Any "Conservative" Areas Left in Oregon & WA?

[ejalret]

I have no desire to turn this into a political debate, but I'm just wondering if there any areas in either Oregon or Washington (state) that are not totally dominated by the liberal mindset? This is an honest question, not a political rant. I think much of the area is beautiful, but am tired of being "the" conservative at a party or social gathering here in the northeast and would like to retire in an area where the ratio is at least closer to 50/50. Thanks for your assistance....

 

[astromeria]

Doesn't look like you'd have trouble finding "red" counties:

From USA Today:
http://tinyurl.com/3l2uz

 

[haha]

I have no desire to turn this into a political debate, but I'm just wondering if there any areas in either Oregon or Washington (state) that are not totally dominated by the liberal mindset? This is an honest question, not a political rant. I think much of the area is beautiful, but am tired of being "the" conservative at a party or social gathering here in the northeast and would like to retire in an area where the ratio is at least closer to 50/50. Thanks for your assistance....

I've lived many different places in WA, lots are conservative. Most of SW Washington- Longview, Kelso, Chehalis, etc. Just stay away from Metro-Portland.

Almost all of eastern Washington would do- Spokane is a few miles away from the most conservative area in America- the Idaho Panhandle. Lots of Western hats to be seen in Spokane.

A personal note. At least in the past, some of these spots could get a little too conservative for my tastes. My wife is mixed race and looking at her it is hard to tell just what the mix is. On three separate occasions, we were refused entry to bars in "red" Washington on the basis that they didn't like her race, whatever it was.

This never happened in or within 20 miles of Spokane, only some of the smaller places. For tha treason and others, I would favor Spokane if I were ever to leave WW.

Ha

 

[Brat]

In Oregon Bend, Ashland and the Wmt. Valley are generally regarded as politically liberal, the rest conservative.  You didn’t define conservative so let me warn you: NW conservatives believe that government should stay out of their private lives and are not Bible thumpers.  If you want a conservative community where your neighbor tells how you live your life, look elsewhere (that’s not to say that they won’t talk about you  ).

The reason why you may think the state is liberal is that Bend, Ashland and the Wmt. Valley is a big % of the population.

 

[ejalret]

Thanks for the replys folks. Yes, there are shades of conservatism of course and the kind I'm looking for is more of the libertarian kind (anti-welfare state, in favor of low taxes) not the bible thumping kind although I have no problem with any faith as long as tey respect the rights of other to peacefully co-exist. In any case, it does seem like there are towns we'll feel comfortable in, so thanks for clearing this up!

 

[CyclingInvestor]

Here is a county by county map of the 2004 election that
shows just how blue/red each area is :

http://www.princeton.edu/~rvdb/JAVA/election2004/

 

[ejalret]

I've lived many different places in WA, lots are conservative. Most of SW Washington- Longview, Kelso, Chehalis, etc. Just stay away from Metro-Portland.

Okay, so ruling out Portland, what specific areas or towns would you recommend that are within 80 miles of a good-sized city, but with spectacular scenery, good weather (lots of sun) and hopefully a college in or near the town?

 

[gwix98]

Try drawing circles of radius 80 miles around Ellensburg and Pullman,
and you will have two relatively "conservative" areas, with state
colleges in each.

Washington State University (Pullman)
Central Washington University (Ellensburg)

I'd avoid anything along the I-5 area at least north of Seattle
You probably would not get enough sun!

gwix

 

[Brat]

You aren't asking much, almost every college town I know of tends to be libreral. The east side of the Cascades is cold in the winter, but it is sunny almost all year.  

Spokane, WA meets all your criteria-  Gonzaga University (Jesuit), Whitworth College (Presbyterian), Eastern Washington University, branches of UoW and WSU, and a community college.  Not far from Coeur D'Alene, ID - almost commuting distance (and not an inexpensive community).  Elensburg and Pullman would make the list of communities, as the prevous poster mentioned.  I can't speak to the scenery.

Medford, OR is another option.  There is a community college in Medford and Southern Oregon University is in nearby Ashland (known to be a liberal town). These two communities are ying and yang.  Medford is well served by Horizon Air to SFO and PDX.  I don't know if you would consider Medford to be 'good sized' or not, southern Oregon does.  

To find spectacualr scenery, cheap land, and a college you would need to go further away from a good sized city.  La Grande, OR would then make the list.

 

[haha]

The east side of the Cascades is cold in the winter, but it is sunny almost all year. 

This was not my experience. Tri-Cities is sunny, the rest sunnier than WW but hardly sunny. The other thing one needs to ask is how sunny can a place be when in winter the sun doesn't get very far above the horizon? Even if the sky should happen to be clear, on Dec 21 the maximum noontime altitude of the sun in Spokane is slightly less than 19 degrees. Piña Colada time it is not.

I think if OP is really looking for sun, he would best look elsewhere.

How about Tulsa? Oral Roberts University should supply plenty of conservative intellectual events. It is reasonably large, has plenty sun, and it is in a rather scenic area as I remember from passing through.

Ha

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Were you looking for non-liberal or red-neck?

Please take a closer look at my avatar: the Richland High Bombers--"Proud of the Cloud". The Tri-Cities were known in my youth as "The Birmingham of the North".

In Oregon, you don't have to get very far from Salem to find red-neck communities.

Be careful what you ask for....

 

[youbet]

Ed,

OP seemed pretty clear. "I'm just wondering if there any areas in either Oregon or Washington (state) that are not totally dominated by the liberal mindset?"

I think I understand where he is coming from as DW and I have no desire to live in an area where life is dominated by political activists of any persuasion.