Why Go Blue?
I started out with the intent of asking this question exclusively of Troy Senik but decided to expand it to the whole ricochet universe. Also, I apologize if this question has been asked but I haven't been a member for very long and I might have missed it. Why are so many of the contributors and members living in either blue states or blue cities. I grew up in Covington, Ga. (the tv show In the Heat of the Night was filmed there to give you an idea) and have never left the south except when the Corps said so. So my question is what is it about NY or S.F. or L.A. or other hard left locals that seems to draw so many of the best of Ricochet? Believe me there is a great deal to be found in the urban areas of red states like Ga. or Tx. etc. Now for Troy. You left Nashville? Really? (Emory shakes head slowly) I live just outside of Franklin and you left this place? There are no tractors in LA Troy. Without a tractor in front of you what is life? Also in my defense I have visited NY SF and LA. and love them all but couldn't live in any. I'm just trying to understand the desire of living in the belly of the beast.
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Comments:
Dec '11
Re: Why Go Blue?
I grew up in one of the most conservative counties in the country (electorally, religiously, culturally).
But in the modern economy, network effects matter. Cities are natural networks and NYC is the greatest of them all.
May '10
Re: Why Go Blue?
I consider myself an Iowan even though I've lived in California for just over half of my life. School first brought me out to the Bay Area. I stayed for a job, and then I met this girl who was born and bred here... you know the rest.
Anyway, on a trip back home, a relative told my wife and me how he wished how "California would just drop into the Pacific." Besides being really, really rude to us personally, it seemed to ignore the fact that California has at least 10 times more Republicans in it than does Iowa, and I told him as much.
Yes, we're outnumbered, but a lot of us fight the good fight pretty much continuously.
Dec '10
Re: Why Go Blue?
My choice was easy: when I got out of the navy the wife wanted to stay here. I'm near enough to Seattle that enjoying the "culture" is easy but far enough away that I don't feel the need to carry every time I leave the house. The irony is that I probably live less than 20 miles from Seattle but it takes an hour and half to get there no matter what I do.
May '10
Re: Why Go Blue?
Charlotte: In my case, it was where the job was for Mr. Charlotte. But every time we go back to Milwaukee I realize how much I miss the Midwest. Like most DC-area residents, we'll probably stay here for ten years or so and then move back "home".
And it must be said, we love the restaurants and museums here! · Jan 3 at 11:52am
Charlotte, have Mr. Charlotte call me up. I'll trade even-up, go back to work around Northern Virginia an hour from our daughter in Baltimore, you can have my job only a 5 hour drive from Milwaukee.
Re: Why Go Blue?
I'll give you the standard New Jersey answer:
As soon as my parents are gone, I'm outta here.
Jun '10
Re: Why Go Blue?
If you're a committed conservative, but sadly, live inside a Blue Kool-Aid factory, you have a lot of bottled-up opinions to share. That's what ricochet is good for.
Mar '11
Re: Why Go Blue?
As others have commented, I am where I am because of my job, not the politics.
I am in Gabby Gifford's district, which is part of a Republican state. This is a University area, need I say more?
We living in the Blue need Ricochet more than those in the Red areas - we are kinda isolated.
Edited on January 3, 2012 at 11:23pmMay '11
Re: Why Go Blue?
My oldest son just said something to me that makes me ashamed. He was "Star Wars fighting" with his younger brother with light sabers when the younger boy dropped his and said "I never win." My older boy looked at him and said and I quote " Daddy taught us its not about winning or losing. It is about doing your best whether you will win or lose." After reading some of these comments, I salute you blue staters who fight without regard to victory or defeat. Also, Troy where is the best hot chicken place in town and next time you are in town, if you let me know the drinks are on me.
Jul '10
Re: Why Go Blue?
Tommy De Seno: I'll give you the standard New Jersey answer:
As soon as my parents are gone, I'm outta here. · Jan 3 at 2:15pm
That is one of the funniest things I've ever read on Ricochet.
It's funny because it's true. Funny thing, my Mom is still there.
May '10
Re: Why Go Blue?
I came to California because my family was from here when not living in Latin America. I was expected to the go to the family college and did. After I graduated, I fell in love with The Man who was working as a city copper at the time. I couldn't stand to be apart from him, so I stayed in California to marry him. Then we bought our dream home and... well... the weather is fantastic! It's in the 80's today. I've been wearing shorts the last few days. Of course, it also helps that we live in a conservative bubble called The OC.
Dec '10
Re: Why Go Blue?
Gotta go with Diane & others - I see RIcochet as a life line of sanity. Living in Oregon (California North as opposed to Northern California), you learn to be very careful about what political/social views you express in public.
In my travels, I often tell people that the Pac NW is a fantastic place to live if you can put up with the people. I live in a burb that is about 20 miles from downtown Portland but a couple of light years from there politically. It is an incredibly beautiful place, my kids have attended fantastic schools (as opposed to the horrid ones in the Portland SD), I have great neighbors. Putting up with the troglodytes is just the price I pay.
Aug '11
Re: Why Go Blue?
I have lived all of my adult life far far away from cities. Nevertheless, the lines have been drawn by my state so that people like me are effectively disenfranchised. I am in a Congressional district that produces 50,000 uncounted ballots so that the Republican candidate doesn't win a state wide election. I agree that "We living in the Blue need Ricochet more than those in the Red areas - we are kinda isolated." We are also feeling mobbed.
Ricochet reminds us that we are not alone.
Mar '11
Re: Why Go Blue?
I've always lived in Dallas, TX. Visited NYC, wouldn't live there. Dallas has plenty of culture. More than I can find time for. Next door in Fort Worth, a 50 minute drive, is the ONLY venue in the US for a current and several past traveling art exhibits. Symphony orchestras here, there and everywhere you look. Same with live theater. I swear, some of the best, yes, and worst, acting I've seen. The best, though, was worthy of every award you could offer. World class jazz band 30 minutes away at UNT. Many alumni stay around or keep coming around to perform. The library system allows me to read just about any book I could want and living on either coast isn't required. I don't get to see soaring mountain or romantic ocean views in Dallas, but you get breathtaking sunsets every other day at least, with enough open space and a far horizon to see them, and winters where the roses bloom.
Aug '10
Re: Why Go Blue?
I don't expect to ever live in America, but insofar as I have thought about it (and having spent a little time in Chicago and quite a lot in NY) I have only ever envisaged myself living on a coast. Maybe North Carolina, except they don't have MLB and I prefer to see the sun set in the ocean. Does it rain much in Seattle?
Aug '10
Re: Why Go Blue?
Emory - So, that's at least two of us in the Nashville area. (We are practically neighbors. I am 3 miles from the Nolensville Sonic.) If we can scrounge up a few more, maybe we can have a Ricochet Soiree. Perhaps the next time Troy is in town.
Mar '11
Re: Why Go Blue?
Nobody's Perfect: Emory, let's be pals.
The English author Evelyn Waugh once remarked, "New York is a city with a neurosis in the air that the inhabitants mistake for energy."
Perhaps those of us who choose San Francisco or New York are more neurotic than those who choose rural Georgia. As for Los Angeles, I haven't a clue. · Jan 3 at 1:19pm
I lived in L.A. There is nowhere on the planet that is half as neurotic as L.A.
May '11
Re: Why Go Blue?
There IS no more than high school football and Waffle House. Well, yes, SEC football but that's all.
Aug '10
Re: Why Go Blue?
Blue states ....humm . Why is it blue ? Depressed or lonesome ? Dont get the blue thing , or is it bleu ? Please explain your quandary . Isn't Iowa a blue state ?
Mar '11
Re: Why Go Blue?
I was born and raised in Illinois, and my parents are still here, as well as my brother. Currently, I'm just down the road from Peoria, but I was living up in Cook County just a year ago.
My time in L.A. was made a little more neurotic for me personally by one boss who never could seem to tell the unvarnished truth for more than ten minutes at a stretch. That colored my impression of the whole area, I'm afraid.
And Illinois isn't entirely a lost cause. The 2010 gubernatorial election results produced a map that should give the state Democratic Party pause, if not a full-blown ulcer.
If you win Cook County (and with all the dead people voting Democratic, that is not hard for them) and you stay close in the collar counties, you can just eke by.
Aug '10
Re: Why Go Blue?
There is a refuge for most folks who live in the shadows of a liberal big city - it's called the suburbs. I live in a very conservative suburb of Minneapolis which allows me to enjoy the art house films, concerts and restaurants of a deep blue city without having to live next to any icky liberals.