Inconsiderate Californians

[Biskit2]

Originally Posted by Kathleenh54

The criticisms leveled at people from crowded areas of California have less to do with personalities and more to do with adapting to living in a city-like environment. There isn't always time to be nice to everyone the way there is in a small town. There's traffic, lines at the stores, competition for homes, space, etc. The Best Buy in our old town never had anything in stock. Here in Oregon, the Circuit City doesn't run out of things as quickly.

The wait at the doctor's office in SoCal could be an hour, and this is after waiting for two to three days for an appointment. Here in Oregon (at least in my area), you can go the same or next day and be seem almost immediately.

It all lends itself to a calmer lifestyle and therefore a calmer approach to one's fellow human beings. Here we are friends and neighbors, not competition for the last loaf of bread in the supermarket.

I moved to California with my 3 kids and husband 2 years ago from the east coast. And no, not the upper. I've lived in many places in the US as well as around the world. I agree that personality plays a huge part as well as a willingness to embrace the city you live in. I have met a few friendly people as you will in most places. However.... I can't wait to vacate. I am terrified of the effect a long-term stay here will have on my children's sense of right and wrong, normal and abnormal. (and yes there is such a thing natives) They immediately picked up on the superficiality of even the children!!!. And how mean! they were. It has been very disheartening to watch. It is all so over the top that I have a difficult time finding any redeeming factors in either the people or the environment. Most of the people around where we live are from here and NOT transplants so I suppose I am experiencing a true Californian. Some people will try to blame it on the urban environment and the 'rat race' but anybody who has lived in other major cities know's that is simply not true. I hope this did not come off sounding too critical because I am just presenting the facts as I see them. If a local moved away. FAR away for some time, I believe they would certainly be able to relate to at least some of what is being said here. And as a response to the person from Orange county I am so sorry but I have heard nothing but horror stories about the charactor content or lack there of. People come here!! to get away.

[Kathleenh54]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

This has been an interesting thread to read - and the way I read it as an outsider to both areas is that it's more "L.A. against Oregon" regarding the differences in mentality with some folks.

We see the exact same thing in my area. Here it's "Atlanta" vs. "Georgia". Georgia sees Atlanta as a pain in the ass, pushy, dirty, congested, etc. When Atlantans move further out into smaller towns or to another part of the state to get away from the big city, they are usually seen as the "outsider". And yes, I HAVE known of instances where Atlantans will pull the, "back in Atlanta we do it this way" after they've moved (and it's not met with good reactions).

So it's interesting to read this similar scenerio in this forum. L.A. is the Atlanta with Oregon being the Georgia regarding current migration trends, and what seems to occasionally be tense moments or miscommunication between the two types of folks when they live and interact closely.

Personally, if I move to a completely different area both geographically and in "feel", I'm not going to do it until I'm ready to change myself in my way of thinking. I would have no desire to remain an Atlantan while living in Savannah - I'd want to become a Savanian! My suggestion being somewhat naive to your areas to folks from SoCal who are moving to Oregon is.. "Change. Chill. Assimilate. Become your new surroundings and leave the past place behind".

So true. Even in my little part of Southern Oregon, the Medfordites make fun of the Ashlanders, the Ashlanders make fun of the Medfordites and everyone makes fun of the Gold Hill residents. Even in baseball, we NY Yankee fans make fun of the Boston Red Sox fans (although they deserve it).

Tribalism is alive and well in the world.

[barbieGuitard]

I have lived here for a year now. In the La Grande area and also spent several months in Medford. I liked the Medford area much more than this part of the state. People most definitely stick to themselves!!! The only
people that me and my husband have met are a few of his co-workers and they turned out to be, well lets just say not so nice people. I have been very frustrated and disappointed with our venture thus far for this reason. We are about to move towards the eastern part of the state and I am hoping it will be better there.

I had one person explain it to me, when I asked, "Why people were so rude and standoffish". She explained that many years ago outlaws and outcasts
came to this area and settled in. You know the ole west. Many never really learned social skills and basically just kept to themselves so in turn maybe don't know how to behave or have the urge to meet others. Who knows, but her explanation made some sense to a certain degree. I have had quite a few experiences with some really rude people. The few people I have met that I have found friendly happened to be from other states.

So are Oregonians easy to get to know. I say NO.....do they think they are better than anybody else....NO again. I do think they feel threatened by outsiders though, so good luck to you.

[rayepper]

As a native Oregonian I am born and raised in North Bend (that's North Bend, as in next to Coos Bay, not the North part of Bend). For the last thirty plus years I have watched the goings-on in this part of the state. What follows are strictly my observations, and are largely generalizations (yes, there are always exceptions to the rule!).

I have read many posts on this page, and some of them have hit the proverbial nail on the head. Oregonians (true natives) are often threatened by outsiders, particularly Californians. It isn't that Oregonians are an unfriendly lot, we just don't trust people until they earn it.

Too many people, mostly from Southern California, have come up here to "escape", only to bring their problems with them.

They complain of crime, but bring their already gang indoctrinated juvinile delinquent kids to infect our schools and communities. They want to disarm law-abiding citizens to make them vulnerable to the criminals. And yes, much of the drugs are coming up from south of the Oregon/California border.

They complain of high costs of living, but want to introduce sales taxes. They gut the local economies of rural areas by using their wealth to push through legislation restricting logging, fishing, and agriculture. I am all in favor of protecting the environment, but some of the laws seem to be aimed at creating a strictly hands-off state wide playground-for-rich people approach to conservation.

Lastly they seem to want to change the culture. Recreational hunting, fishing, camping, and other outdoor activities have always been important in rural areas. Many of these activities are being so heavily restricted, have so many fees imposed, and in many cases are now outright banned that it is becoming very difficult to engage in the activities I grew up with. If you do a little looking most of the laws leading to this have been sponsored by groups and individuals from, you guessed it, California.

Another important point is the inflation of housing costs. It has for the most part tapered off now, but many native Oregonians in more rural areas still remember it. In the 1980's a lot of Californians began moving to Oregon, selling exorbitantly over-priced homes in Southern California. When they got here they began buying equivalent homes for, in some cases 10-20%, the cost. Homes were so cheap by their standards, and they had so much money in their pockets, they often paid asking price without even attempting to negotiate. Of course there is blame to go around here, as many natives got greedy and began selling their homes for higher and higher prices to the "idiots" from California! It didn't take long for housing prices to shoot up dramatically, and hot on its heels came higher property taxes. Some of my neighbors suddenly couldn't afford to live in their own homes due to jumps in their property taxes. You can guess who got blamed.

Of course I am glossing over a major important point here. This struggle has been going on for quite some time, dating back well before the influx of poeple from out of state. I am referring to the tension between the urban and rural parts of the state. Portland, Salem, and Eugene dominate much of the state's politics simply because of population. These cities by and large tend to vote liberal, and seem to live in their own world, caring little for the rest of the state. Much of the rest of Oregon is conservative, for the most part, and doesn't appreciate getting the short end of the stick when it comes to road work and other infrastructure maintenance. The general feeling is that the city slickers ought to remember where their food comes from, and not look down on us "hicks from the sticks".

Because most people coming from So. Cal. are urbanites, the feeling is that they are here to side with the folks from Portland, Salem, and Eugene. So until they prove otherwise most "outsiders" are viewed with suspicion in many of the smaller towns.