How was California in the past? (Los Angeles, San Diego: real estate, crime, neighborhoods)

[Italian (x)lurker]

Hi , this question is directed especially to elders but not only to them , I'd like to know how was living in Cali in the past decades , say in the 60s or 70s but in the 50s too...
how was the schools , the jobs , the relationships bewteen husbands and wives , were there so many commuters like today?
and what about the concern for environmental issues , were they discussed on newspapers and tv like they are today?
and how about immigrants , was it big problem once?
as a kid how did you imagine the future of Cali?has it been better or worse?

thank you , Rob

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Italian (x)lurker

Hi , this question is directed especially to elders but not only to them , I'd like to know how was living in Cali in the past decades , say in the 60s or 70s but in the 50s too...
how was the schools , the jobs , the relationships bewteen husbands and wives , were there so many commuters like today?
and what about the concern for environmental issues , were they discussed on newspapers and tv like they are today?
and how about immigrants , was it big problem once?
as a kid how did you imagine the future of Cali?has it been better or worse?

thank you , Rob

there are zillions of thread discussing exactly this subject but for those of us who lived in Ca in those days we love to remember.

I was born and raised in Los Angeles, went to college in San Diego and got married in So Pasadena. My hubby moved to Glendora in the late 40s when he was just a kid.

No the traffic was not like today or even like 20 years ago. In the 50s most of us lived within 20 or 30 min of downtown..We could take the street car or bus..Then came the mid 50s and the freeways..Everything started changing. People moved further out in both valleys and Orange Co started to grow.

Most of the school districts in So Ca in the 50s and 60s were considered good to very good. Environment was a word never used, but smog was becoming a major problem even in the 50s.

I don't know if the 50s was as wonderful as we all remember in Ca or if we only think about the good times. But it certainly was an easier time. Everyone seemed to be prospering, the wars were over until Nam became an issue in the mid 60s and we just took so much for granted. Middle class kids mostly went on to get an education after high school, crime was not something we worried about and the thought of locking your doors was a strange thought. In fact 1/2 the time people left their keys in the car. Of course most families only had one car..

Moms mostly stayed home, divorce was rare until the late 60s and 70s when women started entering the work force. Were marriages better? Who knows, but divorce wasn't much of an issue. Teens grew up much later than they do now: Alcohol, drugs, sex, all were taboo subjects in high school. Only the inter cities had any problems, but there were a few gangs even then..Most were in the East Los Angeles area.

WE moved to NO CAl when hubby got a promotion (1965) That was the beginning of the Hippy age, protests, drugs, open sex, etc. of course SF was right there. It has always been a liberal city..Most families (moms were still pretty much stay at home) lived in Marin Co, east Bay or South of the city as the areas that were safe to raise a family were outrageously expensive. Again, SF real estate was expensive then as it is now..

We moved back to Los Angeles in the early 70s, about the time forced busing started. Whether this was a good or bad thing I don't think anyone knows, but many families really started the white flight at that time, leaving Los Angeles, Pasa and similar places for the smaller, farther out towns and you say more growth of the burbs. Women were entering the work force in leaps and bounds by the mid to late 70s. Traffic was becoming a huge problem as there was no decent rapid transit system and everyone drove to Los Angeles with few car pools.

We left in the 80s, only to return to visit so others can better fill you in on the life after the 70s.

Nita

[EscapeCalifornia]

There were a lot less people. Too many people = lots of problems we have today

The schools were among the best in the nation at one time. Now they're among the worst.

There were always immigrants but at least the illegal ones didn't march down Main St. waving foreign flags, demanding rights and your paycheck.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by nmnita

there are zillions of thread discussing exactly this subject but for those of us who lived in Ca in those days we love to remember.

I was born and raised in Los Angeles, went to college in San Diego and got married in So Pasadena. My hubby moved to Glendora in the late 40s when he was just a kid.

No the traffic was not like today or even like 20 years ago. In the 50s most of us lived within 20 or 30 min of downtown..We could take the street car or bus..Then came the mid 50s and the freeways..Everything started changing. People moved further out in both valleys and Orange Co started to grow.

Most of the school districts in So Ca in the 50s and 60s were considered good to very good. Environment was a word never used, but smog was becoming a major problem even in the 50s.

I don't know if the 50s was as wonderful as we all remember in Ca or if we only think about the good times. But it certainly was an easier time. Everyone seemed to be prospering, the wars were over until Nam became an issue in the mid 60s and we just took so much for granted. Middle class kids mostly went on to get an education after high school

You were there, I wasn't- but from what my mom told me, and with her example and that of most of her friends, I don't think it was that common for girls to get an education after high school - most of them got married right after high school. There were also a great number of blue collar jobs that didn't demand college at the time. Everything else you've said seems to coincide with what I've heard.

crime was not something we worried about and the thought of locking your doors was a strange thought. In fact 1/2 the time people left their keys in the car. Of course most families only had one car..

Also, from what I've heard, L.A. did not have a "rough" reputation back then even amongst its own people - kids from NYC, Philly, Chicago, even SF who found themselves in L.A. played the tough guy card a great deal.

Moms mostly stayed home, divorce was rare until the late 60s and 70s when women started entering the work force. Were marriages better? Who knows, but divorce wasn't much of an issue. Teens grew up much later than they do now: Alcohol, drugs, sex, all were taboo subjects in high school. Only the inter cities had any problems, but there were a few gangs even then..Most were in the East Los Angeles area.

The gangs of that era were quite harmless compared to that of later decades.

WE moved to NO CAl when hubby got a promotion (1965) That was the beginning of the Hippy age, protests, drugs, open sex, etc. of course SF was right there. It has always been a liberal city..Most families (moms were still pretty much stay at home) lived in Marin Co, east Bay or South of the city as the areas that were safe to raise a family were outrageously expensive.

There were plenty of families in the Sunset, Richmond, Noe Valley, North Beach and what was then called Eureka Valley (now the Castro) back then.
1950s SF billed itself as America's most family friendly city and even as late as the late '70s SF had considerably more families than today. My conception of the more suburban parts of the Bay Area in the '50s/early '60s seems to be like "American Graffiti" (set in Petaluma IIRC) - again, correct me if I'm wrong.

It does seem that most of the reminiscences about mid 20th century CA on CityData boards come from Angelenos. For some reason, the old time SF people don't post on CityData like their Southern counterparts. I'd really like to hear more recollections of the old, blue collar, white ethnic SF (or the old Mexican-American SF as well, like people who would've grown up in the Mission at the time Carlos Santana was growing up there). There are a few old timers who've told me their stories, but I'd really like to hear more not being an SF native.

Again, SF real estate was expensive then as it is now..

Compared to the rest of the state, yes, but NOWHERE NEAR what it became later.

We moved back to Los Angeles in the early 70s, about the time forced busing started. Whether this was a good or bad thing I don't think anyone knows

Forced busing in L.A. started in 1978 and lasted for a year IIRC. There was forced busing in Inglewood and Pasadena beginning in the early '70s - forced busing in the North and West was a scheme by the Nixon Administration to turn two Dem constituencies - blacks and working class whites - against each other and thus draw votes away from the Democratic Party to the GOP with the Dems unable to react in fear of alienating key constituencies. It was a brilliant political move, but a disastrous policy which had awful repercussions, and I highly doubt you'd find too many people who'd think it was a good thing. The issue should have been dealt with by building better schools in more impoverished areas rather than forced busing.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by majoun

You were there, I wasn't- but from what my mom told me, and with her example and that of most of her friends, I don't think it was that common for girls to get an education after high school - most of them got married right after high school. There were also a great number of blue collar jobs that didn't demand college at the time. Everything else you've said seems to coincide with what I've heard.



Also, from what I've heard, L.A. did not have a "rough" reputation back then even amongst its own people - kids from NYC, Philly, Chicago, even SF who found themselves in L.A. played the tough guy card a great deal.



The gangs of that era were quite harmless compared to that of later decades.



There were plenty of families in the Sunset, Richmond, Noe Valley, North Beach and what was then called Eureka Valley (now the Castro) back then.
1950s SF billed itself as America's most family friendly city and even as late as the late '70s SF had considerably more families than today. My conception of the more suburban parts of the Bay Area in the '50s/early '60s seems to be like "American Graffiti" (set in Petaluma IIRC) - again, correct me if I'm wrong.

It does seem that most of the reminiscences about mid 20th century CA on CityData boards come from Angelenos. For some reason, the old time SF people don't post on CityData like their Southern counterparts. I'd really like to hear more recollections of the old, blue collar, white ethnic SF (or the old Mexican-American SF as well, like people who would've grown up in the Mission at the time Carlos Santana was growing up there). There are a few old timers who've told me their stories, but I'd really like to hear more not being an SF native.



Compared to the rest of the state, yes, but NOWHERE NEAR what it became later.



Forced busing in L.A. started in 1978 and lasted for a year IIRC. There was forced busing in Inglewood and Pasadena beginning in the early '70s - forced busing in the North and West was a scheme by the Nixon Administration to turn two Dem constituencies - blacks and working class whites - against each other and thus draw votes away from the Democratic Party to the GOP with the Dems unable to react in fear of alienating key constituencies. It was a brilliant political move, but a disastrous policy which had awful repercussions, and I highly doubt you'd find too many people who'd think it was a good thing. The issue should have been dealt with by building better schools in more impoverished areas rather than forced busing.

couple of things: I guess it depended on where you lived, but by the mid 50s many girls did go on to college, at least in the middle income areas of Los Angeles, Pasadena and other cities to the north. Many did not graduate but certainly went to college. I didn't have a friend that didn't go to at least Jr College as we called them then. Same with the area my husband grew up in and it was barely considered middle class.

No gangs were nothing like the east, but they did exist and they were pretty bad, of course not like today, nother was quite like today.

We moved to the bay area as I said in mid 1960s and many of our neighbors had been raised in SF, but re-located because of the high cost of property
or the crime in the lessor areas. I think the 50s may have been the hay day for SF. Yes, there were more families in the SF area but the numbers were dwindling fast I am guessing, I don't have the figures. I do know today it is quite the opposite..

You are right about the busing, we lived in Pasadena thus were part of the first busing experiments. We moved there in Jan of 1970 and busing started in Sept..Some good did come from it, but very little. It gave many kids exposure to life styles they would never had experienced had it not been for busing, but it caused some serious problems as well,. I have to admit, we were part of the white flight. After about 3 years in the school district we exited and moved to Arcadia...

I think we are both right in our thoughts and remarks, we just see things a little differently. That is what makes these forums so much fun and informative. Just from you and I alone, the OP will gain some knowledge..

Nita

[Charles]

Originally Posted by nmnita

there are zillions of thread discussing exactly this subject but for those of us who lived in Ca in those days we love to remember.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/los-a...s-changed.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/los-a...most-good.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/los-a...ared-15-a.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/calif...nostalgia.html

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Charles

http://www.city-data.com/forum/los-a...s-changed.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/los-a...most-good.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/los-a...ared-15-a.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/calif...nostalgia.html

yep, these are all good posts for the OP. He/she can learn alot from them.

Nita

[majoun]

Originally Posted by nmnita

couple of things: I guess it depended on where you lived, but by the mid 50s many girls did go on to college, at least in the middle income areas of Los Angeles, Pasadena and other cities to the north.

My mother and aunt didn't go on to college after high school (my aunt married immediately after high school) and judging by my mother's friends, very few of them went to college. (FYI they grew up in Hollywood). The mothers of my best friends when I was a kid who DID grow up in L.A. for the most part either didn't go to college, although there were exceptions.

No gangs were nothing like the east, but they did exist and they were pretty bad, of course not like today, nother was quite like today.

As we've said before, the gangs of that era were harmless by today's standards, but that era was very different and by the standards of that era would have seemed scary. (The gangs in the eastern cities, which were worse than L.A. at that time, weren't anywhere nearly as bad as they'd become later on either for that matter. )

We moved to the bay area as I said in mid 1960s and many of our neighbors had been raised in SF, but re-located because of the high cost of property or the crime in the lessor areas.

The impression I got is that many of the people relocating because of crime and changing demographics went to the Sunset and Richmond or other neighborhoods in western SF. Much like the people who left inner city areas in LA went to the Westside at that time.

I think the 50s may have been the hay day for SF. Yes, there were more families in the SF area but the numbers were dwindling fast I am guessing, I don't have the figures. I do know today it is quite the opposite..

SF today has fewer families than any other US city - unlike the 1950s when Republican SF mayors Robinson and Christopher boasted about SF's appeal to families. (For those new to California it's probably impossible to imagine how Republican dominated San Francisco was until the late '60s!)

You are right about the busing, we lived in Pasadena thus were part of the first busing experiments.

In the Western US, that is (in the Southern US it was a different story, and there was actually justification for it in the South - unlike in California)

We moved there in Jan of 1970 and busing started in Sept..Some good did come from it, but very little. It gave many kids exposure to life styles they would never had experienced had it not been for busing, but it caused some serious problems as well,. I have to admit, we were part of the white flight. After about 3 years in the school district we exited and moved to Arcadia...

Pasadena stayed whiter than Inglewood, which also underwent one of the first forced busing programs in California.

I think we are both right in our thoughts and remarks, we just see things a little differently. That is what makes these forums so much fun and informative. Just from you and I alone, the OP will gain some knowledge..

Your impressions are first hand, however. Mine are second hand. I was a child in the '60s. Now, with regard to the late '70s and afterwards, I can speak with some authority.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by majoun

My mother and aunt didn't go on to college after high school (my aunt married immediately after high school) and judging by my mother's friends, very few of them went to college. (FYI they grew up in Hollywood). The mothers of my best friends when I was a kid who DID grow up in L.A. for the most part either didn't go to college, although there were exceptions.



As we've said before, the gangs of that era were harmless by today's standards, but that era was very different and by the standards of that era would have seemed scary. (The gangs in the eastern cities, which were worse than L.A. at that time, weren't anywhere nearly as bad as they'd become later on either for that matter. )



The impression I got is that many of the people relocating because of crime and changing demographics went to the Sunset and Richmond or other neighborhoods in western SF. Much like the people who left inner city areas in LA went to the Westside at that time.



SF today has fewer families than any other US city - unlike the 1950s when Republican SF mayors Robinson and Christopher boasted about SF's appeal to families. (For those new to California it's probably impossible to imagine how Republican dominated San Francisco was until the late '60s!)



In the Western US, that is (in the Southern US it was a different story, and there was actually justification for it in the South - unlike in California)



Pasadena stayed whiter than Inglewood, which also underwent one of the first forced busing programs in California.



Your impressions are first hand, however. Mine are second hand. I was a child in the '60s. Now, with regard to the late '70s and afterwards, I can speak with some authority.

My kids were kids of the 60s and 70s as well. You are right about Inglewood, but they were something else again. Our oldest daughter was born in Inglewood. At that time blacks were not even allowed on the street after dark, I know this is hard for some to believe..but true. It was lilly white as the expression went, so when busing hit (by then there were blacks in the city) the city just totally fell apart. How sad. Pasadena had alway had a black population and a black area. Even though the white flight happened, it wasn't as damaging. Part of this could have had to do with the overall politcal views..Inglewood was more middle and working class, probably a mixture of conservative and liberal, but certainly not particularly liberal..Pasadena had the influence of Cal Tech which is and has always been very liberal. thus more people accpected busing...

As for the girls going to college or marrying, maybe it did have to do with the locale..We were raised in Eagle Rock which along with Marshall High School and Verdogo Hills had the highest number of graduates going on the higher education. We were not particularly wealthy but very middle class. Still we did have this reputation. In fact our VP of Eagle Rock high school gave us these statistics in 1955. I remember them to this day and I don't remember much.. I am sure Pasadena High School had a similar number going on. John Muir was on the west side of Pasadena, they probably had a very low number of kids continueing their education...My husband, was raised in Glendora..Though it was a combination of working and middle class, many families had settled there after the war. they had come from AR and OK looking for a better life. Thus they beat education into their kids heads..

Nita

[pll]

San Diego North County in the early 70's (Del Mar Heights) had open fields, no traffic on the freeways or air pollution. Lots of coyotes and skunks. Kids would play outside on their bikes and skateboards until dinner. Not a lot of stores or schools in the area. There was one elementary school and one 7-11 on the corner. Lots of stay-at-home moms.