so they decide to please themselves, and to h**l with everyone else.  It's close-mindedness to the point of stupidity.

In the case of uneducated conservatives, like many "W" worshipers drinking Coors Light and proudly displaying the NASCAR logo, it's a vicious cycle of stupidity feeding close-mindedness feeding stupidity...

Answer 12

I think in small towns people tend to conform to the norm and not speak out which is why some people grow up and leave.  I lived in a small town that was extremely racist and I hadn't it.  They believed that blacks and hispanics were trouble and that if you didn't look normal you were wrong... I don't care how conservative they were they were two faced.  How nice can a klan member really be even in a small town?

Answer 13

Cities have more educated people and more ethinic groups. This environment leads to less traditional thinking.

Answer 14

I think perhaps people who live in big cities meet a much wider range of people from different backgrounds and cultures. Western cities are usually multicultural, whereas in a small town everyone tends to be of the same race and social class.

Approval from others probably plays a part as well; in a city, you'll be able to find people who agree with and support your beliefs, and so you might be more likely to speak out. In smaller towns, anyone who goes against the norm may find themselves isolated from everyone else.

There's often a greater sense of community in small towns though, but I do prefer city living. :)

Answer 15

I agree with you..People in small towns know everybody's business, so people are more concerned about keeping clean reputations.  Even if people aren't conservative, they keep it on the downlow.

In big cities, people are too busy with the city life to even give a d**n who the person next to them on the train slept with.  

I also think that big cities attract the "model/celebrity" types (people that want to excel in the entertainment industry), and the entertainment industry isn't conservative.

Answer 16

d**n. Good question. Now I want the answer too!!

Answer 17

I think that because there are so many people living in big cities, people are more exposed to different viewpoints. Cities, because of industry, also tend to attract immigrants more than small towns, which brings in different cultural attitudes. Conservatism centers around keeping things as they are, but everything is mutable in the city because every second, something changes. Someone new arrives, or some event is happening...

Answer 18

Hippies were conservative?

Answer 19

When you live in larger cities you are exposed to so many different types of people and you begin to see that there are so many different solutions to each situation.  You realize that a group that you might have had concerns about are just people like you.  In a small community there is more a sense of wanting to control any change.

Answer 20

Actually,

The city folk saw them moving into town and moved away as fast as possible.

Jed Clampett

Answer 21

It's not an easy answer.  I've never actually lived in the country, but I've visited, and traveled.  I'm mostly from the suburbs.  Regardless of my location, I tend to be very conservative.   I noticed recently while traveling through the heartland that many people had the American flag flying in their front yard.  In or around Baltimore, you almost never see that. In the big cities I've experienced, crime is rampant, drugs are rampant, almost everybody speaks lousy English, They litter like crazy, I mean everywhere.  I guess what I'm getting at is I have a hard time seeing people from the big city as enlightened.  Part of the xenophobia of the country and small towns is a way of hanging onto tradition and culture, and that is in many ways a very good thing.  In the big city there's an anything goes mentality, and everybody seems to be on a different sheet of music.  I can see the good and bad in either though, and conservative values, I'm sure are  the way to go regardless of where you live.