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I think you can find professionals, blue collar types, workaholics, soccer moms, slackers, weekend warriors, social butterflies, and every other personality type almost anywhere. Neither coast has a monopoly on any of them.
Hmm... I live on the East Coast (Boston), and travel frequently to the West Coast (San Francisco / Silicon Valley). I think that both coasts have a very strong work, and productivity focus. I think that it may feel different because the West coast areas that I visit are "high tech" versus the East coast having more of a banking / healthcare feel. Whether you're in midtown Manhattan, or Redwood City, you'll hear a ton of people talking about work 24/7.
I have relatives in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Bay Area seems work oriented at the same time, but there is a laid back life going on at the same time. So it's sort of better than the work oriented lifestyle of the East Coast.
I agree. I'm in the Bay Area often, and from what I can see it is extremely work-oriented and career-driven for college-educated white collar professionals. Work and school do pop up a lot in conversation. And on both coasts, the other big topic for casual discussion is -- surprise, surprise -- the cost of housing and real estate.
But stay at it long enough, and you can make small talk about sports, movies, travel, kids (if you have any), music, neighborhoods, cars, whatever. I think that's true anywhere.
I have relatives in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Bay Area seems work oriented at the same time, but there is a laid back life going on at the same time. So it's sort of better than the work oriented lifestyle of the East Coast.
In my opinion, my cousin and their friends in the Bay Area seem more interested in things outside of work/school than the people of the East Coast. Whenever I talk to people on the East Coast, they just don't want to have fun. They redirect their conversations to work/school.
I can only speak to my experiences in Southern California and here I think that people strive for much more of a work life balance than the east coast. People work hard, but play hard as well. We don’t live to work, we work to live.
My cousin from the Bay Area said pharmacy programs in the West Coast are supposed to be shorter than the East Coast, because work life balance is more valued in the West Coast. The Bay Area is somewhat work oriented in my opinion, but I feel that "we work to live" in the West Coast. Here in NJ, the lifestyle and the vibe is miserable. We "live to work" in NJ and that's what NJ is all about. That's why we feel like we are surrounded by concrete in NJ (which contributes to having a super dense population). NJ has too many corporate buildings, too many factories, and ridiculous amounts of urbanization. Nature is not valued much here.
Nope: Seattle, Bay Area and L.A are very work oriented. So it's a tie
Connect the dots between those 3 places (this would include Portland, OR too) and that covers the entire West Coast. Hmm, so what is the Midwest lifestyle like in terms of being work oriented?
The laid back Californian attitude definitely does persist at least where I live we are much more focused on being outside, and enjoying the weather. People definitely work, but you would really get the vibe that many don't work, and question how people even provide for themselves here. lol I think it has more to do with the weather as well even from NorCal to SoCal the weather is slightly better for being outside in SoCal.
My male cousin from the Bay Area is the typical laid back Californian. He has his hair long like a hippy. He values skateboarding outside and enjoying the weather. He graduated high school two school years ago, and has never proceeded to find a real job and never bothered with college. He just works at an ice cream store chain.
I think you can find professionals, blue collar types, workaholics, soccer moms, slackers, weekend warriors, social butterflies, and every other personality type almost anywhere. Neither coast has a monopoly on any of them.
I would venture from my experience hard-working from 9 to 5 (or the equivalent) and having more of a separation between work-life, with urban Chicago perhaps the exception.
I work with high-tech people in the LA area and their work totally dominates their lives, from long workdays and work weeks, to long commute times, and the people they socialize with as a majority have no extended family from the area. The big difference from the East is that their office areas are more crowded at 7pm than they are at 9am. It is not unusual to receive emails from them sent out as late as midnight Pacific time, even though I knew they had already been there all day.
This may not be representative of the area as a whole, but just a feature of the startup/hi-tech sector.
Connect the dots between those 3 places (this would include Portland, OR too) and that covers the entire West Coast. Hmm, so what is the Midwest lifestyle like in terms of being work oriented?
San Diegans would disagree.
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