Like attracts like, and political views are no exception. The Pacific coast has gained a reputation for liberalism (hence the double entendre of “The Left Coast”) while the so-called Bible Belt is predictably populated with folks with more conservative views. But this political clustering is not limited to the far ends of the spectrum. According to Livability.com, little ol’ Bend is the second best place in the country for folks prefer the middle of the political road.
“Research has shown that we increasingly live in areas with people who vote the same way we do,” says Matt Carmichael, editor of Livability.com. “A best place to live is about more than just politics, so we expanded our scope a little. We found cities where people not only are likely to vote together, but drive the cars, shop in the stores, watch the shows, and read the magazines that liberals, conservatives or centrists most love. Whatever your politics, you should be able to find a city on one of these lists where you’ll feel completely at home.”
We’re not surprised. We recently talked to people from both parties about Central Oregonians’ centrist and party line-crossing tendencies. The only city better for political centrists, according to the survey, was Spokane Valley, Wash. The website, which explores livability issues in small to mid-size towns, looked at variety of measures of political affiliation:
Our editors, working with advisory board member Kevin Stolarick, Ph.D, (the founding research director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management) and using data from several geographies, gauged the ideological skew of the congressional representation of a city. They utilized nonpartisan watchdog GovTrack’s analysis of the members of the House of Representatives on a conservative/liberal spectrum. Then, using data from Esri, editors looked at how residents of each city self-report their own political leanings on a five-point scale from very liberal to very conservative. The last piece of the political puzzle was the splits in the vote during the 2012 presidential election.
If Bend is too conservative—or too liberal—for your liking, check out the best cities for liberals and conservatives, as well as other cities political moderates might feel at home in.
10 Best Cities for Liberals, 2014
1. Berkeley, CA
2. Hoboken, NJ
3. Somerville, MA
4. Boulder, CO
5. Evanston, IL
6. College Park, MD
7. Ann Arbor, MI
8. Mercer Island, WA
9. Alexandria, VA
10. Newport, RI
10 Best Cities for Conservatives, 2014
1. Alabaster, AL
2. Crestview, FL
3. Clinton, UT
4. Bristol, TN
5. Odessa, TX
6. Yukon, OK
7. Slidell, LA
8. Olive Branch, MS
9. Peachtree City, GA
10. Benton, AR
10 Best Cities for Centrists, 2014
1. Spokane Valley, WA
2. Bend, OR
3. Indio, CA
4. Gainesville, FL
5. Albany, GA
6. Boise, ID
7. Muncie, IN
8. Sparks, NV
9. Oregon, OH
10. Wildwood, MO
What’s your take? Is Bend too liberal, too conservative, or just right?
This article appears in Oct 16-22, 2014.
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i think anyone who lives here long sees the truth… we’re not centrist, we’re actually just so polarized that when a second-tier lifestyle website does some second-tier stats analysis on us, we APPEAR to be right in the middle, because all the extremes average each
other out
i can also only imagine they fell into the old trap of using data from the Census’ Bend MSA to represent the city, when in fact that definition includes the whole county… making things trend right compared to the city itself
i mean yah, we’ve got a lot of bicycles and a lot of lifted pickup-trucks, but they don’t work together to meet in the middle, instead they try and run each other off the road!
Rednecks and hippies, that’s what makes Oregon great!
Having lived in the Intermountain West for 20+ years, mostly in Pocatello, ID, Bend seems richer. that means the cost of living is higher and the vehicles are newer. the yahoos still manage to drive noisy trucks though.