The red state/blue state divide catches our interest because intuitively, we know that people in different regions have different viewpoints. However while the dichtomy makes a good sound bite it’s just as clearly an oversimplification. That’s why I like this article in the Globe, which divides Massachusetts into regions based how they vote. The areas enumerated here resonate with me as being much more accurate and useful in understanding other viewpoints. I’ve moved from Brookline in “Bigger Boston,” to “Shopper’s World,” that includes Newton. (The strange attraction of that mall deserves another post.) I do feel more at home in Newton and I do feel accurately described as someone who has an interest in doing well materially, but generally considers liberal social issues more important at the polls, which is how Shoppers World residents vote.
Similarly, the research this is based on from MassINC includes a national map which might explain why I feel more at home in the “Upper Coast,” which includes my native ground of Connecticut and current home in Massachusetts (and favorite cross-country place to visit of San Francisco) rather that in New York, which was in the “Northeast Corridor” instead, even if it was also a blue state.