Democrats in Fresno outnumber rival Republicans by more than 20,000 registered voters, but California’s fifth-largest city still can’t shake the perception that it’s a conservative bastion.
Now there’s a study, which appears this month in the American Political Science Review. Its conclusion? Fresno, is pretty much middle of the road — at least relatively speaking.
When stacked up against 67 other large American cities, it looks pretty conservative. There are only a dozen cities considered more conservative in the study. In California, Fresno is second only to Anaheim in Orange County as most conservative.
That said, the study shows that nationwide, liberal big cities are far more common than conservative big cities. And the most liberal cities are far more liberal than the most conservative cities are conservative.
Even Houston and Dallas in conservative Texas are considered more liberal than Fresno.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/08/15/4071693/study-shows-fresno-is-in-political.html
Studies:
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/08/08/chart-of-the-week-the-most-liberal-and-conservative-big-cities/
http://www.ctausanovitch.com/Municipal_Representation_140502.pdf
A statewide survey released Thursday ranks Fresno and other Central Valley communities as the most disadvantaged areas in California when it comes to challenges ranging from polluted water to joblessness.
The ranking by the California Environmental Protection Agency earmarks those and other areas hardest hit by environmental, economic and health problems for a greater share of the more than $800 million in funds from the state’s cap-and-trade program.
The program collects financial fees from companies and other entities that emit the most climate-changing carbon.
The agency assessed 19 criteria such as percentage of people with asthma, quality of drinking water and air, prevalence of pesticide contamination, and nearness to toxic-waste cleanup sites.
Fresno neighborhoods dominated the ranking, with Bakersfield, Los Angeles, El Monte, San Bernardino and Ontario also making the top 20 among the thousands of census districts in the state.
State press release:
http://www.oehha.ca.gov/public_info/press/ces2pressrelease2014.html
Full report is item #1 and spreadsheet with census tract ratings is item #3:
http://www.oehha.ca.gov/ej/