Raleigh, N.C. – Ohioans generally like all of their prominent cities—all of them, that is, except Youngstown. Only 22% of Ohio voters see that city positively, with 34% registering a negative opinion.
The capital, Columbus, is the most popular of eight cities PPP asked the state’s voters about. 57% see it favorably and only 15% unfavorably. That edges out Cincinnati (51-17).
Between the top two and Youngstown are Dayton (41-20), Canton (37-16), Akron (39-20), Toledo (34-22), and Cleveland (38-33).
For whatever reason, women view Cleveland (41-27) and Youngstown (24-27) much more highly than do men (36-40 and 20-41, respectively). There are much smaller gender gaps for the other cities.
Part of the gender difference is tied up in partisanship; women are more likely to be Democrats than are men, and men more likely to be Republicans. Cleveland and Youngstown are the most polarizing Ohio cities on political lines. Democrats see Cleveland positively by a 27-point margin, while Republicans see it negatively by 12 points and independents by seven. Democrats like Youngstown by five points, but Republicans dislike it by 21 and independents by 26. Toledo is also divisive on this front—Democrats with a +30 and Republicans only a +1 and independents a -2 favorability spread for it. There are much less stark divisions for the other cities, though Democrats like all the rest better than Republicans do.
Unlike when PPP polled all Americans on cities nationwide, the partisan gaps are not explained much by race; there is very little difference between white and black voters on Ohio’s cities.
PPP surveyed 875 Ohio voters from May 3rd to 6th. The margin of error for the survey is +/-3.3%. This poll was not paid for or authorized by any campaign or political organization. PPP surveys are conducted through automated telephone interviews.
Topline results are below. Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.
Q1 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the city of Columbus?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 57%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 15%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 29%
Q2 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the city of Cleveland?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 38%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 33%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 29%
Q3 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the city of Cincinnati?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 51%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 17%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 32%
Q4 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the city of Toledo?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 34%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 22%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 44%
Q5 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the city of Akron?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 39%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 20%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 42%
Q6 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the city of Dayton?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 41%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 20%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 39%
Q7 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the city of Canton?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 37%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 16%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 48%
Q8 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the city of Youngstown?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 22%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 34%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 44%
Q9 Who did you vote for President in 2008?
John McCain…………………………………………… 42%
Barack Obama………………………………………… 48%
Someone else/Don’t remember …………………. 10%
Q10 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 9%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 18%
Moderate………………………………………………… 31%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 22%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 19%
Q11 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 52%
Man……………………………………………………….. 48%
Q12 If you are a Democrat, press 1. If a Republican,
press 2. If you are an independent or identify
with another party, press 3.
Democrat ……………………………………………….. 41%
Republican……………………………………………… 39%
Independent/Other…………………………………… 20%
Q13 If you are white, press 1. If African-American,
press 2. If other, press 3.
White …………………………………………………….. 85%
African-American …………………………………….. 11%
Other……………………………………………………… 5%
Q14 If you are 18 to 29 years old, press 1. If 30 to
45, press 2. If 46 to 65, press 3. If you are
older than 65, press 4.
18 to 29………………………………………………….. 13%
30 to 45………………………………………………….. 21%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 42%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 24%
