Differences Between Our States

[chiver78]

a HS classmate of mine bought property in Montana, with plans to retire there. I've spent quite a bit of time in VT, and some current neighbors are seasonal residents here with the green-and-white VT license plates on their vehicles. 

can't speak for Wyoming personally, but wasn't that where Matthew Shepard was killed? 

[TheOtherMe]

Apr 17, 2023 17:09:29 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

can't speak for Wyoming personally, but wasn't that where Matthew Shepard was killed? 

Sadly, yes it is.     From my interactions with people in Cheyenne, the hate hasn't changed.

My dad lived on a farm in Wyoming during the Depression.  As of 1970, it was still standing and people were living in it.

[minnesotapaintlady]

Western Montana is absolutely gorgeous.  I could happily live in Missoula

[raeoflyte]

I have friends who moved to Wyoming for the cost of living. I worry my friend is terribly isolated though.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I live in Iowa. I live on the very edge of Western Iowa.   The rural areas of the state are still VERY conservative and Trump leaning which amuses me because I don't understand how they think a New York real estate mogul actually gives a shit about them.

Iowa used to be more purple.  The state went to Obama both times and we were the third state to legalize gay marriage.  Ever so slowly though as I have gotten older we have become redder and redder and redder.  It makes me sad.  

The cities are still more liberal than the rural areas but we are probably not considered all that liberal when compared to the coasts.  Things are so gerrymandered though that the cities get virtually no representation.  I think that is eventually going to change because the rural areas are dealing with massive brain drain and their populations are getting increasingly older.  I hope to see it happen in my lifetime but I am not counting on it.

Council Bluffs can have crime and I joke about the meth problem but I've lived here all my life.  I feel pretty safe in general I don't feel the need to walk around armed, I don't lock my door if I run across the street.  The worst I have had to deal with is some teenage idiots looking for change in my car and that was solved by locking my door.   I've lived in the same neighborhood all my life too and we look out for each other.

The demographics are mostly white as white can be though we have a large Hispanic population.  Omaha has a large Southeast Asian and Sudanese population and they butt up right against us.  Omaha is gentrifying and by proxy Council Bluffs is too because we are still currently cheaper to live in.   We have a pretty LCOL compared to the costs but like everywhere else the costs are going up and housing is becoming a problem.

There are other states I would love to live in but I couldn't afford to live in any of them.  Plus the weather.   We can have tornadoes and flooding but at the moment at least we are not on fire, no sink holes, no hurricanes or any of the other weather phenomenon other states have to deal with.  And given the direction water supplies are going I kinda like living in a state that is boarded by two of the biggest fresh water rivers in the country.

If I lived in the rural areas of the state I would probably feel differently.  Council Bluffs is not Des Moines but I can make peace with it.  Omaha is right across the river so I have plenty of entertainment and things to do.

[nidena]

Apr 18, 2023 9:43:26 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

I live in Iowa. I live on the very edge of Western Iowa.   The rural areas of the state are still VERY conservative and Trump leaning which amuses me because I don't understand how they think a New York real estate mogul actually gives a shit about them.

Iowa used to be more purple.  The state went to Obama both times and we were the third state to legalize gay marriage.  Ever so slowly though as I have gotten older we have become redder and redder and redder.  It makes me sad.  

The cities are still more liberal than the rural areas but we are probably not considered all that liberal when compared to the coasts.  Things are so gerrymandered though that the cities get virtually no representation.  I think that is eventually going to change because the rural areas are dealing with massive brain drain and their populations are getting increasingly older.  I hope to see it happen in my lifetime but I am not counting on it.

Council Bluffs can have crime and I joke about the meth problem but I've lived here all my life.  I feel pretty safe in general I don't feel the need to walk around armed, I don't lock my door if I run across the street.  The worst I have had to deal with is some teenage idiots looking for change in my car and that was solved by locking my door.   I've lived in the same neighborhood all my life too and we look out for each other.

The demographics are mostly white as white can be though we have a large Hispanic population.  Omaha has a large Southeast Asian and Sudanese population and they butt up right against us.  Omaha is gentrifying and by proxy Council Bluffs is too because we are still currently cheaper to live in.   We have a pretty LCOL compared to the costs but like everywhere else the costs are going up and housing is becoming a problem.

There are other states I would love to live in but I couldn't afford to live in any of them.  Plus the weather.   We can have tornadoes and flooding but at the moment at least we are not on fire, no sink holes, no hurricanes or any of the other weather phenomenon other states have to deal with.  And given the direction water supplies are going I kinda like living in a state that is boarded by two of the biggest fresh water rivers in the country.

If I lived in the rural areas of the state I would probably feel differently.  Council Bluffs is not Des Moines but I can make peace with it.  Omaha is right across the river so I have plenty of entertainment and things to do.

I know someone who moved from Central Valley CA to Council Bluffs to Altoona to Conrad, IA and her ignorance grew as the population of her city shrunk.  She said Iowa isn't racist because Marshalltown is mostly Mexican.  

[TheOtherMe]

I moved back to Iowa in 2009.  In that time period, I've seen Dubuque go from reliably blue to purple to red.  

Yes, the cities have been gerrymandered so that we have 4 GQP in the House of Representatives.  

Iowa is extremely racist.  In the few instances where I go out, I see it and hear it.  

My sister is afraid to go to downtown Dubuque because of Black people.  We grew up in Des Moines and attended the Black high school.  I don't know what has happened to her.  Even being the Black high school meant less than 10% of the student body was Black.  

[billisonboard]

Apr 18, 2023 10:40:23 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

I moved back to Iowa in 2009.  In that time period, I've seen Dubuque go from reliably blue to purple to red.  

Yes, the cities have been gerrymandered so that we have 4 GQP in the House of Representatives.  

Iowa is extremely racist.  In the few instances where I go out, I see it and hear it.  

My sister is afraid to go to downtown Dubuque because of Black people.  We grew up in Des Moines and attended the Black high school.  I don't know what has happened to her.  Even being the Black high school meant less than 10% of the student body was Black.  

Iowa's decennial redistricting process is heralded as a national nonpartisan model in what is inherently a political exercise. Lawmakers can only amend map boundaries if they reject the first two sets of maps and receive a third map from the state's nonpartisan mapmakers. Gov. Kim Reynolds signs Iowa's new redistricting maps into law

Here is the map:


How do draw lines which would create a Democratic majority district?

[NastyWoman]

It is interesting that no one (that would include yours truly) has addressed life expectancy by state. From all I have read there is a strong correlation between life expectancy and political party in charge. And that "race" is decidedly not being won by the red states.

[TheOtherMe]

Yes, Iowa's redistricting process is supposed to be the best there is.  The first map put two GQP incumbents in the same house district, so changes had to be made.

Des Moines and Ames are both blue.  They used to be in the same district.  Now Ames is in the extremely red district.

Iowa City and Cedar Rapids are like one metro area.  In this year's map, they are in two different districts.  Split the blue vote.

To get a blue district, put Iowa City and Cedar Rapids back in one district.

In my district, we had two incumbents running because Iowa lost a seat.  The Democratic incumbent's signature petitions were challenged and she lost in court.  For whatever reason, her campaign decided when they had enough signatures from various areas to stop getting signatures and she paid for it.  

Had two incumbents run in District 2, that could have changed things.

[billisonboard]

Apr 18, 2023 19:51:30 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

Yes, Iowa's redistricting process is supposed to be the best there is.  The first map put two GQP incumbents in the same house district, so changes had to be made.

Des Moines and Ames are both blue.  They used to be in the same district.  Now Ames is in the extremely red district.

Iowa City and Cedar Rapids are like one metro area.  In this year's map, they are in two different districts.  Split the blue vote.

To get a blue district, put Iowa City and Cedar Rapids back in one district.

In my district, we had two incumbents running because Iowa lost a seat.  The Democratic incumbent's signature petitions were challenged and she lost in court.  For whatever reason, her campaign decided when they had enough signatures from various areas to stop getting signatures and she paid for it.  

Had two incumbents run in District 2, that could have changed things.

How would it impact the rest of the map to put any of those larger population areas into one district? It would be interesting to see the full map.

[TheOtherMe]

Another thing the map did, which is not reflected in the larger map, was to change legislative districts so they were more GQP friendly.  That has worked out in the favor of the GQP.

Today's agenda is to guy the State Auditors office of it's authority to audit.  The governor is most unhappy that she didn't get "her" State Auditor.  So the solution is to make it optional for the agencies and other municipalities that are audited by the state to turn over records.

Kimmy is still pissed about all of the things she did wrong with various types of Covid money and had to repay.

[pooks]

I like Boise, I just wish it wasn't in Idaho.  Boise has the largest Idaho College and is the state capital, so there is always something going on.  Boise is big enough, that we have shopping, some concerts, some festivals,  and some shows. All in a pretty compact area. I have tickets for 3 concerts and 2 outdoor shows this summer.  We have a great trail system and a paved greenbelt system that will get you all over town.  There isn't really a bad neighborhood or anywhere I wouldn't feel sake walking.  Boise is also a great starting point for camping trips. Politically Boise leans Blue, but the county tilts red. The education system seemed fine when DD was in it, but is getting a lot of state pushback post covid.  

Which brings me to the problem of the state.  I HATE Idaho.  They are just too crazy for me, always going after some liberal boggyman (libraries, teachers, doctors, women, LGBTQ+).  There is so much ignorance and hate in this state.  

[billisonboard]

Apr 21, 2023 12:39:46 GMT -5 pooks said:

I like Boise, I just wish it wasn't in Idaho.  Boise has the largest Idaho College and is the state capital, so there is always something going on.  Boise is big enough, that we have shopping, some concerts, some festivals,  and some shows. All in a pretty compact area. I have tickets for 3 concerts and 2 outdoor shows this summer.  We have a great trail system and a paved greenbelt system that will get you all over town.  There isn't really a bad neighborhood or anywhere I wouldn't feel sake walking.  Boise is also a great starting point for camping trips. Politically Boise leans Blue, but the county tilts red. The education system seemed fine when DD was in it, but is getting a lot of state pushback post covid.  

Which brings me to the problem of the state.  I HATE Idaho.  They are just too crazy for me, always going after some liberal boggyman (libraries, teachers, doctors, women, LGBTQ+).  There is so much ignorance and hate in this state.  

Growing up there we would say, "There is Boise, then there is Idaho."