I have known for a long time that many of my friends have not only left this state because of money and opportunities, but one of the main things I often hear is “The place is just too damn conservative for me.”
Increasingly, people are congregating themselves geographically and along educational lines, said Rachel Sheffield, a senior policy adviser for the committee. Highly educated people, who tend to hold more liberal viewpoints, are concentrating themselves in cities in California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Texas, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., she said. Conservatives, meanwhile, are tending to stay in more rural areas. The two groups are interacting less, Sheffield said, which is exacerbating political divisions.
“If you’re not interacting with people with different political viewpoints, then you are less likely to have a face to go with differing viewpoints; that could lead to seeing different political viewpoints as connected to this unrelatable group that you never talk to and it’s easier to demonize people you don’t actually know,†Sheffield said.
I actually think Sioux Falls was less conservative in the late 90’s. Just look at the utter failure of the SD Democratic Party. I think after Tom Daschle left the Senate and GW Bush came into office, we started driving way north on the redness, and of course, Trump has made things even worse.