Democrats want to live with Democrats. So do Republicans.


Where do young, smart Republicans want to live more than anywhere else? One of the most Democratic towns in America, naturally.
A new poll of recent college grads from Axios has some interesting results. Seattle is the most-desired destination city for young people looking to get started somewhere new. That's no surprise, as it's a tech hub in a tech-oriented economy. It's when the results are broken down by party affiliation that things become intriguing: New York is the top option for Democrats — and Austin, Texas, is the favored target of Republicans.
Travis County — Austin is the county seat — went 72 percent for Joe Biden in 2020. It's a famously liberal town, birthplace of the "Keep Austin Weird" slogan that other similarly hippie-dippie enclaves have stolen.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
And Austin isn't the only Dem-leaning town on the list. Chicago is also a top destination for young GOP grads. So is Nashville — like Austin, a very blue city in a big red state.
So what's going on here?
It's tempting to think that for all their party's culture war talk, what many young smart Republicans really want is to live in places that liberals have made: cool cities with brewpubs, art museums, and gay people walking hand-in-hand down the street. And maybe there's something to that.
But the real answer is probably more mundane. Big cities tend to be liberal. But those cities are also where most of the jobs are, especially for college grads. Austin is certainly a boomtown. And for young Republicans, the tension between their personal ideology and the politics of their chosen home might not be that great in a place like Austin or Nashville — they can rely on the Republican legislatures of those states to keep local politicians from getting out of hand.
Still, Axios' findings seem to fly in the face of other trends. Americans are increasingly sorting themselves, geographically, by political preference — Democrats with Democrats, Republicans with Republicans. But it is also the case that one of the biggest divides in American life right now is the education gap: College grads tend to vote liberal, while those with less education tend to vote Republican.
So you have to wonder what's going to happen to all those newly minted Republican college grads who are choosing to surround themselves with a lot of college-educated liberals in places like Austin. Can they maintain their ideological loyalties? Or will they gradually slip — to one degree or another — to the other side? It's a conservative truism that "politics is downstream of culture." Maybe all these young GOPers flocking to Austin will change the culture. Maybe they'll be changed.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Joel Mathis is a writer with 30 years of newspaper and online journalism experience. His work also regularly appears in National Geographic and The Kansas City Star. His awards include best online commentary at the Online News Association and (twice) at the City and Regional Magazine Association.
-
5 biting editorial cartoons about 'Alligator Alcatraz'
Cartoons Artists take on dangerous green things, historical precedent, and more
-
A journey into the deep past on beautiful Arran
The Week Recommends New Unesco Global Geopark played a 'key role' in the birth of modern geological science
-
China's London super-embassy
The Explainer The People's Republic wants to build a massive new embassy in central London, and a lot of people aren't happy about it
-
How will Trump's megabill affect you?
Today's Big Question Republicans have passed the 'big, beautiful bill' through Congress
-
How successful would Elon Musk's third party be?
Today's Big Question Musk has vowed to start a third party after falling out with Trump
-
Zohran Mamdani: the young progressive likely to be New York City's next mayor
In The Spotlight The policies and experience that led to his meteoric rise
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Some mainstream Democrats struggle with Zohran Mamdani's surprise win
TALKING POINT To embrace or not embrace? A party in transition grapples with a rising star ready to buck political norms and energize a new generation.
-
How Zohran Mamdani's NYC mayoral run will change the Democratic Party
Talking Points The candidate poses a challenge to the party's 'dinosaur wing'
-
DNC rocked by high-profile departures as future is in question
IN THE SPOTLIGHT Generational shifts, ambiguous priorities, and the intensifying dangers of the Trump administration have pushed the organization into uncertain territory
-
Trump tells ICE to hit blue cities, spare farms, hotels
Speed Read Trump has targeted New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles among other cities