The difference between Milwaukee and Twin Cities suburbs

[Scottholes 2.0]

I don't have much experience with the TC area, but it seems like TC suburbs are overwhelmingly Democratic, even some of the whiter outer suburbs. Ideologically, how do TC suburbanites differ from Milwaukee's?

[RINO Tom]

Are they?  I mean, I know they are more Democratic than the WOW counties, but Trump and Clinton tied the suburban vote in Minnesota 47%-47%, and most of the outer suburbs seem pretty Republican...

As for the actual question at hand, I remember someone saying that Milwaukee's suburbs (for whatever reason) have a more old school management/labor divide, which lends itself to upscale conservative suburb vs. less upscale urban core a lot more easily.  I'll wait for the real experts, though!

[cvparty]

I wouldn't say TC suburbs are overwhelmingly D, but they're a lot more D than Milwaukee's suburbs
TC suburbs are more cosmopolitan and "dynamic" than Milwaukee's (younger and higher foreign-born population). They also seem to be slightly more wealthy/educated, not to mention TC is a magnet for young professionals

[RINO Tom]

I wouldn't say TC suburbs are overwhelmingly D, but they're a lot more D than Milwaukee's suburbs
TC suburbs are more cosmopolitan and "dynamic" than Milwaukee's (younger and higher foreign-born population). They also seem to be slightly more wealthy/educated, not to mention TC is a magnet for young professionals

Could all be true, I am not sure.  Minneapolis is certainly more of a "cosmopolitan" city than Milwaukee.  While education could explain the TC suburbs' tack to the left, let's not forget that Republicans DO still do better with wealthy voters than others.

[Gass3268]

There are less people of color in the Twin Cities metro than Milwaukee metro, leading to less racial animus which is the bedrock of the conservatism in the Milwaukee metro area. Rapid suburbanization in the Milwaukee did not really occur until the white flight late 1950's to 1970's which is much later than other major metros.

[Scottholes 2.0]

There are less people of color in the Twin Cities metro than Milwaukee metro, leading to less racial animus which is the bedrock of the conservatism in the Milwaukee metro area. Rapid suburbanization in the Milwaukee did not really occur until the white flight late 1950's to 1970's which is much later than other major metros.

Makes sense.

[Bismarck]

There are less people of color in the Twin Cities metro than Milwaukee metro, leading to less racial animus which is the bedrock of the conservatism in the Milwaukee metro area. Rapid suburbanization in the Milwaukee did not really occur until the white flight late 1950's to 1970's which is much later than other major metros.

Is there any particular issue position or demographic in the GOP that the left doesn’t explain with racism?

[R.P. McM]

There are less people of color in the Twin Cities metro than Milwaukee metro, leading to less racial animus which is the bedrock of the conservatism in the Milwaukee metro area. Rapid suburbanization in the Milwaukee did not really occur until the white flight late 1950's to 1970's which is much later than other major metros.

Is there any particular issue position or demographic in the GOP that the left doesn’t explain with racism?

Post-Trump? Nah, y'all goose-stepped right into that buzzsaw, so for many of us, the question is settled.

[R.P. McM]

I wouldn't say TC suburbs are overwhelmingly D, but they're a lot more D than Milwaukee's suburbs
TC suburbs are more cosmopolitan and "dynamic" than Milwaukee's (younger and higher foreign-born population). They also seem to be slightly more wealthy/educated, not to mention TC is a magnet for young professionals

Could all be true, I am not sure.  Minneapolis is certainly more of a "cosmopolitan" city than Milwaukee.  While education could explain the TC suburbs' tack to the left, let's not forget that Republicans DO still do better with wealthy voters than others.

Not so sure about that. Clinton made huge inroads in every upscale enclave in MN, and outright won many of them. Per CNN's 2016 exits, Clinton's best income demographic was $100k+ (52% - 41%).

https://www.cnn.com/election/2016/results/exit-polls/minnesota/president  

[R.P. McM]

There are less people of color in the Twin Cities metro than Milwaukee metro, leading to less racial animus which is the bedrock of the conservatism in the Milwaukee metro area. Rapid suburbanization in the Milwaukee did not really occur until the white flight late 1950's to 1970's which is much later than other major metros.

Significantly less racial segregation in MSP as well. At the county level, Hennepin and Ramsey are much whiter than Milwaukee, and all of the surrounding counties are much more diverse than WOW.   

[Indy Texas]

MSP has:
(1) Less racial segregation between the urban core and the suburbs.
(2) The state government.
(3) The flagship state university.
(4) A more "modern" technology and service-oriented economy with companies like UnitedHealthcare, Target, Medtronic and Ecolab.

MKE has:
(1) Tremendous racial segregation between the urban core and the suburbs.
(2) Physical separation from the state capital and the major university creating a sense of alienation.
(3) A more old-school industrial economy dominated by manufacturing (Harley-Davidson, Johnson Controls, Rexnord, etc).

[Ban my account ffs!]

The Twin Cities suburbs look like this:

While the Milwaukee suburbs look like this:

[Gracile]

The Twin Cities suburbs appear on paper to be more integrated with the cities proper in terms of infrastructure, and their racial demographics and household income do not vary too much from the urban core. On the other hand, there is a pretty sharp divide between Milwaukee and its suburbs in terms of its demographics.

[freepcrusher]

MKE suburbs are more like Grand Rapids.

[lfromnj]

Also interesting to note is that MKE burbs become blood red almost immediatly while TW burbs are much more concentric and some of the most visually appealing maps in the country. It seems as if the TC burbs are much more integrated with the core city rather than the Milwaukee burbs.

[R.P. McM]

Also interesting to note is that MKE burbs become blood red almost immediatly while TW burbs are much more concentric and some of the most visually appealing maps in the country. It seems as if the TC burbs are much more integrated with the core city rather than the Milwaukee burbs.

True. I'm white, I grew up in the 'burbs. When I was a kid, we went on field trips to the Capitol, the Science Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, etc. My family had season tickets to the Children's Theater, and we attended the State Fair every few years. My brother was confirmed at the Cathedral, and both of us (and my sister) graduated from the U of M. None of which is an unusual experience for white suburbanites in MSP. Point being, it's really hard to separate yourself from the city when you're constantly traveling there for events or sending your kids to college there. I get the distinct impression that things are different in Milwaukee, Detroit, etc.

[LiberalDem19]

I would not say the TC suburbs are overwhelmingly blue just yet. Tim Walz won them 54-42 in a D+7 environment, so they're more 53-47.

I can say that the suburbs are rapidly diversifying and getting younger. That lends itself to a blue trend. And as someone else mentioned, the suburbs are getting more integrated with the city.

And that's a problem for the GOP. Dean Phillips's district is pretty much gone for them in 2020. Craig might be vulnerable but they're gonna put up some meathead like Lewis or Wardlow probably. And a lot of those state house seats that flipped probably aren't coming back in 2020 either.