What is the most materialistic place in the US? (state, places, people)

[wildcat2009]

I have heard that the OC is materialistic? What other places are there?

[john_starks]

LA in NYC - by far the worst

cliched but true

[wildcat2009]

Cities are to broad, please list neighborhoods of nyc, I am sure that the Bronx is completely different than Manhattan

[wildcat2009]

thanks

[john_starks]

all of Manhattan, UES is the most pathetic of all
westchester county is awful - Scarsdale, New Rochelle, etc..
CT - Greenwich, Stamford, Fairfield county
NJ - bergen county
LI - a place called the Hamptons

[lrfox]

I don't necessarily equate "materialistic" with wealth. In New England, there are plenty of incredibly wealthy people that you wouldn't be able to tell are wealthy by the car they drive or way they dress. I even found the same to be true in much of CT and NYC (though, of course, there are exceptions).

I think Miami is one of the most materialistic places I've ever been. The flaunting of money, extravagant cars, lavish homes and flashy outfits make it fairly obvious. I don't really care what the rich do with their money so long as it doesn't hurt me. It just gets sad when you have people living in the projects spending every cent that comes in on luxury items (rims, handbags, jewelry, clothes, etc) to try and appear rich. It's bad when you see a guy roll up to the grocery store with $5k worth of cosmetic additions on a $35k car that he can't afford using food stamps to feed his kids. Nowhere did I find this to be worse than Miami.

People will mention Vegas and LA, but in those cities it's not as widespread. In fact, I think LA gets a bad rap with regards to materialism due to the celebrity culture (mostly from people who have never been). However, the vast majority of the city and metro isn't like that. Some of the most down to earth people I've met were in LA. Vegas is similar. Off of the strip, it's just not that apparent.

[415_s2k]

Originally Posted by lrfox

I don't necessarily equate "materialistic" with wealth. In New England, there are plenty of incredibly wealthy people that you wouldn't be able to tell are wealthy by the car they drive or way they dress. I even found the same to be true in much of CT and NYC (though, of course, there are exceptions).

I think Miami is one of the most materialistic places I've ever been. The flaunting of money, extravagant cars, lavish homes and flashy outfits make it fairly obvious. I don't really care what the rich do with their money so long as it doesn't hurt me. It just gets sad when you have people living in the projects spending every cent that comes in on luxury items (rims, handbags, jewelry, clothes, etc) to try and appear rich. It's bad when you see a guy roll up to the grocery store with $5k worth of cosmetic additions on a $35k car that he can't afford using food stamps to feed his kids. Nowhere did I find this to be worse than Miami.

People will mention Vegas and LA, but in those cities it's not as widespread. In fact, I think LA gets a bad rap with regards to materialism due to the celebrity culture (mostly from people who have never been). However, the vast majority of the city and metro isn't like that. Some of the most down to earth people I've met were in LA. Vegas is similar. Off of the strip, it's just not that apparent.

I lived in LA from 02-07, and it definitely gets a bum rap for materialism.

You can easily find materialism in LA, but you can just as easily find people who are totally down to earth, and many who go out of their way to rebuke the whole Beverly Hills/Bel-Air/Hollywood Hills culture.

[PeterRabbit]

Dc

[pwright1]

Definately D.C.

[Sunday1]

I think materialistic areas exist in pockets of every major city. I can think of areas in and surrounding every major city I've lived in that has "materialistic" pockets. DC is small so it's easy to call out -- but in DC, power trumps money. There's a lot of money and power both in Washington yet you'd be hard-pressed to identify it just by watching the handbags and cars go by. Some of DC's most expensive homes are very under-stated. LaJolla, on the other hand -- well, that might be the show.