Funny you should say that. The Economist, a decidedly conservative magazine, ran an article about the most liberal and conservative U.S. cities with a population of 250,000 or higher, based on research by a team from UCLA and MIT published in the American Political Science Review:
Economist Article
UCLA/MIT study [[long academic article / pdf)
Figures from the study [[lotta data / pdf)
And according to the research, the ranking of those cities from most liberal to most conservative is the following:
1 San Francisco, CA
2 Washington, DC
3 Seattle, WA
4 Oakland, CA
5 Boston, MA
6 Minneapolis, MN
7 Detroit, MI
8 New York, NY
9 Buffalo, NY
10 Baltimore, MD
11 Chicago, IL
12 Portland, OR
13 St. Paul, MN
14 Austin, TX
15 St. Louis, MO
16 Philadelphia, PA
17 New Orleans, LA
18 Los Angeles, CA
19 Pittsburgh, PA
20 Denver, CO
21 Newark, NJ
22 Atlanta, GA
23 Miami, FL
24 Clevelnad, OH
25 Kansas City, MO
26 Honolulu, HI
27 San Diego, CA
28 Memphis, TN
29 Sacramento, CA
30 San Jose, CA
31 Raleigh, NC
32 Long Beach, CA
33 Milwaukee, WI
34 Columbus, OH
35 Dallas, TX
36 Albuquerque, NM
37 Tucson, AZ
38 Cincinnati, OH
39 Santa Ana, CA
40 Houston, TX
41 Toledo, OH
42 Charlotte, NC
43 Tampa, FL
44 Indianapolis, IN
45 Louisville, KY
46 El Paso, TX
47 Riverside, CA
48 Lexington, KY
49 Phoenix, AZ
50 Las Vegas, NV
51 Wichita, KS
52 Nashville, TN
53 San Antonio, TX
54 Corpus Christi, TX
55 Fresno, CA
56 Fort Worth, TX
57 Anchorage, AK
58 Aurora, CO
59 Tulsa, OK
60 Omaha, NE
61 Anaheim, CA
62 Arlington, TX
63 Jacksonville, FL
64 Colorado Springs, CO
65 Virginia Beach, VA
66 Oklahoma City, OK
67 Mesa, AZ
Pair that with a recent
New York Times article that describes the cities doing best in our recent economy, and a graphic that accompanies it detailing the change in unemployment in U.S. cities from 2000, to 2009, to 2016.
NY Times Article
NY Times Graphic
It's interesting to note the cities doing best are all among the most liberal. It's also interesting to note that among all cities, Detroit has seen the most dramatic positive change in employment. And more to the point, who wouldn't take San Francisco, D.C., New York, Seattle, Portland, Oakland, Boston, Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Austin, and yes, Detroit over Arlington, Tulsa, Omaha, Mesa, Oklahoma City, Anchorage, Anaheim, Corpus Christi, Jacksonville, Colorado Springs, or Virginia Beach any and every day? I can't speak for them, but I'm pretty sure most young people who know a thing or two about what's out there would agree.
Liberal and Conservative are crude terms that have little meaning, as they mean different things to different people. Political Left and Political Right likewise. But clearly your simplistic assessment is wrong. There must be more to it.
It would be interesting to explore how liberal cities fare in the context of conservative state and federal governments. What happens when cities are choked of resources in the name of reduced state and federal taxes to create a "pro-business environment". Do you remember Flint in the 60's and 70's? Now let's remember the 80's, when "trickle-down" economics became the law of the land. It was David Stockman, Reagan's Director of the Office of Management who said Reagan's "supply-side" marketing of his tax policy was just a more palatable way to sell the "trickle-down" theory.
Atlantic Article on David Stockman
Let's also investigate the result of state and federal policies that incentivize sprawl at the expense of density, when mass transit is de-funded for the benefit of expressways that lead the tax base to abandon our urban cores. Maybe we'll find part of the explanation there.
And let's look deeper into the history of GM with Flint. They're much more responsible for Flint's historical fortunes than local ideology. And let's look at the Federal laws that facilitated GM's exit. There are so many devils in the details of corporate law, tax structures, inter-state commerce, international trade agreements, and their affects. I'm sure we'll find some insights there too.
Or if you're intellectually lazy it's so much easier to skip all that and just repeat what the blowhards on the radio have to say.