San Diego vs Orange County (Los Angeles, Anaheim: fit in, high school, living)

[sav858]

Originally Posted by Abashi

What are the differences and similarities between the two, you think?

My Take: *having been to both


Similarities:

-votes Republican

-a warm dry coastal climate & lots of beaches

-a large population of nearly 3 million people


Differences:

-San Diego has a huge military population, highest in the world

Sd has a lot of military but not the most or highest concentration in the world at all.

-Orange County has way more diverse demographics, including a large number of Asians

Not true at all, OC is NOT "way" more diverse. OC is 65% white, 14 % Asian, 30% hispanic, and less than 2% black. SD County is 53% white, 10% asian, 5% black, , and 30% hispanic. Look up the demographics if you disagree but SD is more diverse overall.

-People in SD have a list of types of people in which they hate (eg: hippies), while the OC is less judgmental

haha, that is a joke. Have you ever been to Ocean Beach or other parts of central SD? They don't hate hippies at all and that is a pretty absurd generalization to make. Not sure where you are getting OC is less judgmental b/c if anything the opposite is true. OC is generalized and stereotyped as having an image conscious, keeping up with the Joneses mentality where people tend to be fairly materialistic. Just look at the way people in OC talk about LA, the Orange Curtain, etc...people in OC come off as very judgmental.

-People in SD tend to be into football, guns, and trucks; OC is more of a fun loving & laid back

well we do have a football team so in that respect we are more into football than OC. guns and trucks?? not really, there are some of those types in SD but it's mostly it's an east county stereotype. SD is the epitome of fun loving and laid back more than OC or any other county in CA.

-San Diego (north county) is socially conservative, OC tends to only be fiscally conservative

They're both fiscally and socially conservative. OC is very socially conservative, more so than SD county in general which has more libertarian type of conservatism. But North County SD and OC are not that different in either respect.

-San Diego is wealthier and higher class, generally better looking neighborhoods

OC is wealthier, has more wealthy neighborhoods, higher income, and higher housing values.

-San Diego still has a lot of undeveloped areas, including coastal areas

It's not as developed and sprawled as OC but there is little to no undeveloped area's along the coast.

[BRinSM]

in my experiences, SD and OC are almost the same exact place. Take away the military base and the downtown and SD is really no different than OC. Both are very expensive and as a whole are much more conservative than the other two major metro areas in CA. They also both offer very nice beaches and suburban subdevelopments as far as the eye can see.

[JakeDog]

Originally Posted by Abashi

San Diego has two major demographics, I was mostly pointing out one of them since I was distinguishing its differences from Orange County. Both counties have a large rich demographic so I wasn't discussing that one. I've have lived in Oceanside for most of my life including now, so that tends to make me think SD is more conservative than it actually is. I have been around though, and I mostly noticed military conservatives/rednecks and rich snobby people. There are some exceptions around UCSD > having a much more international feeling, but thats about all I noticed that was appealing to me.

One thing to take note of: I'm a part of the young generation, and the young population are much more conservative here than the older ones due to the large military presence.

I'd say your generalization is limited to your experiences in Oceanside and perhaps La Jolla? I couldn't agree less based upon my interactions with people, but I haven't expereinced what you have. Laid back apolitical beach lovers seems to be the most prevelant group I'm aware of.

[NYSD1995]

Visit my neighborhood and tell me how snobby and rich it is :-)

[Papajojo]

Originally Posted by Abashi

San Diego has two major demographics, I was mostly pointing out one of them since I was distinguishing its differences from Orange County. Both counties have a large rich demographic so I wasn't discussing that one. I've have lived in Oceanside for most of my life including now, so that tends to make me think SD is more conservative than it actually is. I have been around though, and I mostly noticed military conservatives/rednecks and rich snobby people. There are some exceptions around UCSD > having a much more international feeling, but thats about all I noticed that was appealing to me.

One thing to take note of: I'm a part of the young generation, and the young population are much more conservative here than the older ones due to the large military presence.

Have you spoken to any of the people you see that 'visually' fit the stereotypes you've listed, or are you just making assumptions? The reason I ask is because I drive a full size truck with a diamond plate toolbox, my left arm hanging out the driver's side window and my chocolate lab's head sticking out the other...and I'm a military brat. I keep my hair cut very short and have excellent posture. I couldn't appear more conservative, however I still am unsure of who I will be voting for this coming presidential election. Conversely, I have friends who "look" like your typical liberal, drive the most economic cars, recycle EVERYTHING, don't eat shrimp, bevieve everything Al Gore says and still vote republican every election, no matter what. People tend to alter their behavior/hide certain things when they feel they're being analyzed, categorized or judged. Considering how much we do these three things as a society, it's impossible to label people based on a first impression. My point is that anyone who looks for a certain 'type' of person is severly limiting him/herself. Some of the best friends I've ever had have been people I didn't initially think I would get along with. Once we got through our 'differences', and discovered that we were both good natured people with similar recreational interests, we were fine and have been ever since.

As for the 'rich snobby people', I think they have a lot to lose by getting close to people not in their economic bracket. I work a part time security job in Rancho Santa Fe and I have to say I've never been around more friendly, classy people in my entire life, but I don't expect to be invited to their parties, because they don't know me and have no reason to. When I was a personal trainer, I was able to get in good with clients of all different economic classes, but only after we knew each other for awhile. Again, just pointing out that there is that initial 'layer' to get through. Right now my layer is grumpy because it's taking me too long to get settled in to my new city. I don't expect to make too many friends until I get over the initial hump so I can feel normal again, but I'm almost there.

[Skizzo]

The OP seems to be making friends here,

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by sav858

Not true at all, OC is NOT "way" more diverse. OC is 65% white, 14 % Asian, 30% hispanic, and less than 2% black. SD County is 53% white, 10% asian, 5% black, , and 30% hispanic. Look up the demographics if you disagree but SD is more diverse overall.

Where did you get your stats from, sav858?

Contrary to popular belief, according to the updated census 2006, there are more White-Non-Hispanics living in SD, than OC (51.7% to 47.4%), and more Hispanics in OC than SD (32.9% to 30.1%)

Check out more demographic facts here

Orange County - Orange County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

San Diego - San Diego County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

[SD Observer]

Originally Posted by j760

Rednecks, guns, people hating hippies?

Are you sure your thinking of San Diego or some small town in the mid-west? Because your view of San Diego certainly isn't what it's like as a whole.

Maybe he means East County. .......... Not SD

[boyd]

The terms liberal and conservative have become cartoonish in the past few years. The whole notion is just idiotic. What the hell do these mean anyway? Some definitions from the dictionary...Liberal-open minded and tolerant, free from bigotry and prejudice, generous. Conservative-avoiding novelty or showiness, cautiously moderate, favoring traditional views..Both sound good to me!

[sav858]

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

Where did you get your stats from, sav858?

Contrary to popular belief, according to the updated census 2006, there are more White-Non-Hispanics living in SD, than OC (51.7% to 47.4%), and more Hispanics in OC than SD (32.9% to 30.1%)

Check out more demographic facts here

Orange County - Orange County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

San Diego - San Diego County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

I stand corrected, I guess that's what I get for using Wikipedia, (San Diego County, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia , Orange County, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia )

I guess Wikipedia uses 2000 census numbers, even so that is a lot of white people fleeing Orange County in the past 6 years. Either way both counties have fairly similar numbers except OC has less blacks and more asians than SD.