OC (and SD) Culture (San Diego, San Francisco: homes, college, to live)

[san phlegmatico]

I beg of you SoCallers, PLEASE enlighten me: What comprises the CULTURE of the OC (and San Diego County, if you are so inclined) areas of Southern California?

For the love of all that is holy, someone please defend the SoCal (*cough, cough*) culture! (It shall be a vain effort, I am quite certain, but I am nonetheless interested.) I am tired of being told that I don't understand the culture here, yet there is ne'er a salient point made to try to convince me otherwise. SPELL IT OUT FOR ME!!

No paid shills, por favor.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by san phlegmatico

SPELL IT OUT FOR ME!!

Culture means "We're better than you." (Quote stolen from a Colorado forum.)

[oc2nyc]

I actually find it hard to defend people in the OC. I have lived here my whole life and I am raising four kids here, although I would love to live somewhere other than So Cal. My daughter just started college and met a girl from Colorado. Her take on the kids from Orange County( after one week)?SPOILED. I have to agree. I myself am probably quilty of trying to keep up with the Jones' as far as my kids are concerned. That is the "Culture" here. I am not saying that other places in the country are not just as bad I can only speak for here. I also work in retail at South Coast Plaza and
although most of my customers are very nice, it is more of a surface friendly. And boy there is a definity "look" to people here as well. There are alot of great things about the OC (weather. cleanliness, the beach) but to me this culture is fake and pretentious. I wish I could say other wise but you asked...

[nevercoldcall]

I'm really curious to learn your definition of culture, oh Scum Diegan....

[Brooklynite]

What constitutes OC 'culture'?. NOTHING. THERE IS NONE. OC is physically beautiful, the weather is perfect, it's very organized and clean. End of story.

As far as CULTURE goes, OC is TRULY "the anus of the world" as one poster so aptly described.

[maximusdm1989]

I lived in San Francisco/Marin for 7 years and yes it has "culture". The difference between SD and SF is in SF the guy walking on the beach is wearing a worn flannel shirt w/ no shoes and is homeless-Ocean Beach, while the guy walking La Jolla Shores just finished a 20 miles run and is heading out to get a few waves before the sunset. SF is a pit. Over-rated. If culture is homeless by the droves, dirty beaches, snobby psudo-intelectuals...then SF is your place

[san phlegmatico]

The difference between SD and SF is in SF the guy walking on the beach is wearing a worn flannel shirt w/ no shoes and is homeless-Ocean Beach, while the guy walking La Jolla Shores just finished a 20 miles run and is heading out to get a few waves before the sunset.

While I can appreciate your points about SF's general pretentiousness and "pseudo-intellectualism," you are incorrect in assessing the pervasiveness of bums/ riff-raff on the SD beaches.

Sure, La Jolla Cove and the rest of the LJ beaches are basically inhabited and tred-upon by decent folks (though if you look closely, even in The Cove you shall find some of the greasiest vermin, sometimes even congregations of them. One notorious guy is known to blast the boombox strapped to his bike -- 'at 11' -- whilst foraging through the trash cans for semi-full beer cans and hitting up the tourists for "spare change."), but many other other beaches in SD County are eaten up with every manner of deviant, thug, panhandler, tent-clustered crack dens, and worse. OB, PB, and MB are seething in the fonk and foul of bums; but the North County beaches I find to be surprising run-amuk as well. In fact, Coronado is the only beach I have frequented which does not fall prey to the grime and filth of these 'outdoorsmen'.

Just last week I was out for a jog up the PB boardwalk, north of the Crystal Pier, and witnessed the smoking of crack in the open! -- something I usually only see in the Tenderloin of SF or Hollywood in this state.

In the same afternoon, I was rousted from a peaceful interlude on my beach towel by an aggressive panhandler who all but held a gun to my head for me to cough up 37 cents. And I get accosted by similar type individuals almost every time I patronize any of the main markets/ services by the beach. I've even had bums follow me into the store and hit me up at the check-out line. Security! Security! -- Nope, they're on the other side of the store handling a similar bum issue, or out front chasing off a skate punk who just decapitated an old lady as he went barrelling pell-mell off the stair rail at 100 mph onto the public sidewalk.

Certainly, SF is Mecca for bums. But I gotta tell ya, the SD area -- especially around the beach areas -- is Medina. Santa Monica isn't the only bum-magnet in SoCal, contrary to popular belief.

P.S. I'm not seeing any concrete answers to my original query. So far, I have one poster's definition of 'culture'; a couple of general statements on the order of: the OC/SD are lacking in culture, are annoyingly self-absorbed, etc.; an Amen chorus of the well-known "The OC is the Anus of the World" classic; and an ad hominem one-liner in which the question itself has been attempted to be turned back on me, the OP.

I am staying the course: I will continue to posit the question: What precisely constitutes OC and SD culture? Don't tell me what it is NOT -- as any amateur logician would know, that does not tell us what the thing in question IS.

[smellythongs]

I love how everyone loves to bag on the West coast mentality. I grew up here in CA and now I go to college in NY. Let me tell you, there are good and bad things about each state. CA may have the riches and that spoiled mentality, but the way we flaunt it is through our cars, homes, and the things we have. Pretty much what people call us: materialistic. Here, you will rarely see someone walk around thinking they're the ****. So not true.

New York. Hahaha. The way people go about in NY is flaunting it through their personality, status, and nationality. Which is good but not that good. People literally walk around thinking they should be bowed down to due to the fact that they have set foot on this earth. This is something I've learned during my first year in college and the people I was surrounded by.

Each coast has it's own style, culture, and mentality but it just REALLY bugs me when people think they know what they're saying about Southern California when they don't. I have the best of both worlds and I can point out each flaw and great thing about each side. We need more open minded people.

Also, the television shows such as The O.C., Laguna Beach, The Hills, and Newport Harbour are sooooo overrated and people from other states don't know that. The shows have represented us in a way that is false. If you come out here you will realize that it's just like any other county where people live and get on with their lives.

[Angel Bear]

"Culture" means something different to everyone. It's so relative and subjective.

I'm a proud Detroiter for now and well, many people I've encountered out of state believe we have no "culture" here. We build cars so much here is related to the automotive industry. But, we have museums downtown such as the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit Science Center, and the Detroit African-American History Museum. We have restaurants of every ethnic background, concerts and other night life, and many other interesting things to do and see. You just have to look for it.

I'm really moving more for a change of pace, nice weather, the surfing, and for a better economy. After I live in OC for a while, we'll probably move to Hawaii

[Brooklynite]

Let me interpret your use of the word 'culture' as meaning; 'outstanding characteristics' to answer that;

Although OC IS on the boring side compared to NYC, it's also the cleanest, safest, most beautiful place you could hope to find. The beaches are practically pristine. It's spacious. It's more relaxed. MUCH more relaxed. It's people are very polite and even friendly. The weather is excellent. The cops are quite honest. Drivers are courteous, unlike in LA. You can actually notice the difference when you drive from OC into LA or vice versa.

The large Mexican immigrant population is a very decent and hard working group. IMHO however, they are often targets of racism (along with black people, of whom there are VERY few in OC). Asians are very polite and like to keep to themselves. Too bad they can't drive tho. That's about it, there really aren't any other significantly important (numberwise) ethnic groups represented in OC.