# The Most Liberal City in the U. S.



## PanaManiac (Mar 26, 2005)

Which is the most liberal city in the United States? Somehow San Francisco immediately comes to mind...


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## XiaoBai (Dec 10, 2002)

San Francisco is probably number one, however Seattle is a very close second IMHTGFO.


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## Sonic from Padova (Nov 23, 2004)

san francisco, no doubt!


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## ironchapman (Jun 2, 2005)

San Francisco...without a ddoubt.

Just out of curiousity, I wonder what the most conservative Major US city is.


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## nikko (Jul 23, 2004)

San Fran


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## philadweller (Oct 30, 2003)

Seattle seems liberal but that is hard to gauge as its mostly Anglo for a big US city.

SF is liberal but smoking is banned from restaurants. Some would say that is a conservative measure. 

Chicago and Philly are still smoking cities.


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## Azn_chi_boi (Mar 11, 2005)

I also think of SF when Liberal is mention...


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## Talbot (Jul 13, 2004)

Probably San Fransisco and New York IMO. 

And the people that think San Francisco is turning conservative because they want to protects people's health from second hand smoking, than they are insane, and not to mention, quite stupid.


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## Nick in Atlanta (Nov 5, 2003)

Some of the smaller cities in the midwest, like Madison, Wisconsin, with very large universities are probably more liberal than larger cities.


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## Peyre (Nov 22, 2003)

Talbot said:


> Probably San Fransisco and New York IMO.
> 
> And the people that think San Francisco is turning conservative because they want to protects people's health from second hand smoking, than they are insane, and not to mention, quite stupid.


yes because the conservatives are evil and want everyone to die


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## Nick in Atlanta (Nov 5, 2003)

I've never thought of restaurant smoking as a liberal/conservative issue. I know liberals that would want to smoke in restaurants and I know conservatives that would want to smoke in restaurants.

Now, when you take away the option of smoking in a restaurant, then you are stepping into libertarian territory.


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## Sounder (Oct 10, 2002)

Panamaniac said:


> Which is the most liberal city in the United States? Somehow San Francisco immediately comes to mind...


Las Vegas is the most liberal city in America by far. SF isn't liberal at all; it is a statist city.


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## Jose Luis (Jun 15, 2004)

San Fran is the most from what i've heard


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## Sexas (Jan 15, 2004)

*Only two cities are real liberal in US: San Fransico and Austin, problem for the image of Texas is those old conservative cowboy never die* btw Bush isn't from Texas!!

People in Austin are fond of saying that it's not like the rest of Texas. An odd claim to make for a state capital, perhaps, but there's something to the observation. The general perception is that Austin is artsier, funkier, and more liberal than the rest of the country, and if the perception is sometimes exaggerated, that doesn't mean that there's nothing to it. From its earliest years it was a municipal center, developing from a ranching and trading town into a high-tech city with a thriving music scene, highlighted by the long-running Austin City Limits music festival, South by Southwest music festival and by Antone's, one of the most famous blues clubs in the United States. As early as the late 1940s, unsung blues guitar hero Pee Wee Crayton wrote "Austin Boogie" in the city's honor. 

6th Street is probably Austin's most famous avenue. Lined on both sides with clubs, bars, restaurants, pipe shop and tattoo shop within a few blocks you can hear every kind of music known to Texas. Blues, country, Irish fiddle, pop, disco, jezz, salsa: it all meets and blends here in a massive melting pot. It's been possible to get a little lost on 6th Street, especially in the mid-to-late 1990s, when everyone was certain that Austin would be the next Seattle. Mike West, a South Louisiana singer-songwriter originally from Australia, sums it up rather neatly with "6th Street, Austin": "Then you must've been lost in/6th street in Austin/Wondering why you were still here/Looking for a cowboy with a college education/To buy you a Mexican beer." The prestigious South by Southwest music festival has been held in Austin since 1987, tapping into deep musical roots that make the city a cultural center for musicians of all stripes.......... Today Austin is a melting pot of hippies, yappies, gays, college students and musicians.


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## philadweller (Oct 30, 2003)

Actually, NYC is the most liberal place in the whole world. It is also the safest place in the world for a liberal.


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## samsonyuen (Sep 23, 2003)

SF


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## DarkLite (Dec 31, 2004)

Seconhand smoke is bad, what part of death and bad life dont you get, I am not going to die at age 65 because some careless,corrupt politician doesnt care about the lives of others, i have very serious heart complications with smoke, and i am very close to contracting asthma if it werent for the laws.


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## Butcher (Dec 13, 2004)

That ATL Guy said:


> San Francisco...without a ddoubt.
> 
> Just out of curiousity, I wonder what the most conservative Major US city is.


The most conservative is probably Dallas or Houston, I would assume, since Texas is probably the most conservative state.


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## softee (Mar 6, 2003)

Among the major US cities, Portland Oregon is more liberal than some of the other cities listed in the poll.


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## SDfan (Apr 7, 2005)

Peyre said:


> yes because the conservatives are evil and want everyone to die


If thats a joke I think its funny ...if its not then I would have to say Im not evil, and I've never wished anyones death :colgate:

done with that...

Anyways San Fran is the most Liberal. Seattle is close as well as Austin. But when a city want s to charge you for entering the city then you might have quite possibly the most liberal city. 

As for the most conservative, maybe Houston, Dallas...on the more moderate side San Diego, but thats changing... :bash:


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## eklips (Mar 29, 2005)

The interest of private business has nothing to do with the interest of the people on the long term, thus taking decisions with them has nothing to do with social liberalism


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## Sounder (Oct 10, 2002)

virtual said:


> The interest of private business has nothing to do with the interest of the people on the long term,


 Private business is the people. Take away people's freedom of business & you are not dealing with a liberal city but a statist city.



> thus taking decisions with them has nothing to do with social liberalism


It is taking away decisions from individuals; that is not liberal in any way. In fact it is the exact opposite of liberalism.


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## 612bv3 (Oct 10, 2004)

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors and Mayor hates smokers.:lol:

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/07/02/BAGO4DI56V1.DTL

Smoking is banned from most public spaces in San Francisco.

I think it's great though, another reason for my dad to quit smoking.


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## sean storm (Nov 18, 2004)

Sounder said:


> SF isn't that liberal, it is a totally statist city. Statism & liberalism are nothing a like.


you don't know the meaning of liberalism, then. and from your insistent bs, you obviously don't know jack shit about SF.

and SF is NOT a "totally statist" city. (thanks for the sweeping generalization, btw.) if you think SF is totally statist, then the same can be said for boston or manhattan for that matter. 

what an idiot.

:| :stupid:


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## sean storm (Nov 18, 2004)

philadweller said:


> lady sean-
> 
> "don't bother with philadweller. i don't think she really knows what she's talking about."
> 
> thanks for being my spokesperson. i could use my mouth and hands for other things now.


great.... like a masturbate-a-thon?


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## sean storm (Nov 18, 2004)

philadweller said:


> "the two cities have a lot in common, but SF's reputation far outstrips seattle in social liberal realms. i mean, shit, this is a city founded on seamen, gold-diggers, brothels, and overseas immigrants. this is the place that gave birth to the first topless stipper ie Carol doda, the beatniks, the black panthers in oakland, flower power, gay pride, the Exotic Erotic ball, environmentalism, pot clubs, etc etc etc."
> 
> Sean you forgot the SF Masturbate-a-thon.


yes, how could i forget that? 

and then there's Bay to Breakers, Folsom street fair/dore alley, etc etc.

no other city comes close.


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## sean storm (Nov 18, 2004)

Sounder said:


> Banning smoking in public areas may be liberal but taking the decision away from private citizens & business, forcing them to ban smoking too is statist, not liberal.


what is it with you and your statist rants?

statisim and liberalism have little, if ANYTHING, to do with one another. you are harping on ECONOMIC liberalism which has nothing to do with SOCIAL liberalism. 

banning smoking in restaurants is seen as a liberal move. if that is statist in your eyes, so be it. but it's a liberal move, not a "conservative" one. it's putting public health above all other interests. if you can't understand the "liberal" fundamentals behind this, then you don't deserve to be in this discussion. 

let me guess, you're a republican?

:|


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## sean storm (Nov 18, 2004)

Sounder said:


> SF isn't that liberal, it is a totally statist city. Statism & liberalism are nothing a like.



you got the last part right.

which is why you are still making NO sense. SF may be statist, but it's also the most socially liberal city in the US, bar none.

the 'social liberal' aspect is what you fail to understand, which is amuzing to say the least.


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## Effer (Jun 9, 2005)

Philly


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## TalB (Jun 8, 2005)

I think that NYC is the most liberal city in the world, b/c it is the most diverse city in both the US and the world.


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## sean storm (Nov 18, 2004)

^ :lol:

i can't believe some of the things i'm reading. apparently, few people truly understand the meaning of "liberal".

diversity has little, if nothing, to do with liberal. many cities in northern european/scandinavian countries are not diverse but they are very liberal.


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## HirakataShi (Feb 8, 2004)

Diversity has nothing to do with liberalism, but tolerance for others does. It is not by coincidence that Scandinavian countries are so white. Their immigration policies deliberately aim to keep non-whites out.


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## Chi-town (Feb 24, 2003)

SF... and Boston should have replaced New Orleans or Miami on the poll.


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## miltown (Jul 13, 2005)

san francisco,... need i say more


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## doady (May 23, 2004)

Sounder said:


> Private business is the people. Take away people's freedom of business & you are not dealing with a liberal city but a statist city.
> 
> 
> 
> It is taking away decisions from individuals; that is not liberal in any way. In fact it is the exact opposite of liberalism.


You are confusing the word liberal with libertarian.


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## liat91 (Apr 11, 2005)

I lived in the Bay Area recently for 3 years and with open eyes. Yes I will agree that the Bay Area is liberal with a catch. People are generally open to other ideas and cultures but grudgeingly so. They vote liberal, that is set, but they seem not always to live up to those ideals. I am a minority and I'll give some examples of what I experienced. Every asian restaurant I've ever entered and I'll be fair and say this happened only 80% of the time. We where always sat back by the kitchen when there where plenty of other tables closer to the other people in the restaurant. Now I have a close Chinese friend whose family is in the restaurant scene and I candidly asked him, does he have any idea for what happened in these incidences. Being one of my best friends he candidly told me about the real deal. He said that it comes down to business, white people don't want to eat next to or close to minorities while eating, or so this is generally thought of in the asian restaurant management concensus. They fell that they would loose their white patronage if any undesirables in their mind where making to much of a presence, thus causing that restaurants white clientele (being the majority clientele) to not return. Hold on...... "Puke". Same day driving down lakeshore ave in Oakland, I just happened to be at a red light with some white guys in a truck next to me watching an attractive black woman walking down the sidewalk, when one of them said "damn look at that ****** ass giggle". Next experience I'm with my asian fiancee in emeryville walking out of a store to our car and a white and asian female couple walked by and I heard them mutter, why is she with him, he's a mexican (by the way I'm mixed race).
Next incident walking down through good old liberal San Francisco streets when a hippie (all love and happiness) seemed to stare at my fiancee and I and said, Asian girls are only the white mans toys, what are you doing with him. I'll give you one more, I went to the park with my step son so he could play on the jungle jim. As soon as we walked in, there where like 30 peope with family there, when they saw us like 10 people where left within a 3 minute time frame. I'm helping my step son up to the slide where he was first to go down, then a white guy in back of my son with his kid, told his son to wait a second for my son to go down, but when he looked up at me then my son, his face went red and he literaly told my son in front of him, hurry up, whats wrong with you go down. I immediately grabbed my son and left the playground, the hostility was like nothing I gave ever seen. And this my friends is coming from someone who really looks to try and see the best in everyone. I lived in conservative parts of this country and never experience the nastiness I felt from Whites and to a lesser degree asians, and shit even slightly from blacks and latinos, but hardly ever. Would I call San Francisco the most liberal city in America, no fucking way, its a farce. Gay in San Francisco maybe, mind you this city is the gay mecca and to a degree the Asian mecca for america. All I have to say is people need to live what they preach. And don't give me that San Francisco is a big city, with big egos crap, because New York dwarfs San Fran in that respect and everyone there seems to at least respect each other on the surface at least. I'd like to end and say that the Bay Area does have alot of descent folks, and I met my fiancee there, it's more like the overall ambiance is just geared in this weird hierarchel framework which is somewhat social but with definite racial elements involved. BTW San Francisco as far its beauty, is one of the most incredible cities I have ever encountered. Peace.


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## TalB (Jun 8, 2005)

Other things that make NYC very liberal is the fact that they allow for gay marraiges, stem cell research, abortions, a large seperation of church and state, and the way everyone hated having the RNC in town last year.


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## sean storm (Nov 18, 2004)

liat91 said:


> I lived in the Bay Area recently for 3 years and with open eyes. Yes I will agree that the Bay Area is liberal with a catch. People are generally open to other ideas and cultures but grudgeingly so. They vote liberal, that is set, but they seem not always to live up to those ideals. I am a minority and I'll give some examples of what I experienced. Every asian restaurant I've ever entered and I'll be fair and say this happened only 80% of the time. We where always sat back by the kitchen when there where plenty of other tables closer to the other people in the restaurant. Now I have a close Chinese friend whose family is in the restaurant scene and I candidly asked him, does he have any idea for what happened in these incidences. Being one of my best friends he candidly told me about the real deal. He said that it comes down to business, white people don't want to eat next to or close to minorities while eating, or so this is generally thought of in the asian restaurant management concensus. They fell that they would loose their white patronage if any undesirables in their mind where making to much of a presence, thus causing that restaurants white clientele (being the majority clientele) to not return. Hold on...... "Puke". Same day driving down lakeshore ave in Oakland, I just happened to be at a red light with some white guys in a truck next to me watching an attractive black woman walking down the sidewalk, when one of them said "damn look at that ****** ass giggle". Next experience I'm with my asian fiancee in emeryville walking out of a store to our car and a white and asian female couple walked by and I heard them mutter, why is she with him, he's a mexican (by the way I'm mixed race).
> Next incident walking down through good old liberal San Francisco streets when a hippie (all love and happiness) seemed to stare at my fiancee and I and said, Asian girls are only the white mans toys, what are you doing with him. I'll give you one more, I went to the park with my step son so he could play on the jungle jim. As soon as we walked in, there where like 30 peope with family there, when they saw us like 10 people where left within a 3 minute time frame. I'm helping my step son up to the slide where he was first to go down, then a white guy in back of my son with his kid, told his son to wait a second for my son to go down, but when he looked up at me then my son, his face went red and he literaly told my son in front of him, hurry up, whats wrong with you go down. I immediately grabbed my son and left the playground, the hostility was like nothing I gave ever seen. And this my friends is coming from someone who really looks to try and see the best in everyone. I lived in conservative parts of this country and never experience the nastiness I felt from Whites and to a lesser degree asians, and shit even slightly from blacks and latinos, but hardly ever. Would I call San Francisco the most liberal city in America, no fucking way, its a farce. Gay in San Francisco maybe, mind you this city is the gay mecca and to a degree the Asian mecca for america. All I have to say is people need to live what they preach. And don't give me that San Francisco is a big city, with big egos crap, because New York dwarfs San Fran in that respect and everyone there seems to at least respect each other on the surface at least. I'd like to end and say that the Bay Area does have alot of descent folks, and I met my fiancee there, it's more like the overall ambiance is just geared in this weird hierarchel framework which is somewhat social but with definite racial elements involved. BTW San Francisco as far its beauty, is one of the most incredible cities I have ever encountered. Peace.


sounds like you have a really bad karma..... :sly:

while it's unfortunate that you had to encounter so many 'race-related' incidents, it's ludicrous to assume that SF is just a mecca for gays and asians, and that whites in the bay area are a bunch of nazi pricks.

racism happens EVERYWHERE, whether you're in SF, manhattan, london, LA, or podunk mississippi. whether it's in-your-face or behind your back, it's based on personal experience. but common sense tells you that if you live in a diverse place, the chances of being singled out for your skin color or sexual orientation is less likely than living in a homogenous society.


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## ssiguy2 (Feb 19, 2005)

NYC the most liberal city in the world ??????? You've got to be kidding. 
Montreal is VERY and to a lesser extent Vancouver is as well. 
Toronto is liberal and also the most socialist city in NA. 
NYC has nothing on a lot of European cities. 
It is a liberal city but in a US context which is amongst the most conservative western country.


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