They have different values too. Anecdotally:
Bluer areas are less religious, are more tolerant of homelessness and drug use and immigration (legal or otherwise) and diversity, don’t like guns, wear puffies instead of camo, do a lot of virtue signaling that don’t amount to much, have pretty dysfunctional cities (especially SF, Portland, and Seattle). Better protections for women and take sexual assault more seriously. Various government subsidies, but usually only if you’re really poor. Often have obscene costs of living and can be very gilded. Hard for the shrinking middle class. It’s a lot of cultural progressivism mixed with rampant economic despair that only seems to be getting worse. Climate change is taken for granted and various policies are implemented to support that, though not at any truly impactful level. Wildfire management is a big part of life.
Red areas are more homogeneous and tribal and of course religious. Lean more towards traditional family values that blue women don’t like. Lots of ranching and farming, less tech (though Musk is changing that). Much less gilded, from what I’ve seen (ie income inequality feels less extreme because costs aren’t being dragged up by the tech new money). Guns and crosses and US flags galore. People seem more authentic and less pretentious / holier than thou that what I see in the blue areas.
I grew up in another country and lived in deep blue areas once I moved to the US. There’s a lot of petty bickering there and the governments never really felt very functional or practical, more concerned about appearances than services. I’ve only visited a few deep red places and met people from them. Typically nicer and more community & family oriented than the blue state people I’ve met, but also kinda stuck in very traditional ways of thinking and being, especially religiosity, and it gets kinda hellfire and brimstone-y. They seem highly authoritarian and tribal and minority voices (whether you’re a woman, not white, queer, liberal, etc.) get squashed. I’d fear for my life if I said the wrong thing or looked at someone the wrong way. I’d never even step foot in them if I were a queer black woman. The blue cities make me uncomfortable too, but just because they’re so dysfunctional. Violent machismo is less of a thing there, replaced by broken bureaucracies and the everyday acceptance of life circling the drain.
Now I live in a purple part of rural Oregon and much prefer it to either deep blue or red. Our services and facilities are much nicer than California’s (especially our state parks), costs of living aren’t as crazy, there’s still cultural diversity (by that I mean a mix of red and blue, not racial), people for the most part get along, though there’s still the occasional shouting match during protests. It feels like how more of America used to be in the 90s, before everything became both hyperpolarized and hypergilded. It’s a small enough town where it still feels like there’s a sense of internal community that tries to distinguish itself from the national battlegrounds. Local still means more than big red or big blue here. I worry that towns like this tend to lead to their own destruction though, drawing in outsiders who bring their old values (and money) with them instead of assimilating in. Tired old tale, I guess.
The blue / red state thing paints an incomplete picture. There’s often small urban/semi-urban blue fortresses amidst a sea of red. The state policies determine your healthcare, access to abortion, etc, but the day to day depends more on your local (metro and county) makeup.
I wish it weren’t so polarized. More purple and less violence would be nice. There are some areas I’d love to live in for their natural beauty, but can’t / won’t for various political and economic reasons.