The enclave of Highland Park in Texas might be considered the conservative equivalent of Berkeley, California. In 2010, the city had the highest share of donations to Republican party. Author Josh Harkinson writes:
"It's no secret why Highland Park attracts so many rich conservatives. It has a prime location near Dallas' financial center and one of the lowest property tax rates in a state with no income tax. Yet it has one of the nation's best school systems and an average emergency response time of 2.5 minutes... Wilbur David Cook, the urban planner who designed Beverly Hills, drew up the plan for Highland Park a few years before it was incorporated in 1913. One of the community's first (if factually dubious) slogans, 'It's 10 degrees cooler in Highland Park,' reflected its attractiveness to the elite, as did its restrictions prohibiting property sales to minorities."
Thanks to Urbanists Listserv
Comments
the headline doesn't match the story
The story shows, at most, that Highland Park residents give a lot of money to Republicans- which shows that they are rich and mostly Republican, but does not show that they are necessarily more Republican, more conservative, or even give more generously to Republicans (as a percentage of their income) than some other right-leaning zip codes.
I suspect that if one looked at how people vote, rather than how much they give, Highland Park would appear to be far less conservative than many rural zip codes. (And I suspect that if one looked at whether people voted for the most conservative candidate in Republican primaries, this would be even more true). And I also suspect that if one looked at Republican contributions as a percentage of income, Highland Park might be a little lower in the standings.