Nanotude t1_j9z83r6 wrote on February 25, 2023 at 5:32 PM

State and national politics are very blue. Local politics very conservative. I live in a suburb north of Boston and my neighbors grew up in the houses they currently live in, or grew up just blocks away. People don't like change. Lots of NIMBYism. The downtown area of my city is decrepit and falling apart but nobody wants to do anything about it because it's always been that way and that's the way they like it. Real estate is crazy high, and people complain that their kids can't afford to live in the town they grew up in. But they are against building affordable housing. I dunno....

WinsingtonIII t1_j9zfy39 wrote on February 25, 2023 at 6:23 PM

I think to say local politics are "very conservative" is pretty misleading. It is true that local politics are very NIMBY in many Massachusetts communities (not all, the city I live in is building quite a bit, though there is a vocally opposed minority), but it's not like there are widespread local movements to ban acknowledging the existence of LBGTQ people in schools or things like that. Which are unfortunately things happening in some parts of the country.

The sort of "conservatism"/resistance to change you are talking about is primarily a housing/development thing (and I don't like that this resistance exists myself), it largely doesn't extend to other aspects politically.

Nanotude t1_ja0t3h0 wrote on February 26, 2023 at 12:07 AM

Well, in my city, the conservatism goes into social issues as well, and yes there is a contingent here that wo love to take us back to the 1950s and pretend LBGTQ people wouldn't exist if we didn't allow them to be open about it. Seriously. They don't always get their way, but they are very vocal, and it takes a very concerted effort to make any kind of progressive change here. Sure, every city is different but it would be very naive to believe everyone in MA is socially progressive.

[deleted] t1_j9zhhom wrote on February 25, 2023 at 6:33 PM

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Nanotude t1_ja0r4tf wrote on February 25, 2023 at 11:52 PM

If you read my comment again, I did say that STATE and national politics are very blue. LOCAL politics means municipal. At least in my city, and several others in my area, people are very much resistant to change and spending any kind of money to improve anything. That's pretty much the definition of conservative.

Nanotude t1_ja0vay4 wrote on February 26, 2023 at 12:24 AM

Also, folks in my city have routinely voted for Paul Donato, a Democrat on paper, but Republican by voting record, and who would absolutely outlaw abortion if he could. These are the folks I'm talking about.

Imallama t1_j9zhsa3 wrote on February 25, 2023 at 6:35 PM

This could describe pretty much every north shore city/town.

WinsingtonIII t1_j9zj2mf wrote on February 25, 2023 at 6:44 PM

There really aren't that many North Shore cities/towns where the downtown is "decrepit and falling apart."