Biden only won a single precinct in Carbon, and that was the one along Broadway in Jim Thorpe. Interestingly, Biden did better in the towns (Lehighton, Palmerton, Lansford, Summit Hill) than he did in the rural townships (Mahoning, Franklin, Towamensing). This echoes the national trend, where cities went for Biden and rural areas and rural states supported Trump.
In Prius or Pickup?, a book by Marc Hetherington and Jonathan Weiler (2018), this is explained. In 2014 in a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center, respondents were given two options about places they would choose to reside if they had a choice. “They could live in communities with larger houses, but in which schools, stores, and restaurants were miles away. Or they could live in smaller houses, but in neighborhoods in which schools, stores, and restaurants were within walking distance.”
By 77 to 21% the people the researchers defined as “consistent liberals” preferred the smaller houses with nearby amenities. By 75 to 22%, “consistent conservatives” preferred the big houses.
This means that counties are more and more homogenous, although if they have both rural and urban areas, they become competitive. Thus Northampton County, rural except for Easton and part of Bethlehem, is blue in the cities and red in the countryside.
It also means that I am stuck out here in the country with a bunch of Trumpists, complaining that I have to drive all the way to Allentown for Mexican and Jamaican restaurants, and I can’t get the New York Times.
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