Is Baton Rouge becoming more progressive—or, at least, less conservative?
The answer is yes, according to the Baton Rouge Area Foundation’s 2014 CityStats report, which measures quality of life indicators in nine areas. Responses to poll questions suggest Baton Rougeans are more politically moderate; more willing to support a fairness ordinance, gay marriage, and tough emissions standards; and more open to the idea of a dedicated gasoline tax.
This is welcome news to some, disheartening to others. Nearly half of the 800 respondents in an unscientific Daily Report poll—46%—took issue with the assertion that the city is becoming more moderate.
Conservative activist and parish Republican Party Chairman Woody Jenkins, meanwhile, questioned the veracity of the data on the grounds that the survey was not limited to “registered voters” or “likely voters” in Baton Rouge, according to The Advocate.
I’ve been trying to figure out which particular city stat is so troublesome. Perhaps it’s that a majority of those surveyed—54%—support gay marriage, up nearly 23% from the 44% who supported it in 2011, the first time CityStats posed a question about the issue.
Perhaps it has to do with the controversial fairness ordinance, which 62% of CityStats respondents support. Whether that’s a significantly higher number than in the past is hard to say since BRAF didn’t pose the question until this year.
Perhaps it’s that 61% of respondents now believe we’re in a period of global warming, compared to 58% in 2013, while 68% say the government should do more about the problem, compared to 63% last year.
Perhaps it’s that more than 60% would pay at least 5 cents in a parishwide gas tax if the revenues would fund new roads and bridges.
Or perhaps it’s that 34% of respondents now consider themselves political moderates, up from 31% last year. Only 11%, meanwhile, consider themselves very conservative, a decrease from 15%.
I’m guessing the offending issue is “all of the above.” As the data shows, almost half of the respondents still have a problem with gay marriage and anti-discrimination laws. One-third don’t believe global warming is a problem, and almost as many consider themselves conservative or very conservative.
Again, if I were to guess, I would suppose the suggestion that the community is becoming somehow more moderate is chilling to conservatives.
Then again, it’s hard to get a clear long-term perspective on the extent to which attitudes here have really changed. CityStats has only been measuring them for a couple of years. In 2009 and 2010, CityStats didn’t tackle the kind of hot-button topics that so divide people in the red camp from those in the blue. Early on, the survey stuck to safe subjects like crime, city services and census demographics.
Though BRAF has maintained a consistent scientific methodology in the five years it has conducted and published the survey, it has intentionally broadened the focus of CityStats—not to foist some hidden agenda on the city but to better “understand how residents of the parish view issues that are shaping the national and local debate,” according to BRAF spokesman Mukul Verma.
“We asked about same-sex marriage because Americans were debating it, and we included questions about global warming because Louisiana is among the most vulnerable places for sea level rise.”
These are fair questions relevant to our specific situation, and the answers are telling on many levels. Whether you like what the data shows or not, don’t kill the messenger. In what is otherwise a void, BRAF is offering information to inform how we address social problems. Let’s see how Baton Rouge uses it.
