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meaning that the lavish liftstyle and/or projection of it is a part of each cities image and is pretty ingrained into the culture. Miami was always a location for rich New Yorkers to show off their beach house etc.. and with Hollywood, LA always needed be home to the "lifestyles of the rich & famous".
meaning that the lavish liftstyle and/or projection of it is a part of each cities image and is pretty ingrained into the culture. Miami was always a location for rich New Yorkers to show off their beach house etc.. and with Hollywood, LA always needed be home to the "lifestyles of the rich & famous".
Gotcha. It just seemed like you were merely stating the obvious by saying image consciousness was characteristic of those cities.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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Yes, agree about the Miami professional class being more like NYC—more grounded.
Professional class drives its share of exotic cars too, some with a “stable” of them —friends at Four Seasons Residences and elsewhere drive their Bugatti, McLaren, and even Maserati (equivalent of a Volkswagen in some parts of Miami), with the difference being you would never know unless you pass them on the street. They tend not to brag or wear their wealth / price tag on their sleeves. Also, many successful Latinos came from countries where they were used to downplaying their wealth to prevent from becoming a kidnap target—so they have some humility (with a tad of paranoia) built into their DNA.
Russians here tend to be a tad more flamboyant along with the poseur and “The Situation” nightclub crowd which represents a small percentage of Miami, that includes a lot of wannabe Vegas-like (what happens here stays here) tourists. Then there were the idiots, mostly out of towners/spring breakers, partying it up like it was NYE on the beaches up until yesterday.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Frustratedintelligence
I can understand that Miami's professional class is less likely to be showy, if only because they're less likely to be involved with the entertainment and media industries that are more common in LA. It's when we look at both cities as a whole that I find Miami to be the more pretentious place.
Some of it may be influenced by South Florida's Latin Caribbean base as opposed to SoCal's larger population of Mexicans, who are known to be a bit more laid back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcenal352
Miami's professional class is more in tune with that of NYC. The professional class, for the most part, isn't show-offish at all in Miami, and you're likely to find them driving a Prius (MAYBE a TESLA) or a Ford F-150 as opposed to a Maserati or some other "exotic" vehicle.
Those certainly aren't the ones I was talking about.
Last edited by elchevere; 03-20-2020 at 08:55 AM..
Also, many successful Latinos came from countries where they were used to downplaying their wealth to prevent from becoming a kidnap target—so they have some humility (with a tad of paranoia) built into their DNA
Compared to the wealthy Mexican nationals in the West and Texas, that hasn't been my experience at all. While their kids would look the part, these were some of the most ordinary looking rich people I've ever seen
Also, you're kind of helping to prove our point with your earlier statement by pointing out your Bugatti and McLaren having friends. A certain high degree of image consciousness is required to buy cars such as those. You also made sure we read that these people were friends of yours.
But a lot of excessively image conscious people may not be so appealing as themselves, so they'll compensate for that in other ways. I see this every day all over Miami.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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That really wasn’t my point.. it was to point out how they are quite humble and accessible—not snooty and standoffish (or phony $50,000/year multimillionaires )...had I wished to gloat about myself I would have shared or listed MY material possessions, which I did not. It was to point out that many / most of these people who own these vehicles or live great lifestyles are quite down to earth, even if they don’t drive a VW bug or Prius (you would never know how well off they are from talking to them). I happen to be friendly with a few because my gym happens to be in their building and we know one another from working out and/or having a beer afterwards.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frustratedintelligence
Compared to the wealthy Mexican nationals in the West and Texas, that hasn't been my experience at all. While their kids would look the part, these were some of the most ordinary looking rich people I've ever seen
Also, you're kind of helping to prove our point with your earlier statement by pointing out your Bugatti and McLaren having friends. A certain high degree of image consciousness is required to buy cars such as those. You also made sure we read that these people were friends of yours.
But a lot of excessively image conscious people may not be so appealing as themselves, so they'll compensate for that in other ways. I see this every day all over Miami.
Last edited by elchevere; 03-20-2020 at 10:46 AM..
I wouldnt call Houston, Fort Worth, or San Antonio image conscious in the slightest.
Dallas and Atlanta definitely are.
I'd also say Austin is image conscious, but in the whole "Keep Austin Weird" kind of way and not in the way we typically mean with most cities that have been mentioned.
Scottsdale, AZ
Palm Beach, FL
Newport Beach, CA
Beverly Hills, CA
Naples, FL
I know I pulled this from awhile ago, but this list is right on, having just come from Naples a week ago and growing up in So. California. I would throw in Highland Park Dallas for good measure, and maybe some of Long Island NY.
Naples in the winter is ridiculous with the main drag full of Ferraris and Bentleys and the sidewalks full of well dressed older folks who have "made it" and wear all the designer labels. Sooo image conscious, almost repelling to be honest.
That really wasn’t my point.. it was to point out how they are quite humble and accessible—not snooty and standoffish (or phony $50,000/year multimillionaires )...had I wished to gloat about myself I would have shared or listed MY material possessions, which I did not. It was to point out that many / most of these people who own these vehicles or live great lifestyles are quite down to earth, even if they don’t drive a VW bug or Prius (you would never know how well off they are from talking to them). I happen to be friendly with a few because my gym happens to be in their building and we know one another from working out and/or having a beer afterwards.
I understand that wasn't your point, but I'm saying you're contradicting yourself just a little. You're not establishing any real difference between Miami and those prototypical Californians you mentioned that go around name dropping expensive items. Not that this refers to elchevere specifically since this is the internet after all and I don't know who you really are.
When we talk about narcissism and being image obsessed, people tend to limit it to physical appearance and demeanor à la the Kardashians, but it could instead be the subjectively down to earth guy that still drives a luxury automobile. Or it could be the guy that doesn't care about high end brands at all, but looks down on anyone not an expert in his career field. Pound for pound I find Miami to be a worse offender.
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)...had I wished to gloat about myself I would have shared or listed MY material possessions, which I did not. It was to point out that many / most of these people who own these vehicles or live great lifestyles are quite down to earth, even if they don’t drive a VW bug or Prius (you would never know how well off they are from talking to them). I happen to be friendly with a few because my gym happens to be in their building and we know one another from working out and/or having a beer afterwards.
