Going west on Ashland, WI Main Street passing all sort of businesses including shoe stores, movie theaters and even bank there isn’t a “Country First” McCain/Palin support sign to be seen. If you walk further down, stand in front or to the side of “Huhn Rx Drug” (non chain Pharmacy), look up three stories up and there are two small McCain/Palin signs. The others “Country First” signs are scattered throughout lawns of the small town; if you count the signs you will not need two hands. On main street between two clothing stores is an Obama Headquarters, while there isn’t any McCain office to be found.
At the local “The Black Cat” (coffee shop) individuals gather and discuss politics while having a hot cup of coffee with a fresh warm muffin (from the local bakery “Ashland Bakery Company“). In this small town (Ashland) the political conversation is rarely, if ever, pro Palin.
Ashland like Wasilla is a small town (under 10K population) in the United States. Lets compare Ashland to Wasilla.
Population
Ashland: 8202
Wasilla: 9236
Religion & Voting
| RELIGION | Ashland | Wasilla |
| Percent Religious | 69.10% | 27.74% |
| Catholic | 36.51% | 6.35% |
| Protestant | 27.51% | 11.33% |
| LDS | 1.30% | 4.54% |
| Baptist | 1.49% | 4.74% |
| Episcipalian | 0.0074113601 | 0.0063382893 |
| Pentacostal | 0.0125103759 | 0.0173460099 |
| Lutheran | 19.65% | 2.88% |
| Methodist | 1.33% | 0.45% |
| Presbyterian | 3.04% | 0.91% |
| Other Christian | 3.75% | 5.51% |
| Jewish | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Eastern | 0.04% | 0.00% |
| Islam | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| VOTING | Ashland | Wasilla |
| Democrat | 63.105% | 34.735% |
| Republican | 36.015% | 62.280% |
| Independent Other | 0.000% | 0.255% |
| Independent Liberal | 0.696% | 1.816% |
| Independent Conservative | 0.185% | 0.914% |
Common
- They both are near water. Wikipedia has two images of the shoreline of Wasilla and Ashland are quite similar.
- Railroads and Fur Trading are an important part of Ashland and Wasilla history.
- Crimes statistics are very similar, low.
Ashland, WI
Wasilla, AK
Differences
- There is public transportation in Ashland (Bart Bus) for about $ 1.00/one way with .18% of the residents using mass transit; Wasilla’s cost is $2.50/one way and less than .00% ridership.
- Ashland has sidewalks, wasilla doesn’t.
- Ashland has two options for higher education (Northland College, Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College). There aren’t higher education opportunities in Wasilla (unless you count hairstyling and real estate schools).
- Ashland has a Hospital within the city limits, while the nearest hospital for Wasilla residents is 29 miles away.
- Average home price in Ashland is around $84K with Wasilla’s average is about $226K.
- 92% of the Ashland population work and live within 30 mins of each other; Wasilla under 30% with the majority commuting (one per car) to Anchorage.
- Ashland residents invest in Ashland. In fact, Ashland has an good old fashion downtown Main Street with coffee shop, Diner, Movies theater (5 screens), bakery, pharmacy, restaurants, and many shops.
- Wasilla is filled with boxed stores and franchises including Target, Gap, Banana Republic, Nordstroms, and TGIFridays. It is an outdoor mall connected by a large four lane highway, called Main Street.
Which Main Street would you want?
A
B
My choice: B. Ashland, WI
Personal Thoughts
How can two small towns be so different, so polar?
Ashland and the United States has a higher percentage of Religious than Wasilla. That is the complete opposite of Palin’s public promotion and the public perception of Wasilla. Can it be that Fox News and all those religious programs have been wrong? Based on statistics it is not the religious that vote republican, it is the wealthy.
Is it because Ashland is more compassionate and sympathetic to the real issues of the United States due to the lower cost of living? For Ashland residents, is it about the poor, hungry, job security and homeless?
It could be a secular education that produces a more balanced mind?
- Ashland 30% of the population has completed higher education
- Wasilla’s 11% of the population has completed higher education
It also could it be values of the Mayors and his/her leadership? Asking both if being a Mayor of a small town qualifies to be Vice President or President of the United States:
- Ashland’s Mayor Ed Monroe responded, “No”
- Wasilla’s Mayor Dianne Keller responded, “Yes”
I decided to compare Wasilla to other small towns in the United States (via Sperlings) and found that Wasilla is not anomaly. I looked closely at other cities/towns that have a population under 10,000, home prices above $215K and less than 50% religious residents. These cites/towns do have a higher population percentage that votes Republican. The variable of more or less religious isn’t the fact that affect voting either Republican or Democratic. The higher income, higer cost of living and higher home values affect the residents voting Republican while more balanced values, educated populous, lower cost of living and lower home prices affect the residents voting Democratic.
God is irrelevant it is all about the pocketbook.
Resources
It’s obvious that you used personal knowledge of your home town and what you could find on the internet for Wasilla.
You might be interested to know that there is a new hospital only 6 miles from downtown Wasilla.