What California city or town feels the most like a Southern city? (Los Angeles: agriculture, moving)

[Nexis]

if your thinking about a southern city like charleston, savannah, ect theres really nothing really like that in california. west coast has a completely different vibe and atmosphere in my opinion.

[dirtrash]

UkiahRoXX REally

[NorthernCalifornia]

good call on Chico, I'd suggest the foothills in general, towns like Jackson.

[elcapitan]

Lots of pickups and gunracks in places like La Jolla or Carmel.

[Soccersupporter]

Originally Posted by Onliner1

If a southerner was to move to California, where would they move to if they wanted to find a city (or town) that feels the most like home?

I would strongly suggest northern California. You would not feel at home in southern CA. I spent a few years in northern CA as a kid and I remember it being a lot more country. Orland, Redding, Redbluff. Went to a lot of rodeos, carnivals, etc.. I don't know how much it has change I can just say that southern CA is nothing remotely like the south.

[tangodoodles]

Well, Bakersfield has a very rural/cowboy atmosphere despite growing ridiculously fast in terms of population. There are a ton of trucks and a very conservative feel overall. However, taxes are higher in California than in most places and if I wanted to live in a town/city with a southern atmosphere I'd probably just choose to live in a Southern state. Bakersfield doesn't have beach weather. It gets cold (on average about 40 degrees) in the winter and hot (on average about 95 degrees at least) in the summer, we experience all four seasons. Plus, I'm starting to sense some white flight. Either that or the minority numbers are growing with each truckful of illegals that comes in.

[Woof]

Originally Posted by elcapitan

Lots of pickups and gunracks in places like La Jolla or Carmel.

Sheesh, there's one in every crowd.

I'll add Susanville to my former recommendation of Clearlake, except the weather's a lot different - drier and more exteme. But Susanville is deeply religous, conservative and xenophobic, and offers a degree in gunsmithing at the local community college. There's work at either the state prison or the local hospital.

[sav858]

I would look somewhere in the Central Valley or other small towns in the Sierra Nevada's or Southern CA. Places in rural Northern CA between the Central Valley and Coast like Ukiah, Clearlake, ect.. are all pretty liberal. I'm not sure that matters to you or not, but unlike most rural areas, this area is VERY liberal. But it definitely still has that small town atmosphere. My dad and brother live in Ukiah and they love fishing, hunting, NASCAR, ect... CA is pretty different overall so you won't find much that really resembles the south. New Orleans and SF seem somewhat similar being that they are both old, compact, and have really great architecture and history but beyond that they are VERY different people wise, culture, economy, ect....

[timelesschild]

What part of the South? That makes a difference....

[Desertho]

Los Angeles will remind you of Houston. East LA would remind you Calle Ocho. Central Valley cities never struck me as country South. They tend to be non-descript and overwhelmingly composed of migrant workers. Though I did find it disturbing that the first few responses refer the OP to the most backwater parts of California when it was specifically requested which CA settlement feels most like a Southern CITY. You know, like Miami, Savannah, New Orleans, places with level of urbanism that should embarass the state that gave us San Jose.