Southern Cali vs. Northern Cali? (Los Angeles, San Francisco: low crime, vacation home, neighborhoods)

[scoochamenz]

Hello,

I live on the East Coast now but definitely want to move West. I have lived in Portland, Oregon but that's out of the running now because after five years, they still have not recovered from the Great Recession and because of their anti-everything stance, I 'spect they won't anytime soon.

I am now thinking California. Can anyone tell me some of the differences between Southern and Northern California? I kind of see Southern Cali as alternately laid back as well as image-driven/shallow (I'm basing that on a visit to Malibu) and Northern Cali as a little more classy (I'm basing that on the movie 'Sideways'). Am I wrong?

Also, three things are important to me - relatively low crime rate, reliable mass transit, and access to the ocean.

Thanks!

[mysticaltyger]

First, please don't refer to California as "Cali". It's just annoying.

Otherwise, I think there are a lot of common threads in CA that a lot of people don't care to admit. It's not that NorCal is any less superficial than SoCal. It's just that NorCal has a different brand of shallow than SoCal. People in NorCal (Bay Area, in particular) tend to think they're superior and smarter than others, especially SoCal. People in SoCal generally don't have as much of a superiority complex but do have their own way of being superficial. There are, of course, plenty of people in both parts of the state who are not shallow.

San Francisco is really the only city in CA with good mass transit, but it isn't nearly as good as it should be for a city of its population density. Of course, it has the ocean, but it's too cold at the ocean most of the year for there to be a beach culture like you have in SoCal. So unless you don't mind the chilly weather, you'll have to drop something from your wish list.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Wasn't Sideways about the SoCal wine country?

In any case, PDX is anti everything, SF is anti everything, and LA is anti everything.

[nmnita]

What in the world do you mean by anti everything? What are you expecting? What do you do for a living? I am not sure you have an idea about what would be right for you. L.A. is a huge, spread out city, as you know and Malibu does not represent the way of life for everyone in the city. It is a special, very upscale, part of Los Angeles county. San Francisco is all of what No Ca is about either. Are you really looking for a big city life or do you want to live in the burbs?

[Coldjensens]

Both places are big and have a lot of people. You can find really cool down to earth people in both places. You also find various brands of pretentious people in both places. There is an underlying vibe to each place.

In many areas of the north, you find a lot of people trying to out-liberal each other. "I am greener than you" I adopted a crack baby" "Well I adopted five crack babies" "Well then I adopted ten and I am hiding sixteen convicted illegal alien murderers in my basement" "Well my five crack babies are going to be gay'"

In the south much of the prevailing vibe is about money. Displaying massive wealth or pretend wealth. Keeping up with the joneses and competing with each other through children's accomplishments.

Still there are millions of people in each pace. THe prevailing vibe differs form one area to the next and sometimes, it is barely prevailing, or seems prevailing only because a certian type or lifestyle is most visible although it may not be the most common.

[sponger42]

Originally Posted by scoochamenz

I am now thinking California. Can anyone tell me some of the differences between Southern and Northern California? I kind of see Southern Cali as alternately laid back as well as image-driven/shallow (I'm basing that on a visit to Malibu) and Northern Cali as a little more classy (I'm basing that on the movie 'Sideways'). Am I wrong?

Also, three things are important to me - relatively low crime rate, reliable mass transit, and access to the ocean.

Thanks!

Crime Rate: Don't know between the two. If you're coming from some ultra-safe town like Boston, you're in for a shock. SoCal has a reputation for gangs, drugs, homeless, and street violence. I've never been affected, but people close to me have gotten knifed for doing unwise things.

Mass Transit: Doesn't exist in SoCal unless you are willing to string subway and bus lines together by riding/carrying your bike around. SF mass transit is pretty darn good, but the town is so small you hardly need it.

Ocean access: Protected by the California Coastal Commission and Surfrider. The masses always have and always will have access to CA beaches thanks to these organizations. Surfing (and other nearshore water activities) in CA kicks the crap out of anything on the East Coast, but you'll almost always need a wetsuit, north or south.

You can be whatever you want, wherever you want in CA. The culture is very open to all lifestyles. That said, LA-SD is kind of an urban jungle rat-race near the coast, and looks like a Breaking Bad set as you move 10 miles inland. Most coastal properties are now owned by the 0.1% and gentrified into the stratosphere to a depth of at least 2 miles inland from the beach.

Central CA still has the laid-back surfer beach culture, but the cold water/weather means grizzled young-and-oldsters; hoodies and coffee rather than tanned bikini babes and slurpees. Waterfront property is spoken for by a mix of the ultra-wealthy in the vacation homes and long-termers clinging to family digs. You can find affordable places within walking distance of the surf, though.

Can't speak to Northern CA.

[nightlysparrow]

Originally Posted by sponger42

Crime Rate: If you're coming from some ultra-safe town like Boston, you're in for a shock.

Are you being sarcastic? Boston's crime rate is way higher than Los Angeles, even though LA is 6 times more populated.
Los Angeles vs Boston in City Crime Statistics

[sponger42]

Originally Posted by nightlysparrow

Are you being sarcastic? Boston's crime rate is way higher than Los Angeles, even though LA is 6 times more populated.
Los Angeles vs Boston in City Crime Statistics

I find that hard to believe. Having lived in both, Boston seems much safer. Also, my roommates never got knifed in Boston.

I hate Boston, and the NE in general, by the way. I moved back to SoCal as fast as I could after "trying it out" for a couple of years. However, that region of the country feels like it has less crime.

[GatsbyGatz]

Originally Posted by sponger42

I find that hard to believe. Having lived in both, Boston seems much safer. Also, my roommates never got knifed in Boston.

I hate Boston, and the NE in general, by the way. I moved back to SoCal as fast as I could after "trying it out" for a couple of years. However, that region of the country feels like it has less crime.

It "feels" like it has less crime depending on where you go! Hang out in Irvine and you'll forget that crime exists in CA. Likewise, hang out in Boston's lower-income neighborhoods and you'll feel some of that "urban grittiness."

By the way, crime in LA/OC is dropping drastically. For how populated it is, it's shockingly low on crime. This, I feel, is largely due to the change of culture: the internet has given people of any income level something to do to spend their free time. Instead of going out to do crime, most people just go on the internet. It's a marvelous time-sucking invention.

The other factor to the lowered crime rate in LA/OC could be due to changing demographics. The higher income crowd is displacing a lot of the lower/middle income crowds in LA/OC, pushing them to the fringes and out towards the Inland Empire. Another demographic change could be that Asian populations are rapidly growing in SoCal. Nearly all cities have had the percentage of Asian-Americans double (if not tripled) within the past 10 years. Another demographic change is that 1st generation Mexican-American families from 20-30 years ago are now 3rd and 4th generation Mexican-Americans. This means that the 3rd and 4th generation Mexican-Americans are Americanized at this point. The "gang culture" is less prevalent in the later generations as it is in the first generation.

[Losfrisco]

Originally Posted by scoochamenz

Hello,

I live on the East Coast now but definitely want to move West. I have lived in Portland, Oregon but that's out of the running now because after five years, they still have not recovered from the Great Recession and because of their anti-everything stance, I 'spect they won't anytime soon.

I am now thinking California. Can anyone tell me some of the differences between Southern and Northern California? I kind of see Southern Cali as alternately laid back as well as image-driven/shallow (I'm basing that on a visit to Malibu) and Northern Cali as a little more classy (I'm basing that on the movie 'Sideways'). Am I wrong?

Also, three things are important to me - relatively low crime rate, reliable mass transit, and access to the ocean.

Thanks!

"Cali" is a major city in Colombia. The U.S. state is called "California."