Gotham and Metropolis

[Bigby]

Gotham and Metropolis are the two most well-known fictional cities from the DC Comics Universe. They represent a perfect binary, with Metropolis as the growing, safe, and happy city while Gotham is shrinking, dangerous, and depressing. Metropolis fits the idealistic Superman while Gotham fits the cynical Batman. Normally, they even put Gotham and Metropolis right next to each other, such as in this map:

I always wondered how the presence of Gotham and Metropolis affected the politics of the states that the cities existed in, and with the United States at large. Population ranges from a few million to almost as large as NYC for both cities, so depending on how large you accept their populations to be, their impacts would be massive. I personally envision Metropolis as having two million with Gotham having 1.5 million, to make things more realistic. Regardless, Metropolis greatly impacts Delaware, definitely turning the state from a one congressional district state to a multiple one, and Wilmington is no longer the largest city in the state. Gotham makes southern New Jersey more populous, and only greatly affects the CD count depending on how massive the city's population is. NJ has 14 CDs OTL, so the jump is not too massive.

In order to keep the House of 435 seats, which states would lose populations to Delaware and New Jersey here? With another big city in NJ, is Christie still Governor? Is Joe Biden more prominent because of a more prominent Delaware? How have recent Senate races changed? Would the EV rearrangement cause a significant change in certain close elections such as 2000? How would both cities vote in general, for both primaries and general elections? Are Metropolis and Gotham atypical for big cities and more likely to vote Republican than other urban centers, or do they further cement Delaware and New Jersey as Democratic states? What else would become of the existence of these two cities for American politics?

[Gass3268]

There have been debates as to where exactly Gotham and Metropolis are. It is true that Metropolis is not generally regarded as being in Southern Delaware (even though originally it was supposed to be more of a Midwest city, not far from Smallville, KS). Gotham City is sometimes considered to be closer to where Atlantic City is, but still in New Jersey. I think Batman vs Superman was on the first really big production to really make the claim that the two cities were really close to each other.

[UWS]

Either way, Gotham is in a Democratic stronghold.

Who knows, maybe it's another reason why Batman refuses to use guns to fight crime. Maryland and Delaware are both states where gun laws are severe.

[Bigby]

Either way, Gotham is in a Democratic stronghold.

Who knows, maybe it's another reason why Batman refuses to use guns to fight crime. Maryland and Delaware are both states where gun laws are severe.

Considering how urban decay is a prevalent trope for Gotham, sounds about right. Would Gotham be more likely to vote for Trump than your average Republican?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Either way, Gotham is in a Democratic stronghold.

Who knows, maybe it's another reason why Batman refuses to use guns to fight crime. Maryland and Delaware are both states where gun laws are severe.

Considering how urban decay is a prevalent trope for Gotham, sounds about right. Would Gotham be more likely to vote for Trump than your average Republican?

The Gotham metro area I feel probably would. Wealthy suburbanites in a range of high-level professional positions terrified of violence spilling over into the 'burbs? Would've only been a Democrats starting in the 1990's.

I know little about Metropolis except that it seems brighter and nicer. I could imagine an inoffensive liberal Republican ending up in charge every once in a while--John Lindsay, Charlie Baker, Larry Hogan, etc.

[Agonized-Statism]

Bumped from the dead!

As a warning, I'm combining elements from throughout the comics' history, including different reboots. Metropolis is described in-universe as an integral strategic location for Washington's army during the Revolutionary War, a thriving hub for merchants and journalism in early America, then a racial hotbed in the mid-1800s due to an influx of Irish immigrants. Lex Luthor's ancestor, mission worker Edna Luthor, was an advocate for struggling workers who pushed for tolerance. Her grandson Wallace opened up the Luthor Steel Works at the turn of the century, so we know it was a steel city (Superman: Y2K vol. 1 #1 (February 2000)). Golden Age comics tend to depict Metropolis as plagued with corruption and wealth inequality, and Superman had some very negative opinions on bankers. The Silver Age version is the bright, shiny international city we all know and love, and all subsequent versions have drawn from this in one way or another.

Action Comics Weekly vol. 1 #601 (May 1988) and Who's Who in the DC Universe vol. 2 #11 (July 1991) put the population at 11 million. Assuming this has stayed about the same, Delaware goes from the 46th largest state in our world to the 6th largest in the DC universe. Biden has an easier path to the presidency, assuming his personal history remains the same. The Big Apricot is described as the biggest city in America, so I imagine Delaware politicians have more publicity.

Gotham City, meanwhile, is given a more troubled history with gang and occult activity. During the Civil War, the city was defended by an ancestor of the Penguin, fighting for the Union Army, Colonel Nathan Cobblepot, in the Legendary Battle of Gotham Heights. The city starts off much the same as Metropolis in the Golden Age, then gets a little better during the Silver Age (recall the clean streets and civic pride of Batman '66), then goes to hell in the Bronze Age.

Based on this, I think it's safe to say Metropolis and Gotham start with Tammany Hall-like institutions for immigrants that make them Democratic in the late 19th century, become New York-esque industrial cities, get hit hard by the Great Depression, and diverge in how they handle it. Metropolis diversifies its economy and becomes the face of New Deal liberalism, very likely voting straight ticket Democrat from 1932 to 1976 and probably beyond, while Gotham puts all its chips on wartime industry and rots into a rust belt city. As other posters have said, given the distance between Wayne Manor and the inner-city, there's white/rich flight. The inner-city goes permanently Democratic, while the surrounding white collar areas vote heavily Republican, flip to Bill Clinton, vote Republican during the War on Terror, and now vote Democrat again (read: limousine liberals).

Lest we forget the No Man's Land storyline: the government responds to the 1999 Gotham City Earthquake by evacuating most of the civilian population, declaring Gotham a "no man's land", destroying all bridges leading to the island, and setting up a military blockade to prevent people from entering or exiting. Yeah. Looks pretty bad for Clinton. Lex Luthor generously helps reconstruct Metropolis' sister city and runs successfully for president in 2000 on an independent ticket with Pete Ross of Kansas. Superman Secret Files and Origins 2004 (August 2004) and Superman #682 (February 2009) show a President Johnathan Horne, so we can assume he's the Speaker of the House under Luthor, ascends to the presidency when Luthor and Ross are gone, and wins in 2004. A Democrat named Martin Suarez is shown running for president and winning in 2008 (DCU: Decisions #2 (November 2008)), but both he and his unnamed middle aged female running mate are gone by 2011, and Obama is president. Trump is shown now.

Superman I can see being above national politics. Bruce is a tough-on-crime limousine liberal who just wants a police state power fantasy with a revolving door at Arkham without actually solving any social problems.

[Grassroots]

I always saw Gotham as more midwestern. Everything about it, from the crime and corruption, to the architecture and symbolism displayed in comics and movies, reminds me of rust belt cities, particularly Detroit and Chicago.

Metropolis reminds me of New York without a doubt.

I would see them as both being democratic strongholds. I think Gotham would be trending republican (because of the populist trend in the party) and Metropolis would be trending democrat (based on trends of Northwestern affluent cities).

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

In Lois and Clark, the Fictional town is known as DC, I always knew that Gotham was Manhatten and thought of Metropolis as more like DC. It's up to your interpretation. In Spectacular Spiderman,  the 3rd incarnation of Spideram, it was known as the Bronx