Liberal and Conservative Place: Sacramento, CA

Sacramento is unfriendly period. It is unfriendly regardless of political view. You will find more complete assholes per capita in the "Camelia City" than anywhere else in the continental U.S. However, to keep this comment salient, I will focus on what makes this town both liberal friendly and liberal unfriendly.

The town seems to be of two minds. It voters are fairly consistantly democratic, however, they also love to vote down any tax measures (especially those for education), and will basically take any chance to court bankruptcy they can. Sacramento has a large gay and lesbian community replete with strong activism. Sacramento is also a hotbed of hate crimes, bigotry, and fundamentalist christianity. Theft and murder are not too common considering the size of the town. However, avoiding a shouting match is darned nigh impossible. The entire city seems as if it could degenerate into a bar fight at any moment.

If you can walk down any street without being taunted for something by someone, you must be invisible. I have been called "faggot", "jew", "hippie freak", "spic", "arab", and "honkey" all in one day. For the record, I am a hetero caucasian male, and not especially a dead head. This is a town where everyone hates everyone else, and will find an offensive epeithet somewhere. I even have gotten in shouting matches with people over the subject of hight(?)! No, I do not seek these out.

Particularly distressing is the lack of effort put into supporting what could be an unbelivably vital cultural scene. The symphony was allowed to go bankrupt. Any time the city can shut down local musicians, they will. Meanwhile billions are spent trying to keep the decidedly second rate Kings basketball team in town.

As you can see, this is essentially a liberal town. However, it is hampered by a number of seemingly inbred cro-magnon types (i.e. rednecks). It does have curbside recycling and the most trees this side of Paris. I encourage liberals to come here, but to bring mace.

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Being from Sacramento myself, it is true that the city can be coth liberal and conservative. It is not as liberal as San Francisco maybe, but atleast it isn't as bad as Kansas. It is a pretty cool place and consistantly elects Democrats. It is also getting more liberal everyday. The suburbs on the other hand need some work.

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Sacramento is very liberal and cosmopolitan in the mid-town area. The suburbs really vary, although most are Republican with a loud Fundamentalist minority. Rio Linda is like part of the South low to low-middle income Whites an area known for the Ku Klux Klan, but also party animals. Many of the outlying suburbs had a country-western image which has given way to Orange County type upper-middle to middle income Republican types. During the 60's and 70this was Democratic country. including the rednecks. The southern california suburbanites who moved in during the 80's have made most of the suburbs a Republican stronghold. In Citrus Heights where I live you can see bumper stickers saying Born Again Pagan along with anti-Darwin ones. Very divided. In fact working for the Waste Board (state) one ran into hippie Engineers and Scientists, Health Services Right Wing Wackos.