Utterly underwhelmed (San Francisco, Long Beach, Fresno: rental car, rental, hotel)

[Candothisallday]

First time in California since child. 1.5 weeks LA (Venice Beach, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Beverly Hills), 1.5 weeks Newport Beach/Laguna Beach. I'm leaving completely let down.

1) The people. I've never come across so many judgemental/status obsessed/righteous people in my life. I understand there are all types, in all places, however the prevalence of these kinds of people, and how overt it was, was enough to ruin the atmosphere for me.

2) The weather. I've been told it's been cooler than normal recently, but not enough so I think it makes that large of a difference. It's just cool enough to not be beach weather, just warm enough to not be cold. It's just...blah. Winter is real here, in other words. 12 months of true warmth is not a thing.

3) The geography. LA itself was very underwhelming. Laguna and Newport were much more what I thought of as "California" in my mind. The hills right against the water. Yet even there, to me it was all just...blah. The hills were nice, but not large or spectacular. The beaches were all nice, but not great (ok sand, ok water). The natural flora was not desert, yet not lush. The palms all seemed very planted and "man made" as opposed to seeming natural. It just seemed to me like a weird mesh of Colorado and Florida turned down to average everything out.

Add all of this together (along with the INSANE homeless problem), I'm just very let down. Not what I expected. Anyone else have a similar experience?
I will say though, had the best burger of my life in LA, which is saying a lot. I was impressed with the food.

[wac_432]

You went to the wrong places. You don't want fake plastic people and you went to LA and OC? You want natural beauty and you never got out of the urban sprawl?

Next time try visiting the 99.5% of CA you skipped.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by Candothisallday

First time in California since child. 1.5 weeks LA (Venice Beach, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Beverly Hills), 1.5 weeks Newport Beach/Laguna Beach. I'm leaving completely let down.

1) The people. I've never come across so many judgemental/status obsessed/righteous people in my life. I understand there are all types, in all places, however the prevalence of these kinds of people, and how overt it was, was enough to ruin the atmosphere for me.

2) The weather. I've been told it's been cooler than normal recently, but not enough so I think it makes that large of a difference. It's just cool enough to not be beach weather, just warm enough to not be cold. It's just...blah. Winter is real here, in other words. 12 months of true warmth is not a thing.

3) The geography. LA itself was very underwhelming. Laguna and Newport were much more what I thought of as "California" in my mind. The hills right against the water. Yet even there, to me it was all just...blah. The hills were nice, but not large or spectacular. The beaches were all nice, but not great (ok sand, ok water). The natural flora was not desert, yet not lush. The palms all seemed very planted and "man made" as opposed to seeming natural. It just seemed to me like a weird mesh of Colorado and Florida turned down to average everything out.

Add all of this together (along with the INSANE homeless problem), I'm just very let down. Not what I expected. Anyone else have a similar experience?
I will say though, had the best burger of my life in LA, which is saying a lot. I was impressed with the food.

You’ll be leaving then, I presume? ... And not coming back ... right?

[saibot]

Who or what gave you the impression that SoCal has "warm beach weather" all year round??

I can't address your other points at all because the people I know here are not fake or plastic, and I think Newport and Laguna are gorgeous.

[KemBro71]

All that in 1.5 weeks in a pandemic. Amazing.

Graceland is east of here.

[KemBro71]

Originally Posted by Candothisallday

They're very nice, for sure. They're just not exceptional, or even great. That's my point, is there's nothing they offer that can't be found other places in a better form, geographically speaking.

Great! That area will love to have your vacation dollars!

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Candothisallday

First time in California since child. 1.5 weeks LA (Venice Beach, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Beverly Hills), 1.5 weeks Newport Beach/Laguna Beach. I'm leaving completely let down.

1) The people. I've never come across so many judgemental/status obsessed/righteous people in my life. I understand there are all types, in all places, however the prevalence of these kinds of people, and how overt it was, was enough to ruin the atmosphere for me.

2) The weather. I've been told it's been cooler than normal recently, but not enough so I think it makes that large of a difference. It's just cool enough to not be beach weather, just warm enough to not be cold. It's just...blah. Winter is real here, in other words. 12 months of true warmth is not a thing.

3) The geography. LA itself was very underwhelming. Laguna and Newport were much more what I thought of as "California" in my mind. The hills right against the water. Yet even there, to me it was all just...blah. The hills were nice, but not large or spectacular. The beaches were all nice, but not great (ok sand, ok water). The natural flora was not desert, yet not lush. The palms all seemed very planted and "man made" as opposed to seeming natural. It just seemed to me like a weird mesh of Colorado and Florida turned down to average everything out.

Add all of this together (along with the INSANE homeless problem), I'm just very let down. Not what I expected. Anyone else have a similar experience?
I will say though, had the best burger of my life in LA, which is saying a lot. I was impressed with the food.

You went to the wrong part of CA, OP. NorCal has spectacular coastal scenery, redwood forests, and down-to-earth people, here and there in-between the techies.

[KemBro71]

Can fake plastic people get COVID? Asking for a friend.

[Count David]

I moved away from CA 14 years ago. Away from SoCal 17 years ago. The last thing that comes to my mind when going back to CA is "underwhelmed". Keep in mind, I left very happily, and would have said I hated CA when I left.

When I go back (going back again this week as a matter of fact):
I'm always blown away by the weather. And the palms. The diverse topography. All the everything, it's like life on steroids. I love it. Totally underappreciated everything about it when I grew up there and still lived there.

However:
The costs: not worth it. Not being able to use restrooms in gas stations during COVID, about the stupidest thing ever. The people you come across who could care less you exist, yeah, I could do without 'em. The ones who come off like their trying to climb up a chalkboard and will trample over any and everybody to get a slightly bigger slice of the pie...yeah, screw those people too.

My last trip there during Thanksgiving, I could not have asked for more perfect weather. Bright blue skies, mid-upper 70's, no smog....it was great. I stayed at the Mission Inn in Riverside, and the service sucked, not worth the price....BUT I got to eat Miguel's Jr. every day. Also stayed at Huntington and Hermosa, and really, if you can't find something to like about either of those places, you're really just not going to like anywhere.

I've been to 42 of the 50 states. All of them have great people and awful people.

You want status obsessed people?
-Go walk around the Mall of America. Report back please. Yeah, your rental car agent, your hotel desk agent, and your waiters in SoCal will probably come off as uppity too, it's seriously a millions of rats fighting for shrinking resources type situation...this is how they create their pecking order. I myself don't have time for it. Be glad you don't live in it.

Anybody who has ever done any type of research about SoCal weather could have told you that it's not 12 months of perfect weather. But odds are that it's likely better than most ANYWHERE else in the country at a given time (as I type with my home buried under TWO FEET of snow).

Geography....are you kidding? Mountains and/or hills in every direction, palms accenting everything, excellent weather much of the time, a built environment that could make heads explode? It is a multi-dimensional look that really can't be found anywhere else. Where can beat this?

Yeah, the homeless situation sucks, but it sucks here in Denver too. It sucks in any western city honestly.

Honestly, a lot of people expect CA to be like FL, especially if they are from the east. I don't know why people think that. It's its own thing. And it ain't just what you saw. It's not like you decided to plant yourself in Santa Fe Springs or Hemet for a week. Go out of LA and OC next time. Go find the "normal" people. Go see Fresno. Go see Yuba City. California isn't just one thing.

I have a friend who's CA experience is as follows: He and his wife are from NY.
-flew into LAX
-got on a cruise at the Port of Long Beach
-went to Mexico
-got back to Long Beach
-took an Uber to Huntington Beach to get me burritos
-went back to LAX

Ask them, CA is the most horribly overrated place in the world. There's no arguing it.

Oh well. I can visit any time I want, consume what I want, and leave. And it's there for me should I ever want to return.

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by Candothisallday

First time in California since child. 1.5 weeks LA (Venice Beach, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Beverly Hills), 1.5 weeks Newport Beach/Laguna Beach. I'm leaving completely let down.

1) The people. I've never come across so many judgemental/status obsessed/righteous people in my life. I understand there are all types, in all places, however the prevalence of these kinds of people, and how overt it was, was enough to ruin the atmosphere for me.

2) The weather. I've been told it's been cooler than normal recently, but not enough so I think it makes that large of a difference. It's just cool enough to not be beach weather, just warm enough to not be cold. It's just...blah. Winter is real here, in other words. 12 months of true warmth is not a thing.

3) The geography. LA itself was very underwhelming. Laguna and Newport were much more what I thought of as "California" in my mind. The hills right against the water. Yet even there, to me it was all just...blah. The hills were nice, but not large or spectacular. The beaches were all nice, but not great (ok sand, ok water). The natural flora was not desert, yet not lush. The palms all seemed very planted and "man made" as opposed to seeming natural. It just seemed to me like a weird mesh of Colorado and Florida turned down to average everything out.

Add all of this together (along with the INSANE homeless problem), I'm just very let down. Not what I expected. Anyone else have a similar experience?
I will say though, had the best burger of my life in LA, which is saying a lot. I was impressed with the food.

Interesting post. I'm Californian through and through. I get it. A Weird mesh of Colorado and Florida, I like that.

California WAS special in everyway.

The thing about Californias natural mediterranean environment is that it is delicate and subtle. The overpopulation, the graffiti everywhere, the trash, and filth. Any public statue, staircase, trash bin, street sign, street lamp, bus/train station, you name it, is trashed in some way.

Native and long time Californias have been frogs in a pot on the stove, the slow boil, we've become accustomed to the deterioration of California. Young folk under 20 have never seen the pristine clean California, when the streets of San Francisco were spotless, LA freeways were graffiti free, barren hills free of houses and developments that were golden brown in the summer, green in the winter with giant eucalyptus, miles of valley oaks, orange groves, giant ficus, clean suburbs, clean beaches, a civil society full of promise and hope.