The White City

[bgwah]

How many people can really afford to choose the city of residence based on such a flimsy factor such as cultural "hipness" anyway?

Taken together, there are probably a lot more progressives in medium sized cities in Texas or Indiana than there are in Portland; there are probably more progressives in cities across Red America than there are in the five cities mentioned here.

Yes, and Barack Obama got more votes in Utah than San Francisco... Seems like kind of a silly point, IMO...

[bgwah]

The ugly truth is that it is about crime rates.

Not *quite* right as a few highly diverse cities like San Diego and El Paso have lower crime rates than Seattle or Portland. But it is a good proxy for urban social integration, which has to do with race but is not the same as it.

El Paso is more Hispanic than Seattle or Portland are white.

[bgwah]

Storebought, are you trying to say that the things progressives supposedly like (walkable neighborhoods, good transit) can be found in other cities, or that they're merely an excuse for liking white cities?

People enjoy living in areas with cultures and values similar to their own... Clearly there will be some correlation with race and ethnicity here. Why are black people moving to places like Atlanta instead of Portland or Phoenix?