states, that the red ones would turn blue.
But I also have a lot of family members who are Republicans. And my neighborhood is a mix of liberal and conservative.
I don't understand my Republican relatives' and neighbors' politics, but I don't hate them, because they're basically good people, with a lot of good qualities. Generous, caring people, for the most part, who still filter their political views through what they hear from their churches (whether Catholic or evangelical Protestant) or the disinformation they've fallen for, from RW media and social media.
I also have a few liberal relatives who'd never vote Republican but have fallen for antivaxxer nonsense. And I can't even say they're all stupid (two have tested at genius level, but testing at genius level doesn't make you invulnerable to disinformation).
All we can do is keep trying to educate people, to open their eyes.
Btw, you didn't mention family. That's often a factor, too, in where you live, even if you've once lived far away. A couple of my relatives forgot about plans they'd once had to move from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast of Florida, after their grown kids started giving them grandkids they decided they wanted to watch grow up.
If you can't stand where you're living, and if you think you can guarantee you'll like wherever you move to, you should move. But you're going to run into pockets of RWers in the bluest states, and vice versa.
If you ever hear of an ideal place for Democrats to live - liberal, affordable (the most liberal areas of NY, California, and the Pacific Northwest usually aren't), and where you're not likely to ever discover your next-door neighbor is a RWer - please let us know.
Any place you live is likely to be a mixed bag, especially politically.
Decades ago I lived in NYC. Manhattan, both East Side and West Side. NYC was liberal and open-minded compared to most of the Midwest, but I still met a lot of New Yorkers who were conservative. (I also discovered New Yorkers were often as ignorant about the Midwest as Midwesterers can sometimes be about NY, which I found amusing.) I loved the city's diversity, and the nightlife. But all the damn concrete and skyscrapers made me feel claustrophobic.
Someone in Music Appreciation posted a thread the other day on Glenn Frey's birthday, and it reminded me of one of my favorite songs and videos:
That reminds me so much of NYC nightlife, being out at night there, that it makes me feel homesick for NYC, And I used to live just a few blocks from the park on the East River that you see at the end of the video. I loved that park, too. But before the shot of Glenn Frey in Carl Schurz Park, you get a long look at one of those NYC canyon-streets that eventually gave me so much claustrophobia I had to get out.
I don't know of any perfect places to live. If I could afford multiple homes, I'd probably have them in widely distant locations. But I don't know how I could guarantee I'd never have RWers anywhere near me, or the location would never become more conservative politically.
You're much more likely to find political safe spaces online. Which is why websites like this one are so important.
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