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 Liberal Place: Brookline, MAThese are comments on Brookline, submitted by other Turn Left visitors. They do not necessarily represent the opinion of the webmaster. You may add a comment on Brookline if you want.  Brookline doesn't seem to fit the demographic profile of a liberal town --
mostly Caucasian, excessively affluent, decidedly suburban. But even the
Boston Globe called it the most liberal town in the state, and for very
good reason. Electorally, the town is about 90% registered Democrat;
McGovern garnered more votes in one Brookline election than Reagan got
in two. The Town Meeting has occasionally received motions to start with
a flag salute; in each case, the flag has lost. Brookline High School
hosts Massachusetts' largest and oldest Gay-Straight Alliance; one of
its student newspapers once featured a two-page spread on how to prevent
AIDS infection (complete with diagrams on how to use condoms and how to
disinfect syringes).Brookline's progressive views can probably be attributed to its educational quotient (one of the 50 most well-educated places in the U.S. with about 60% of residents holding college degrees) and heavy Jewish, Asian, and gay populations. Brookline is also where Jack, Teddy, and Robert Kennedy were all born and where Michael Dukakis lives. It forms part of Boston's network of 'streetcar suburbs' (including Boston's Back Bay, Cambridge, and Newton) which, for many people, epitomize pedestrian-friendly livability. Its town government has long maintained excessively high-cost and quality services, from a library network boasting 8.6 books per capita to schools with per-pupil spending sometimes ranging up to $10,000/year. And recently, the town has approved tax overrides to continue subsidizing low-income rentals (after Massachusetts voters defeated rent control state- wide last year) and spend nearly $45 million to upgrade the High School (where I live in North Carolina, a brand-new high school costs $20 mil). Unfortunately, Brookline was also the site of two deaths in 1994 at the hands of a certain John Salvi, anti-abortionist extraordinaire. Beacon Street through the middle of town is known to local pro-lifers as "Abortion Row" because of its proliferation (three) of abortion providers, some of whom undoubtledly located there because of the town's liberal politics.
And one more thing -- Brookline has the most comprehensive curbside recycling
program I've ever seen; the Town will accept "Plastics with no recycling
label" in the bins as well as nearly anything else. ...and another comment...
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