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I'd say you need to go to Fashion Island in Newport Beach. Tysons Corner is very nice! KOP is a dump compared.
I'm from the middle class area of San Diego (believe it or not there is a shrinking middle class down there.) When I say NoVA reminds me of OC, I mean in terms of people and culture, ie.. Conservatives, churches, family oriented neighborhoods with newer housing stock and shopping. If you think San Diego or OC consists only Ocean Beach and Huntington Beach off PCH, I'd say you were more of a tourist in SoCal, not native. Florida is not like SoCal, except they both have ocean beaches and palm trees.
LOL. KOP is the largest mall on the East Coast with some of the most upscale retail in the county -- hardly a "dump." Tysons is respectable, but I'd definitely choose KOP over it any day.
As for your high expectations for NoVA, you shouldn't necessarily be expecting green pastures. Granted, it is definitely SoCal-eque with its sprawling, newer suburbia, but it's still the East Coast. You're definitely going to find the same brusque attitudes you currently find in the Philly 'burbs (it's also staunchly liberal and secular) -- and in my humble experience at a much more intense level, not to mention much less character and much more transience. Best of luck, however.
I'm from La Mesa and moved from there to the Main Line suburbs outside of Philly. Absolute culture shock. The East Coast attitude, the miniature sized homes, roads that make no sense, dirty dirty towns and city, Philly upscale shopping is SD's Plaza Bonita. Don't move! There is no place like SD!
I am in the process of moving to Northern VA. From what I've seen it reminds me of Orange County in an East Coast kinda way. So I hope to be much happier there.
What about Fairfield County, CT? It's not like San Diego with the palms but it's very affluent, leafy and beautiful - as well as on Long Island Sound and minutes from NYC. Greenwich is a beautiful town and it sounds like Greenwich Ave. would suit your style of shopping, as well as "The Westchester" nearby. You may like it better than NoVa - I have heard many compare Fairfield and Orange Counties.
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