Owen Bell is a regular commenter on this blog. He has kindly sent me a number items he has gleaned from his readings, and I will be sharing them with readers. Here is one:
Where you prefer to live may have something to do with your political views. According to Pew Research (http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public/pp-2014-06-12-polarization-0-08/), liberals prefer walkable communities, while conservatives prefer the suburbs.
This is curious. Could it be that conservatives have a preference for big houses (known as macmansions) with big gardens, and are happy to get in the (large) car to go everywhere because nothing is nearby except other big houses? Are liberals more health conscious and therefore prefer walking? Has it something to do with gated communities on the one hand, the proximity of the country club, or a preference for old houses on the other? Do liberals prefer the anonymity of the big town or city to the (supposed) clubbiness of the suburbs? Has it anything to do with gardens or walking the dog? Comments?
In America I think crime could be the major motivation. In the UK house prices in the city ( anywhere near London, anyway) have driven British people out to more affordable spots. Of course, there are many other reasons, noise and pollution being two.
Other reasons for this include: liberals like the racial diversity associated with the cities, conservatives don’t. Within America’s white population, conservatives have more children than liberals, and so need the large houses and space of the suburbs. Liberals are more likely than conservatives to have gone to college, and so prefer to live in the cities where these colleges are. Conservatives are more likely to work in natural resource extraction than liberals. But on the other hand, liberals are more likely to work in the media and law- jobs associated with the city. Liberals care more about the environment, and so want to live in a high-dense area where car use is reduced.
More importantly, I believe that its not just liberals and conservatives choosing their respective preferred environments, its that those environments help shape your political views. If you live in a city, you become more environmentally conscious (because of the obvious pollution), the racial diversity makes you more pro-immigration, and the reliance on public transport and other government services makes you more socialist. The Moscow Metro was built as a symbol of socialism; Thatcher and Reagan saw the car as a symbol of neoliberal individualism.
Conversely, if you live in the suburbs, your environment is cleaner- making Green issues less significant, you are generally surrounded by only one race, and you rely far less on government services. All of this makes you a more conservative person.