Differences between north and south California (San Francisco, Fresno: college, living, military)

[Severoxo]

Hi everyone!!
I´m a spanish student of english language and I have to do an assignment about the differences between north ca and south ca.
do yo know some web sites, books or can anyone tell me some of the differences? I found out too much about the weather, the beaches etc I would like some more information about specific matters.
I hope you can help me.
Thanks so much.

[Charles]

Northern California supplies a lot of water to Southern California. There have been historic politcal and economic battles to control this (Look up Mulholland, Owens Valley, Sacramento Delta, and aqueduct).

California Aqueduct - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Fontucky]

LearnCalifornia.org - California Geography (http://www.learncalifornia.org/doc.asp?ID=222 - broken link)

California Geography & Geology

[Capt. Dan]

Northern California residents say "pass the joint maaan!"
Southern California residents say "hit that doob quick. surfs up dude!"

[bhcompy]

san fran is more like an east coast metropolis(and strives to be that) while la is decidedly the prime example/benchmark of a west coast metropolis

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by bhcompy

san fran is more like an east coast metropolis(and strives to be that) while la is decidedly the prime example/benchmark of a west coast metropolis

Right. I like that. I've LA-born and raised, and no longer living there, but I can tell you a SF-native and a LA-native, who were raised in their cities, respectively, look at things in very different ways.

The northern part of the state can be very politically correct and "you have to love everybody" (in its coastal metros) while the interior can be pretty darn conservative. In general, the southern part is more free-wheeling. Just my 2 cents.

[sonarrat]

Southern California is one of the primary media centers of the world. Northern California is one of the primary technological centers of the world.

[Benchracer]

Originally Posted by bhcompy

san fran is more like an east coast metropolis(and strives to be that) while la is decidedly the prime example/benchmark of a west coast metropolis

That may be accurate, but many of us consider San Francisco to be central California, not northern. Of course if you only divide California into north and south, then San Fran gets put in with the northern half - but barely.

[jschek]

Originally Posted by Benchracer

That may be accurate, but many of us consider San Francisco to be central California, not northern. Of course if you only divide California into north and south, then San Fran gets put in with the northern half - but barely.

Really? A lot of folks I know from Northern California would draw the line somewhere near Fresno, with Fresno being part of Southern California... not sure what it is about Fresno, but it's the but of a lot of jokes.

Plus, the North/South division is really too artificial. The San Joaquin Valley is very different than the East Bay, which is very different than the Bay Area...

But then, the folks I know who live up near Oregon would call everything from Sacramento/SF to the border the real "Southern California".

But the answer the OP's question... Northern California, in general, has a different metro environment, the high tech centers, state capital, and the nature aspect.

Southern California tends to have a more well-known military industry (not to say NC doesn't, just that it's overshadowed by Silicon Valley), Hollywood, beach-tourism, and deserts. The agriculture in Southern California is very different as is the metro environments.

But if you wanted to stick to one thing, SC is more urbanized. NC has more of the Redwoods and (arguably) Yosemite, Stanislaus National Forest, and other nature-y stuff.

[Benchracer]

Originally Posted by jschek

Really? A lot of folks I know from Northern California would draw the line somewhere near Fresno...

Are those folks from the San Fran Bay area? They always think they're northern California.