HOBOKEN—If Livability.com is to be believed, Hoboken is more than just a long-time Democratic Party stronghold; it is the second best city for liberals in the United States.
Hoboken came in just behind Berkeley, California in Livability.com’s ranking of the 10 best cities for liberals. In doing so, it beat out such progressive bastions as Ann Arbor, Mich., Boulder, Colo., and Somerville, Mass.
According to Livability.com, Hoboken has all the classic signs of a liberal city: “one of the highest proportions of residents between the ages of 24 and 35, a mayor who supports same-sex marriage and a U.S. representative who stays true to traditional Democratic values.”
Livability noted that Hoboken’s Democratic Mayor Dawn Zimmer officiated the first gay marriage in Hoboken in 2013.
The ranking system incorporated the poll results in the 2012 presidential election, the legislative records of Hoboken’s congressional representatives on Govtrack, and data on the self-identified political leanings of residents from Esri.
President Obama won almost 66 percent of the vote in Hoboken in 2012, according to the Hudson County Clerk, down from 73 percent in 2008.
In addition, Livability and Experian Marketing Services found that Hoboken had above average consumption of a set of commodities it selected to represent liberal tastes—specifically Subarus, Qdoba, REI, Time magazine, and HBO’s The Newsroom.
Hoboken ranked second best city for liberals in the U.S.
