Young Americans who consider themselves conservative:

In the South, definitely, since this seems to be where the conservative majority lives. I will do my best to not end up living on the West Coast or in New England, since I have low opinions of some of the things that have happened/are happening/could end up happening there.

I will raise them to think for themselves, of course, but there will be a conservative bias that I don't think can be helped. I hold out hope that I will raise kids who decide that conservatives have it right.

And to avoid anything unpleasant I will leave my answer at that. Cheers.

"I choose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their good characters, and my enemies for their good intellects. A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies. I have not got one who is a fool." -- Oscar Wilde

I'm going to move to southern Kentucky to go to college next year, then I'll probably stay there unless I really don't like it. I really want to live in a "small town" atmosphere, though!

It's pronounced "dack" -- All my stories are autobiographies. Some are just a little more shameless than others!

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The south does seem to be where a concentration of conservatism lies. I would suggest Texas spcefically, however it has been showing some signs of moving towards a more liberal stance. i beleive there are now two whole blue counties. Personally, I love Texas, and will be raising my children there, regardless of where the political bias swings. I was raised around liberals and left-wingers and am still a conservative. Personally I think that most of it has to do with the parents rather than the political climate. The cliamte does affect somethings though.

"Geez! You scared me! Where'd you come from?"
"Well, you see, when a man and a woman love each other very much..."
"Oh shut up."
~Excerpt from "Familia" 2009*

*or at least it will be when I get that far...;)

Hawaii, because then I'd be living in Hawaii.

It's not important to me that my kids are surrounded by conservatives -- I'd rather they get challenged and learn how to think about problems logically and rationally, even if they don't end up agreeing with me.

"This is going to be the worst day of your life. I'm bringing nunchuks." H. Freeman

people tend to think of california as an extremely liberal state but what they don't realize is that it's actually an extremely LARGE state, and only small areas of it (the L.A. area and the S.F. Bay Area are the ones everybody knows about) are markedly liberal. the whole central area, where i live, is agricultural land and in general, quite conservative. california has its very own bible belt right down the middle that nobody ever talks about.

This is very true, but I'm a native Californian, and I would not want to raise my children here, even in a conservative county. I wouldn't want to buy property or open a business here, either. As a conservative with a big libertarian bent, my problems with the state are more its fiscal irresponsibility (regardless of party) than its morals. So my husband and I are planning to move to Texas before we have children because we have family there and the state doesn't collect income tax.

I grew up in, and lived for a while in Kentucky (30 minutes or so southeast of Lexington), and I think you'll be surprised to find that it's a pretty Democratic state in the southern and eastern parts. Most of that population, though, is in population centers (as is typical overall of Democratic voters), which-- because of gerrymandering-- is why the Kentucky Congressional delegation has only 2/6 democrats in the House. Both Senate seats are Republican-- indeed the Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, is from Kentucky-- but that wasn't the case until relatively recently. Jim Bunning's seat was previously controlled by Wendell Ford, who was a Democratic icon in the state for 30 years. Bunning mostly won on popularity in the northern part of the state, where he was a Congressman in the 80s. He only narrowly (51 - 49 in an election cycle dominated by Republicans) won his second term against Dan Mongiardo.

I love Kentucky politics. People get incredibly "into it" there. I hope you enjoy it there!

Needless to say, if anyone is writing a book about Kentucky politics, feel free to NaNomail me. :P

Colorado :) We have good schools, are able to home-school if we like, lots of space but not a lot of psychos in the woods--it's a perfect place...

Sara, Princess of Narnia and ML for Colorado Springs
~~~~~
If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. ~ CS Lewis

I don't really factor in politics into it, though I'm not sure I'd set up shop right across from UC Berkeley if I didn't want an argument a week. I actually love NYC, liberal as it may be (I'm a life-long Philadelphian so I'm used to city life)... or on the other side I'm considering grad school in Iowa so I could end up there just as well (or Reno, or Detroit - other schools on my list), or just stick around in Philly. I actually like to be around a fair amount of liberals because apart from politics a lot of times I have more in common with blue state Democrats as a blue state Republican as opposed to red state Republicans (but have the most in common with my lovely blue state Republicans of course... but they're sometimes hard to find).

"Man is more than fire tamed." - Nick Berg

...Ever heard of bible belt? I'd say that more or less all the states in the southeast that voted for McCain last election have large pockets of conservative people. Of course, there's a pocket of conservatives in every state if you know know where to look, though.

As a young conservative American, I would want my kids to grow up in Vermont. Not necessarily because of politics, but because of laws. Specifically regarding hunting and firearm ownership, it's pretty much the loosest state in the Union.

Also, I am Catholic, so the Bible belt is pretty out.

"There is no greater mistake than that of always being right."
Yes, I do cling to my guns and my religion.

I was born and raised in Minnesota, and I love this state for many reasons. I will probably stay in the midwest, but I'm a small town girl, so I will hopefully stay away from metro areas like the Twin Cities, Milwaukee, Des Moines, etc. Minnesota is known as a blue state as far as political elections, but I'm not likely to choose the place I will eventually settle down in based on political ideology.

I am so not young or conservative but Utah could be a good state to use as a conservative Utopia.

Depending on your novel (when it's taking place--like 20 years in the future), you could divide the country up. The liberals live in New Utopia and run things as they see fit and the conservatives can live in whatever you'd like to name that part of the country and do as they see fit there. Each section of the country could have their own government and laws.

Barring all that future stuff, Utah and Colorado are obvious non-obvious choices if you catch my drift. I think CO has a high rate of super churches too.

Justice
Finished "The Blame Bearer"

Idealy, I would live in Chatanooga, Tenessee. I went to Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, GA last year and I loved the city. It has a large number of very conservative churches (the school is PCA which is my denomination and there are a lot of PCA churches in the city.) It also has a lot of cool stuff - the aquarium, a yearly swing dancing festival, movie festivals, and a bunch of other stuff that I liked so that would be my ideal spot to live and raise kids, partly becasue I think it is a good town for kids, partly because I would like to live there.

The only reason for being a professional writer is that you can't help it.
Leo Rosten (1908 - )

Not to add to the confusion here, but in my experience (as a native Californian who's lived in SF, central California suburbs, and spent time everywhere in between)... Yes, there is definitely a conservative population in California. Eastern California seems fairly conservative. Many small towns that don't have universities tend to be fairly conservative. Even in San Francisco and Los Angeles, there are wealthy, conservative communities. And Prop 8 passed.

All the same, if I were conservative, I wouldn't settle in California, especially not to raise children. It's not that California is overwhelmingly liberal; there are plenty of conservative communities and churches. But unless you isolated yourself completely, there would be an expectation of tolerance towards liberals. In many places, outing yourself as a Republican would be asking for a fight. There are so many other, more conservative places that California wouldn't be my top pick unless I was already a native and had an established community there.

Not to add to the confusion here, but in my experience (as a native Californian who's lived in SF, central California suburbs, and spent time everywhere in between)... Yes, there is definitely a conservative population in California. Eastern California seems fairly conservative. Many small towns that don't have universities tend to be fairly conservative. Even in San Francisco and Los Angeles, there are wealthy, conservative communities. And Prop 8 passed.

All the same, if I were conservative, I wouldn't settle in California, especially not to raise children. It's not that California is overwhelmingly liberal; there are plenty of conservative communities and churches. But unless you isolated yourself completely, there would be an expectation of tolerance towards liberals. In many places, outing yourself as a Republican would be asking for a fight. There are so many other, more conservative places that California wouldn't be my top pick unless I was already a native and had an established community there.

I might consider Arizona. It's pretty conservative, the Phoenix area is developing at an astounding rate. It's also quite lovely, weather- and landscape-wise, and there are all sorts of churches. It's also a fairly young and family-oriented.

Not to add to the confusion here, but in my experience (as a native Californian who's lived in SF, central California suburbs, and spent time everywhere in between)... Yes, there is definitely a conservative population in California. Eastern California seems fairly conservative. Many small towns that don't have universities tend to be fairly conservative. Even in San Francisco and Los Angeles, there are wealthy, conservative communities. And Prop 8 passed.

All the same, if I were conservative, I wouldn't settle in California, especially not to raise children. It's not that California is overwhelmingly liberal; there are plenty of conservative communities and churches. But unless you isolated yourself completely, there would be an expectation of tolerance towards liberals. In many places, outing yourself as a Republican would be asking for a fight. There are so many other, more conservative places that California wouldn't be my top pick unless I was already a native and had an established community there.

I might consider Arizona. It's pretty conservative, and the Phoenix area is developing at an astounding rate. It's quite nice, weather- and landscape-wise, and it's pretty "young family-oriented".

Doesn't matter. I'm very conservative and I grew up in Seattle. You just teach your children. Teach your children your beliefs and morals. That's all you have to do.

I want to live in a snowy state. So, probably a snowy state. But that has not to do with politics!

NaNo 2005: Legend of Jael (Won)
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Conservatives don't tend to settle anywhere. The drive to go out and settle places is fairly contradictory to the drives that cause people to embrace conservatism, which is a ridiculously vague concept that always boils down to reactionary antipathy to whatever progressives are doing. Conservatism is, essentially, the politicized fear of change, and consequently, future conservatives will be found where current conservatives are found: rural areas with poor access to education and opportunity, very limited diversity and extreme racial/cultural homogenity. Conservatism is mostly a result of fear of cultural change, ignorance based xenophobia, and generally poor education.

It also helps to divide conservatives into the base and leadership. The conservative leadership is made up almost entirely of the socially inept children of liberals from liberal bastions, and most conservative leaders rabid left-wingers in their youth. Glenn Beck, for example, used to be practically a marxist and his "conservatism" is mostly based on confusing the values he held while he was doing drugs with the consequences of using those drugs, and conservative mastermind Karl Rove grew up in Berkley surrounded by hippie chicks who wouldn't sleep with him. Dig into the history of pretty much any neo-con and you'll find they were liberal when they were young. Also, most of them don't believe a word of the nonsense they spout and will say pretty much anything to secure the loyalty of the sort of ignorant rabble that keep them in power: this was actually the guiding principle of highly influential conservative philosopher Leo Strauss (he's the reason Reagan formed a right-wing Christian political movement, Strauss argued that simple-minded religious people with poor critical thinking skills were easily manipulated into supporting elites by encouraging their basest prejudices and playing of their fears, such as the ludicrous spectre of "the threat of gay marriage"). When conservatives leaders rail against liberals, they're usually really indulging in self-hatred and rebellion against their parents.

If you're actually planning on writing a story set in the future, keep in mind that the modern conservative movement is on its last legs and won't exist in any recognizable form in a generation. In order to understand future conservatism, you'll first have to figure out where progressives are going. The conservatives will be the people who are in complete denial of history and making up BS reasons to reject whatever causes the future progressives are supporting.

Sorry if that ruffles anyones feathers, but that's how it's always been, and that's how it always will be.

I don't describe myself as conservative (I'm an independent) but I thought I'd mention that Eastern Washington, Idaho and Montana have fairly conservative populations.

Young American conservatives are rare, but they can be anywhere. I'm 15 and I consider myself a conservative, but I grew up in Canada, which is a very liberal country. But I guess statistically, in the states the majority of conservatives are in the south and part of the midwest. My top two picks: Texas and Kentucky.

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Ken, please leave the political debate and name-calling to more appropriate forums.

The southeast. South Carolina is a very conservative state and realy Republican. I know. I live here.

You could make your character someone who would want their children to move to a very liberal part of the US so they can help get conservative numbers up in those areas.

2008: Danny Won
2009: Untitled Work In Progress

Fair enough, but it worth's noting that pro-conservative fiction that ignores the reality of conservatism tends to run along the lines of The Turner Diaries (the novel that inspired Tim McVeigh to kill 400 people), and I'd hate to see NaNoWriMo be responsible for the production of another book like that.

There's no harm in making a honest appraisal of political stances before writing a politically motivated novel, and can be quite a bit of harm in NOT making those honest appraisals.

I'm going to respecfully disagree with you on that point. Neither I, nor any of my acquaintances, are xenophobic, poorly educated back-water country bumpkins. Which is essentially what you've inferred on all conservatives by your choice of wording.

Your opinion, my friend. Nothing more. You have your own political and geographical bias.

***

To answer the OP's question, I will probably stay in Upstate SC. I'm currently single, so I don't see any children on the near horizon for me. And I probably won't move unless a crazy-good job opportunity presents itself or I get married and the husband brings it up as a possibility. As far as actually raising children, though... I'd want to be here. SC will always be "home" for me, and I think that for most people who had a stable "home base" as they were growing up, they would want to raise their children in a place that was familiar to them.

And it really does matter more how you raise a child in the home. The surrounding culture can (and does) turn children away from the more conservative values of their parents, but that is ultimately the child's choice. I grew up in one of the most extrememly conservative circles in the entire country, and I know people I grew up with who have become the exact opposite of how we were raised.

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The Bible Belt I suppose, or Alaska. Although really, I'm not so sure about any of that... I can't really put it into words, but I guess I'd want my children to be able to deal with non-conservative and non-Christian people. I most certainly wouldn't push them out into the world to do that, and would shelter them from bad influences while they're still young. But... I guess what I'm saying is, I wouldn't move to Las Vegas so they can learn about other people, but I wouldn't move to Texas for the whole sole reason of them growing up around conservatives. I would raise the best I could wherever I'm at.

Of course I'm mad, it's the only thing that keeps me sane!

By all means, raise your children somewhere they can learn to say with conviction: I shouldn't have to read/watch/learn/know anything I don't agree with
or, my personal fave-
I didn't do my homework because the YC's warned me not to listen to anything you say- you would always give me a bad grade because you're on their list of liberal teachers. (in English or science classes!)

Gosh, Ken, tell us how you REALLY feel, don't hold anything back.... sheesh.

It's been my experience that most military towns are pretty conservative; even though many of the strongest supporters of soldiers are liberals, the towns I've been to have all leaned pretty handily to the right. Logically several future-generation-conservatives will probably start out in a military town, or on a base itself. Statistically speaking though, young people of all political leanings are tending towards big cities, and away from the countryside -- so the current trenched-in areas ("Left Coast" and "Blue York") might not be so solidly liberal in the future. Ya never know.

"This is going to be the worst day of your life. I'm bringing nunchuks." H. Freeman

Hi there, folks. Let me please remind you all that this is not the appropriate forum for debate. This forum is for factual, technical details that add realism to your novel, not for debating political perspectives. There are countless political forums for debate to be found on the internet, and I would suggest one of those for sharing political opinion.

If you would like to answer the original poster's question then you are welcome to do so. However, broad, sweeping generalizations will rarely receive a positive response, and as noted by our Codes of Conduct:

Since this particular thread is more of a plot question, I will be moving this to a more appropriate forum.

Thanks,

Heather Dudley
Forums Moderator
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A Dragon Writes

well, I'm planning on moving to another country... ^^; but that's just because I have always wanted to try living somewhere else. >.>

Really, I think the basis of conservative views is thinking for yourself while staying true to your own morals, probably including traditional ones. I think you can do that anywhere. But...if I were going to stay in the states, I'd stay in Texas. ^^ and, who knows, I may end up coming back here.

Novel: Factions: Coup d'etat, Part 2: Nightmares
Main characters: Minya, Shiori, Diedrick