Are your political views like those of the people in your neighborhood?

[ourbabygirl]

If not, has it been an annoyance for you? Is your neighborhood pretty homogeneous in this regard?

Just wondering, as the yard signs start popping up around me and elections are just around the corner. :)

[minnie-zb]

I would say we are pretty mixed in our neighborhood. I try to avoid political discussions as they don't go well. Luckily our neighbors haven't started with the yard signs, but I figure they are coming as we are in a contested state.

[SnuggleBuggles]

My direct neighbors on my block are pretty mixed but no problems b/c I don't discuss politics with others. I don't hesitate to put my yard signs up and neither do they. In general, my part of town is made up of university professors and other professionals that tend to lean left around here. I saw a sign that I want to get that said "Stop fighting; Start Fixing" and showed a combo donkey/ elephant. That's what I want.

[MelissaTC]

Our neighborhood is divided. On our side, the majority of the resident are pretty liberal and some are even Hippie-ish. The other side is older in age and more conservative. There was a lot of shock when the Romney sign went up on the liberal side, lol. An older couple moved in a year or so ago and they tend to do signs.

[BabbyO]

Absolutely not. Politics is one subject that DH and I completely avoid when talking to ANYONE in our neighborhood - or anyone anywhere, except each other. It is one thing that he and I 99.9% of the time agree on.

We are in the minority in our political views in our neighborhood...that's ok. I'll continue to go negate one of my neighbors votes! :)

[maestramommy]

Some yes, some no. Depends on whether it's local, state, or national. Even then it's a mixed bag.

[codex57]

I have no idea. I haven't seen any signs. Never seen signs. I wonder if we're even allowed to have signs (fairly strict HOA).

We just talk about daily life stuff. Work, kids, our builder (new subdivision), etc.

[Blue Hydrangea]

If not, has it been an annoyance for you? Is your neighborhood pretty homogeneous in this regard?

Just wondering, as the yard signs start popping up around me and elections are just around the corner. :)

My husband and I differ in political views, but we live in his small, rural hometown. Yard signs around here are pretty much only up for local elections, houses that have them up are really based on how well they know the candidate personally and whether the homeowners are related to the candidate (yes, really!).:p

[DietCokeLover]

No. DH and I are conservative and we live in one of the most liberal leaning areas in our state.

[kijip]

I can count the number of votes McCain got in my precinct on a single hand. The green party draws more votes for Congress than the Republican in our district. Most political signs for contested local races have 2 Democrats running against each other- we have a lot of technically non-partisan races here as well as a strange top two primary system. This system means that the GOP isn't even on the ballot in the general many times. This actually bugs me sometimes because I think it breeds complacency and frankly sometimes it's like living in a bubble. But I am not moving either. So it is what it is.

[o_mom]

Moderate, democrat-leaning here in a heavily Republican area. We just keep quiet and every once in awhile you see a shared look with someone else and cautiously test the waters like some kind of underground secret society. :rotflmao: Almost outed myself to someone before I realized they were joking about not liking Romney.

[kdeunc]

We are not like our neighbors. DH is a moderate who is fed up with the whole system and I am a left leaning Democrat. Everyone he works with and most we socialize with lean to the right. On our primary ballot we had a local liquor by the drink issue and a statewide gay marriage issue. He and I joked that if anyone knew in town that we voted for liquor AND gay rights we would be run out of town! :)

[TwinFoxes]

I live in a swing district in a swing state. So, yes and no. :)

[ilfaith]

I remember going to vote in a Democratic primary in the gated, golf club community where I used to live. The election volunteers looked like the were about to fall asleep. I don't think they got much traffic that day. I know I was the only one there to vote at the time I showed up.

I am not sure about the neighborhood I am in now. I suspect it is a bit more diverse and slightly less conservative than where we used to live. I am not sure what our HOA's policy on signs is, but I suspect I will get a better feel for the political leanings of the community as we get closer to election time.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

No. I consider myself somewhere between moderate liberal and libertarian, and everyone around here is very right-wing, Tea Party supporters, anti-gay marriage, etc. We were probably the only people on our street who had an Obama sign in 2008. Not surprising bc I live in Texas, and the community we live in is extremely homogenous (mostly WASPs). in my mom's group (~30 ppl), i am the only person "of color" (and come to think of it, i'm the only person with dark-haired children.). I think we're also one of the very very few families that do not go to church regularly and do not own guns in our home. Even after living here for 4 years, it's all somewhat odd to me, given i grew up mostly in California (near San Francisco, really) and then lived in Boston for several years..both of which were very diverse, both culturally and otherwise, and much more liberal-leaning... I never thought twice about feeling like i was a "minority" or whatever.

eta: have not seen any signs pop up yet. i don't think we are going to do signs this year. DH is always paranoid that it will make the neighbors dislike us or something. LOL

[baileygirl]

Our neighborhood tends to have pretty strong political beliefs (both ways) and generally has someone running for some local office. I HATE when the local debate hits our neighborhood Facebook page, especially if the candidate is in our neighborhood.

[lalasmama]

My neighborhood is much more liberal than me. I'm pretty darn conservative.

[wendibird22]

Based on yard signs this independent but democratic leaning household is surrounded by very friendly Republicans We don't talk politics with any of the neighbors.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[smilequeen]

No. There are a lot of that #@%&* Akin signs in my neighborhood. He's in my district and people vote for him. And me...I'm pretty liberal, at least by comparison.

[speo]

I am in a re-formed district that is now hotly contested. It seems we are roughly 55/45 (Rep/Dem). So roughly half somewhat like me (I am very liberal) and half not. And I would say that is how it feels and what I encounter. I voted Other. Having extremely divergent views is a large reason why I will never live in "The OC" again even though it is where I grew up.

[erosenst]

I know who I *don't* want to vote for by looking at our neighbors' yard. He's the precinct captain for us, and often brags about the turnout. (4 precincts vote at our polling place)

Neither he nor his party are my favorite - so it gives me a childish thrill when I vote...

[♥ms.pacman♥]

No. There are a lot of that #@%&* Akin signs in my neighborhood. He's in my district and people vote for him. And me...I'm pretty liberal, at least by comparison.

OT, but i cannot imagine anybody supporting this guy, after what he said about "legitimate rape" (how women who are "legitimately raped" don't really get pregnant..WTF!) even Romney and others said they don't support him after those statements...

[melwe]

Fairly liberal in a conservative area, also in Akin's district. People around here post overly large Akin signs that have gone from mildly annoying to almost offensive given his recent blathering.

[LexyLou]

I live in California which is a blue state but we live in an affluent area outside of San Francisco where the majority of our neighbors are Republicans. We are definitely one of the few democrats in our neighborhood.

[hellokitty]

This is a sore topic for us. Not only are we the black sheep in our neighborhood, but pretty much for our entire town too. We live in a super conservative, bible thumping region and DH and I are politically and socially pretty much the opposite of the, "norm" in our area. I pretty much don't talk to anyone about politics, unless I already know that their beliefs are the same as mine. Off of the top of my head, I think I only have two local friends who are on the same page that I am on, and they feel the same way about being the black sheep in our area. There are a few others from our UU church who are probably on the same page, but we haven't been really involved in church lately. In fact one of these friends who is on the same page as us, is moving away by next month and I know that politics/religion is one reason why they are moving. She said that they are sick of it and they don't want their children growing up around this sort of thing. We are in the five yr plan, where if DH can change jobs, he will go for it. It stinks to be the black sheep in an area.

[Moneypenny]

Politically, we are the polar opposite of the majority of our neighbors and it is an annoyance for us, to be honest. When we put up a yard sign during the last presidential election, we got hate mail in our mail box. The sign was stolen multiple times so we started bringing it in at night. Our daughter was very upset by all this.

Neighborhood picnics can be pretty awkward. The people in our age group do okay just avoiding any conflict and talking about other subjects, but the elderly people really like to go on and on about the latest political thing while the rest of us keep trying to change the subject in order to keep the peace.

[mommylamb]

Overall, in my area, I think most people lean democratic, but my immediate area is very near to one of the military installations, so my particular street is more mixed. Honestly, I rarely have in depth conversations with my neighbors about anything, and I can't imagine talking to them about politics.

I also don't put up signs in my yard or put bumper stickers on my car, even though I am resolute in my voting pattern. For professional reasons, I don't think it's appropriate for me to plaster my opinion out there IRL. I'm pretty sure some of my neighbors assume that I'm a Republican. Oddly, so does the Republican party here in Virginia, since I seem to have gotten onto their call list, but not the Dems' call list :shrug:. It did really piss me off when I got a robo call at 9:30 the other night and it woke up DS2.


Politically, we are the polar opposite of the majority of our neighbors and it is an annoyance for us, to be honest. When we put up a yard sign during the last presidential election, we got hate mail in our mail box. The sign was stolen multiple times so we started bringing it in at night. Our daughter was very upset by all this.


That is so awful that your neighbors would do that. Harassment, IMO. What a bunch of cowards.

[boolady]

I doubt it. I haven't discussed politics with any of my neighbors since moving to our home in September, but based on growing up in the town and the makeup of our town council, it's not likely. I really don't need to get into political debates with my neighbors, anyway. I just want the kids to get along.

[KrisM]

No idea for the most part. Signs aren't allowed. I don't talk politics with people. But, I know a couple people are opposite of us by comments they make on Facebook.