Any places in California with a Midwest Culture/Vibe? (San Dimas: school, living in)

[hye345]

It’s silly to think that there is one single Midwest culture. Maybe there might have been 50 years ago, but things change. People move away, new people move in. The neighbor to your left might be as wholesome as apple pie/baseball/insert-some-all-American-cliche, But that one to your right might be a little sh*t. Same with California. Even within (large) cities, wherever they may be, there is a huge variance in demographics.

[mlb]

Originally Posted by hye345

It’s silly to think that there is one single Midwest culture. Maybe there might have been 50 years ago, but things change. People move away, new people move in. The neighbor to your left might be as wholesome as apple pie/baseball/insert-some-all-American-cliche, But that one to your right might be a little sh*t. Same with California. Even within (large) cities, wherever they may be, there is a huge variance in demographics.

So very true. And even within the Midwest there's jockeying - I know my nephews - born in Illinois - and living in Wisconsin talk about their disdain for illinois.... there's competition, love, hate, ..... it's hardly a congenial crowd. And then there's those people who went to Ohio State University..... a whole 'nuther form of nutcase....

#GOBADGERS!

[Count David]

Carmel, IN is just an affluent suburb. It's Indiana's answer to Irvine or Rancho Cucamonga.

I don't know what it "has" on those, I would imagine it's more laid back/less stressed/frazzled than those. Maybe it's more like Rocklin?

I would not take Carmel to be representative of the "Midwest culture/vibe", it's just a suburb for people that are making their money, and the source of it just happens to be in/near Indianapolis.

The Midwest is so many different things all at once, but in my opinion, the Central Valley is most comparable to the Midwest as a whole culturally and economically. Redding to Bakersfield.

[MikeQBF]

My wife and I are CA natives, her SF peninsula, myself High Desert and LA. We left in the '70s, spent a year back there ~2006 and now live in a rural Illinois city.

Our conclusion in the comparison is there is nowhere in California comparable to our rural Midwest experience. Grocery store (major chain)? Five minutes away. Hospital? Two minutes away, three if you get caught by the one traffic light on that route. Mayor? We have his phone number. Cost of living? How about a nice 3br/2ba for $60K, gas is $2.60/gal. Smog inspection? What smog inspection? And how about getting your license plates renewed with NO waiting, walk right up to the counter to a smiling clerk? The list goes on. Living life is easy, a lot less Big Brother and Big Mother dogging your every move.

This certainly may not be accurate for all of the Midwest, but it's pretty much the case in our region. There is too much inherent, inescapable infrastructure everywhere you go in California, even in the least-dense areas. You might be able to mitigate some of the coastal density by moving inland to the CV, desert or inland NorCal, but you're still not going to find anything close to the laid-back Midwest "vibe" you seek.

Nice weather has a price.

[JGC97]

Originally Posted by NewToCA

In terms of appearance and pace, I'd say Sacramento, Lodi and Turlock kind of fit the bill.

Excellent examples. I was going to suggest Lodi. It has, in my opinion, everything the OP is looking for. I like it.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by MikeQBF

My wife and I are CA natives, her SF peninsula, myself High Desert and LA. We left in the '70s, spent a year back there ~2006 and now live in a rural Illinois city.

Our conclusion in the comparison is there is nowhere in California comparable to our rural Midwest experience. Grocery store (major chain)? Five minutes away. Hospital? Two minutes away, three if you get caught by the one traffic light on that route. Mayor? We have his phone number. Cost of living? How about a nice 3br/2ba for $60K, gas is $2.60/gal. Smog inspection? What smog inspection? And how about getting your license plates renewed with NO waiting, walk right up to the counter to a smiling clerk? The list goes on. Living life is easy, a lot less Big Brother and Big Mother dogging your every move.

This certainly may not be accurate for all of the Midwest, but it's pretty much the case in our region. There is too much inherent, inescapable infrastructure everywhere you go in California, even in the least-dense areas. You might be able to mitigate some of the coastal density by moving inland to the CV, desert or inland NorCal, but you're still not going to find anything close to the laid-back Midwest "vibe" you seek.

Nice weather has a price.

It certainly does.

But that agreed, for 10’s of millions in California there’s a lot more to their choice to move or stay than weather compared to the mid-west.

[mlb]

I would take California's economy over Illinois' or Wisconsin's or any other midwestern state's in a heartbeat.

[Bert_from_back_East]

The Midwesterners who are almost universally amicable and pleasant are often from southern Indiana or the Great Plains states of Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

In my experience, Iowa used to be a friendlier, more laid-back place in years past, but in 2019, I sense people in Iowa are more similar to those in Wisconsin and northern Illinois (i.e., rude and curt with a strong sense of entitlement).

The remainder the Midwest leaves a lot to be desired in terms of people quality. In fact, I personally find people quality to be incredibly low in Illinois, Ohio and Wisconsin.

I absolutely detest people in Akron, Dayton and Youngstown; generally, those folks are curt, downtrodden and surly with a strong sense of entitlement.

For the record, I work in sales and have a nationwide territory, and I am often appalled by the lack of politeness and common decency that I experience from people throughout much of the Midwest relative to the rest of the country.

I would go so far as to say that people quality in many areas of the Midwest approximates that of northern New Jersey and southern New York.

The worst part about Midwesterners is that they believe they are “archetype Americans;” therefore, their accents, attitudes, behaviors and traditions (including their “work ethic”) should be held in high regard and are the standard for the entire country.

Please, as if people in California, New York or Virginia have a low work ethic. Are you kidding me?

Honestly, as a non-Midwesterner, nothing infuriates me more than comments like that, and the OP seems like the type of person to believe that type of hogwash.

[Kevroqs]

Perhaps the Central Valley because it is based on agriculture, like the Midwest.

[Coloradomom22]

The Central Valley is mentioned a lot here, but take it from me that the culture in all these towns has changed just as it has in the big cities. Because of the influx of immigrants schools and public services are very strained. There also is a very big meth problem that contributes as well. Emergency rooms are a nightmare. Libraries are unsafe (full of homeless). Schools are low-rated. the "Midwest feel" that used to exist doesn't anymore. The older people that had lifetime jobs in these places which created nice communities have died off and younger generations are much more mobile so you don't have the same long-term since of community or stability. But I think that is everywhere and not just the Central Valley.