The most underrated and overrated communities in California?

[04kL4nD]

Overrated: Santa Cruz (snobby hippies), most of Orange County (suburban blah), Downtown San Diego (overpriced and overcrowded) Berkeley (crappy drivers and intellectual elitists), Monterrey (gloomy weather and lots of old people)

Underrated: SLO (super clean and walkable downtown), Sierra Nevada foothills (Auburn and Nevada City are awesome!), parts of Sac (midtown and parts of East Sac are REALLY nice), Oakland (Lake Merritt and downtown/uptown), Downtown LA (gritty but artsy)

[T. Damon]

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

Overrated: Santa Cruz (snobby hippies), most of Orange County (suburban blah), Downtown San Diego (overpriced and overcrowded) Berkeley (crappy drivers and intellectual elitists), Monterrey (gloomy weather and lots of old people)

Underrated: SLO (super clean and walkable downtown), Sierra Nevada foothills (Auburn and Nevada City are awesome!), parts of Sac (midtown and parts of East Sac are REALLY nice), Oakland (Lake Merritt and downtown/uptown), Downtown LA (gritty but artsy)

I like this, although I always had an affinity for Santa Cruz growing up in the foothills and visiting it once a year for a family vacation.

I'm very un-San Diego because I love L.A., lots of great culture- architecture, neighborhoods, arts and events there, we get up there at least once a quarter- and I agree with Oakland as to being underrated. I'll add Orange County as an area way overrated, I try to drive as quickly as I can through that soulless and grossly materialistic place.

I'm amused and somewhat agree and disagree to the impressions of San Diego. It is a city that is not easy to get to its heart and soul in a quick vacation in the tourist traps, downtown Gaslamp quarter etc..., or if you are stuck in the 'burbs or outlying areas, but the downtown is very compact and approachable, has plenty of crazy homeless folks like any good city, and is nicely located by the harbor and nearby canyons and hills of Balboa Park. San Diego is all about the neighborhoods around Balboa Park IMHO (and the wonderful museums of the Park, and La Jolla)- uptown, where we enjoy 30th on 30th, (look it up) amazing historic neighborhoods, bars, beer pubs and restaurants and very friendly and surprisingly cultured, hip and connected folks around the canyons and very happening urban streets. We've got way more theater, opera, ballet, symphony, concerts and neighborhood events and celebrations than we get credit for (more broadway shows emanate from here than from just about any other city outside of NYC). But I completely understand the quick impressions that some of the more unadventurous folks get from visiting here. A little more exploring in Encinitas or La Mesa will also give you a little more about the area.

Like most cities, about 80% of it is middling to best, but where I live and surrounding areas are really amazing- urban villages next to canyons and downtown with great natural and cultural amenities nearby- ocean swimming with the sharks (harmless leopards), dolphins, rays and seals in a few minutes from my house. And my neighborhood is a tiny little slice of Brooklyn in Southern California, but with canyons.

[mysticaltyger]

To the OP: Good post, although I would put San Francisco in Berkeley's place. Although I mostly agree with what you said about Berkeley, I just think SF is more overpriced and overrated and many of your complaints about Berkeley also apply to SF. (Plus Berkeley has slightly better weather.)

[Billy Millennium]

Originally Posted by Troll Proof

SD is pretty conservative, but its a great place to live in my experience. I think Palm Springs is overrated, not much visual beauty in sprawl oasis.

I think Palm Springs has tons of natural beauty with the desert and mountains in the background. The Coachella Valley has everything you need and I noticed a lot of clean/uncrowded shopping centers and outlet malls. Couple casinos in the area as well for cheap food and entertainment. May not want to live there at this stage in my life but it seems like a comfortable place and affordable by CA standards.

Underrated: I'd say maybe Sacramento as others have said. People seem to forget about this city.

-Good weather
-rivers
-Seemed to have plenty of shopping/food options
-Some (although limited) professional sports. It's too bad they don't have a big name (sports wise) college though.
-Close proximity to Reno/Tahoe and a couple hours from the Bay Area
-Reasonably affordable

Haven't been there recently, but I'd say Sac is probably underrated.

[04kL4nD]

Make not mistake, I LOVE SD- lived there for 2 years and I'm down there several times a year to hang out and see old friends.

But SD to me is the beach (OB/PB/MB), the central neighborhoods (Hillcrest, Normal Heights, North Park, Kensington), and the burbs (La Mesa, El Cajon, Chula Vista, Escondido).

I just think downtown kinda sucks compared to the rest of the city. It feels like it's trying to hard to be LA or NYC or whatever. Lots of dbags and skanks

[the city]

Originally Posted by HereThereEveryware

Overrated

San Francisco: We've all heard that claim. So I'll try to differentiate my inclusion here. I've been to many cities in the U.S. and abroad (including Sydney, Vienna, Rome, Paris, London, Auckland, Vancouver, Honolulu, New Orleans, LA, DC, Miami, Boston, NYC, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, SD, Vegas, et al) and none -- none -- were as uniformly dirty as SF. (Boston and Vienna struck me as surprisingly clean, in fact.) Rubbish, graffiti, and more than anywhere else, the pervasive smell of urine. Yuck. I find the prices high in most of those places but those in SF can be the most outrageous of all in some aspects, especially parking. And the ultra-aggressiveness of the homeless doesn't help. I do think that SF is nestled in a very beautiful physical location, has nice museums, good public transportation, a great airport, and great food. So I'm not saying it's terrible. Just that I think it's overrated compared to other major places I've been. If you picked up and moved SF to another location as is, I think it would tumble in the rankings. Its geographic location both masks its drawbacks and exaggerates its appeal.

Hollywood: Dirty and run down.

L.A.: L.A. itself is dirty and congested.

Pismo: Not that bad but just not as nice to me as some other central coast locations that get less attention.

Santa Cruz: This was mentioned above and I'd agree with the reasons cited.

Underrated

Sacramento: I agree with the posting above, though I do wonder why the OP included the aspects of Sacto's surrounding burbs in its plusses while not doing so for SD. I don't like a lot of parts of Sac itself though agree that its environs are nice. Love all the trees and the river.

Thousand Oaks/Ventura/Oxnard: The area flies under the radar but is nice, scenic, and quiet.

San Luis Obispo: The secret seems to be getting out but still not fully appreciated.

San Clemente: Pretty area.

Reverse Pismo Beach and San Luis Obispo. What's so good about San Luis Obispo, just the downtown?

San Luis Obispo doesn't have a beach, home prices are high, and shopping and dining is limited to big box centers and downtown.

Pismo has a pretty downtown with interesting mix of shops, restaurants, bars, and more. It has a boardwalk and pier. There's so much there. An asian market, soon a local-based organic market, hotels with beautiful views of the ocean, and the most laid back people. It has an Old SoCal feel. There are so many different restaurants in the area and an outlet mall for shopping.

[Hawaii4evr]

Orange County. Very boring and bland. Beaches are nice, but Catalina and San Diego have better ones IMO.

[CFL_City]

Not really understanding the hate for Berkeley in the thread. Since it's so poorly regarded by most, calling it overrated in addition to that seems really out of place.

We're not talking about Bakersfield here, people!

There is one neighborhood in all of Berkeley where I don't feel completely safe, and that's south of Ashby, west of Sacramento. That is a seriously tiny slice of the entire city.

Also, I don't think there's anything inherently hypocritical about driving a Prius (?)...maybe it makes others defensive, but many Berkeleyans truly do try to reduce their environmental impact, hence the highest walking and biking rates of any Bay Area city save San Francisco. There is some hypocrisy, but that's more the NIMBY kind, which I totally see and condemn.

Also don't forget that Berkeley has some serious positives - some of the best restaurants around, lots of good coffee shops, some nice shopping districts, a great live music venue (the Greek), easy access to Tilden, lots of trees, beautiful housing stock up in the hills, pretty good public transportation, a decent bicycle network, some more unique characteristics like a tool lending library and small class sizes, a huge park right on the Bay...it goes on and on...

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by EclecticEars

[*]Berkeley: I actually like Berkeley as a whole. However, much of the town is dirty, especially downtown. I'm a grown male and wouldn't feel safe on parts of UC's campus at night. Even though I like the UC/downtown area's symbiosis with neighboring Oakland, it is also fairly close to Northwest Oakland/Southwest Berkeley which has some dangerous areas. The people there are more of the Prius-driving/eco-hypocritical/East Coast pseudo-intellectual snob types which aren't very pleasant to be around. The downtown area's vibe itself is cool, funky and eclectic, but then that's largely populated by the people mentioned. And, honestly, there is a real intolerant, almost anti-American attitude to the place whether you want to admit it or not. Nonetheless, I like the hills and neighborhoods, but I just don't think of the city as the "bee's knees" like its residents seem to.[/list]

OP, could you elaborate on the safety-on-campus issue? There are definite safety issues for women on campus at night, but that's not unusual on college campuses in general. I'd like to hear the male perspective.

Avoid downtown when possible. Simple. I don't find the rest of the town dirty at all. One of my fave pastimes is to walk around the neighborhoods (especially east and north Berkeley) and appreciate the beautiful architecture, tree-lined streets, and Bay views. There are parts of Oakland that are similar. Compare those with a place like Fremont, and you can see why some people enthuse about Berkeley.

Fortunately, I haven't run into any "pseudo-intellectual snob types" or intolerant types. The only "eco-hypocritical" people I knew (a grand total of 2) moved to SF. There's so much more to Berkeley than these stereotypes people keep coming up with.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by CFL_City

Also don't forget that Berkeley has some serious positives - some of the best restaurants around, lots of good coffee shops, some nice shopping districts, a great live music venue (the Greek), easy access to Tilden, lots of trees, beautiful housing stock up in the hills, pretty good public transportation, a decent bicycle network, some more unique characteristics like a tool lending library and small class sizes, a huge park right on the Bay...it goes on and on...

Yes, yes, yes and YES! This is not to say there aren't minuses, but the pluses far outweigh the minuses (summarized by: avoid downtown!), imo.