Detroit

none ^ | January 27, 2005 | Curtis Ryan Baginski

[Chrysler813]

Is Detroit a Conservative or Liberal city?

I know the city always votes Liberal but so dose every major USA city. I'm talkin about the 3 County Metro area (Macomb, Oakland, Wayne)

I am planning on moving to Chesterfield in April. Chesterfield is a Detroit suburb (Macomb Co.)

As long as I'm askin ?s about Detroit, I heard from a teacher I had at St.Paul Lutheran School the Detroit News was Conservative bias. Is that true?

Thanks again, Freepers, 4 your help in this time of change in my life!!!

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Michgian has the best church: Good Shepherd Chesterfield (I belonged to Good Shepherd 1986 - 1999)

How did you live here and not know what it was like?

[Chrysler813]

I was a child till August 12, 1999.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

So what are you now? 12?

[norwaypinesavage]

Minnesota has a whole lot more snow, a whole lot more Lutherans and better AM radio stations. Fewer cars, though.

[Chrysler813]

Sparta, IL (1 of the most Liberal parts of America (Southen Illinois)

[Larry Lucido]

My wife and I moved back to Michigan in 1999 after living in Texas and later in DeKalb, Illinois. It was a nice homecoming, mostly because of family, but also because of having four seasons again. Illinois had that also, but Michigan is has trees and lakes where Illinois had mostly cornfields (not that there's anything wrong with that).

[Larry Lucido]

BTW, I am in Southfield, southern Oakland county. Mostly democrat but its a well run city. The next republican senator from Michigan may come from this area - Keith Butler of Word of Faith church in Southfield.

[grellis]

Butler was mentioned at the Ingham County exec cmte meeting last night. His name was mentioned as someone we may invite to speak at our Lincoln Day dinner, besed, I suppose, on his consideration of running for Senate. What's he like?

BTW--I worked at Tel-Twelve mall, about a thousand years ago. I sure don't miss that traffic!

[Larry Lucido]

He's pro-life, avid hunter and, best as I can tell, strongly pro-concealed carry. Very conservative all the way around.

[FITZ]

Why not go to Grand Rapids which I think is sort of conservative or at least it used to be.

[Semolina Pilchard]

I suspect this is because the Freep and the News share news staffs but not editorial staffs. They are owned by the same company.

This is patently untrue. The Detroit Free Press is owned by Knight-Ridder Inc. The Detroit News is owned by Gannett Company Inc. They do not share news staffs. They are, in fact, fiercely competitive -- each paper is constantly trying to out-scoop the other.

Business operations for each paper -- marketing, circulation, advertising, etc. -- is administered by an agency called Detroit Newspapers.

Amid all of Detroit's negative points, the fact that it's a two-newspaper town is one of its blessings. The Detroit News is generally considered stronger in local and regional news coverage; the Free Press is superior in national news, sports and entertainment coverage. The News is known for the caliber of its reporting; the Free Press is known for the caliber of its writers.

As for their editorial positions: The Detroit Free Press is liberal. The Detroit News is conservative.

[Semolina Pilchard]

To address the original poster's query: The City of Detroit, like most major cities, is heavily Democratic. In the suburbs can be found Republican concentrations, particularly in places such as Grosse Pointe, Bloomfield Hills, etc. But Metro Detroit, and Michigan in general, are predominantly liberal, in large part because of the power held by labor unions. (This is a place where roads actually have names like "Reuther Freeway.")

Labor unions are, of course, about as antithetical to the American spirit as you can get. So if you're not keen about living in a place where the entitlement mentality is firmly entrenched, I'd suggest going to a place that actually respects individual rights and other conservative values.

The Detroit area has a sort of rugged, ragged allure. But there's no escaping the fact that Detroit is a place whose best days are behind it. That whole dark-gothic thing loses its poetic charm pretty quick.

Unless you're being drawn here by a lucrative job that you just can't turn down, why not set your sights on a city where the atmosphere is upbeat, where the mindset is one of hope rather than desperation? Cities such as Charlotte, Austin, Phoenix ... places that are clean, warm, on the move and -- best of all -- pretty darned conservative.

[grellis]

Actually, Michigan is a pretty darn conservative state. Google up a county by county showing election results. Its a very red mitten with a few blue stains.

The Free Press is not fit to line a bird cage with, never has been. Nothing but leftist slant, every page. The News is not much better. It is certainly not the conservatrive paper I grew up reading.

[Chrysler813]

Thank u 4 your help

[Semolina Pilchard]

You're quite welcome, Chrysler. Best of luck with your move, wherever you may land.

[FateAmenableToChange]

I suspect this is because the Freep and the News share news staffs but not editorial staffs. They are owned by the same company. This is patently untrue. The Detroit Free Press is owned by Knight-Ridder Inc. The Detroit News is owned by Gannett Company Inc. They do not share news staffs. They are, in fact, fiercely competitive -- each paper is constantly trying to out-scoop the other.

My apologies. I apparently fell victim to unchecked facts related to me independently by two otherwise reliable sources. I don't like either paper and had no reason to check before now.