Conscious Communities: Liberal Communities

Which communities are most liberal in their politics, lifestyle and values? ePodunk has an answer to this question.

ePodunk considered the following data in making our selections:

Individual contributions to PACs: It analyzed 1.8 million contributions to 2,300 political action committees that could be identified as Democratic/Liberal or Republican/Conservative. This data, for the 2003-2004 election cycle, was downloaded from the Federal Election Commission on Nov. 9.

Election returns: Unofficial election results in the 2004 presidential race were reported at the county level for every county in the U.S., and at the local level for many New England communities.

Gay households: This index was compiled from the U.S. Census by Gary Gates, a demographer at the Urban Institute and co-author of The Gay and Lesbian Atlas. Figures were included for the 1,360 U.S. communities in which 50 or more couples reported living in such relationships.

Local government resolutions opposing combat in Iraq

Local officials performing gay marriages

Congressional District voting history(Note: Because this factor was part of the screen for rankings, Washington, D.C., which does not have congressional representation, was excluded from our study. Washington residents who do not live in the White House showed strong liberal leanings in their votes for president and political contributions. The city also has a large number of gay households.)

BIG CITIES (100,000 or more) Boston, MA Cambridge, MA Berkeley, CA Oakland, CA San Francisco, CA New Haven, CT Providence, RI New York, NY Baltimore, MD Seattle, WA

MEDIUM CITIES (25,000-99,999) Northampton, MA Somerville, MA Arlington, MA Watertown, MA Santa Cruz, CA Alameda, CA Ithaca, NY Portland, ME East Palo Alto, CA Chelsea, MA

SMALL CITIES (Under 25,000) Provincetown, MA Mount Rainier, MD Albany, CA Fairfax, CA Garrett Park, MD Orono, ME Takoma Park, MD Guerneville, CA Bar Harbor, ME Johnson, VT