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Delaware's got the urban northern half and "Lower Slower Delaware". And they don't seem to like each other very much.
Plus Wilmington is a poor, majority black/latino city, and semi-ghetto in places as well, so it's not really very much like the rest of Delaware.
Rhode Island has some of the same issues. I mean, there's less political split between Providence and the rest of the state, but it's still a majority-minority city which is low income and not viewed as a tremendous asset by the surrounding suburbs.
In general, for little urban-suburban-rural division, I think you need two out of three of the following.
1. The cities have to be not significantly racially different from the state at large
2. The cities have to be not particularly lower income than the state at large
3. The cities have to not vote appreciably different from the state at large
One option which hasn't been discussed which also fits this model is New Mexico. Albuquerque's politics are right around the norm for the state, it's racial balance is pretty similar, and I don't think it's appreciably wealthier or poorer.
Of all states that have urban areas, I nominate Arizona. No matter if you're in Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma, Prescott, Bisbee, Show Low, or Bullhead City, you'll generally fine a lot of libertarian-leaning Republicans, visible leftist-hippie and Tea-Party minorities, Mexican-American culture, "snow birds," a laid-back approach to to punctuality and styles of clothing, pickup trucks, and guns.
Yes, Tucson leans Democratic, but the attitudes of the people are the same as the rest of state, though the demographics in that one city might be a little different.
Hawaii: There is some animus between Oahu/Honolulu and the outer islands, but minus the tourist retiree factor the outer islands are pretty similar. The level of friction is more similar to that between Boston and the rest of Massachusetts.
Oklahoma: Although OKC and Tulsa are a bit more diverse than Oklahoma as a whole, they're pretty right wing as major cities go. They also don't tend to be viewed as local Detroits by the local population
Idaho: Boise is very white and only slightly less Republican than the state as a whole.
Hmm. I'd think Alaska would have a rather large one, considering how remote and isolated the rural areas while the largest cities aren't too different from typical mountain cities. Nearly half the population lives in or around Anchorage.
I'd also nominate Maine and New Hampshire. There's a bit more of a split between Portland and rural Maine, but it's a matter of degree. And in New Hampshire, the biggest cities (Nashua and Manchester) are actually more right-leaning than a lot of the small towns in the western part of the state.
There isn't a huge difference between Charleston and rural West Virginia either. I haven't spent much time in them, but from what I gather the differences between the cities and the rural areas in the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Iowa are pretty minor.
Being from Nebraska and having spent a lot of time in Iowa and South Dakota (maybe your'e accurate about North Dakota, i'm not sure) i'd say only South Dakota's main urban areas are similar to their rural areas. Granted the state of SD is decided into the hardcore conservative/libertarian west river folks, and the east river which is more like western minnesota, kind of conservative, but a decent amount of liberals.
As for Nebraska and Iowa, it depends on the city. Omaha is way different than the rural areas since it has become a decently large city and more well known. It's also split down the middle politically. Lincoln is too thought its more because it's a college town. The rest of state is very Republican. As for Iowa, it depends on the city. Some cities are different than the rural areas. Iowa has some cities that are different. I think Iowa City is pretty different just because it's extremely liberal, but I guess you could say most of the cities are like the rural areas (a slight democratic tilt for the most part, but not as liberal as IC)
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