San Diego vs Orange County (Oceanside, Poway: how much, neighborhoods, buying)

[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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Electronut]

"OC tends to only be fiscally conservative"
Guess thats true if you are talking about wanting low taxes.

Now when it comes to personal finance, OC must be the most materialistic group of people you can ever meet (Not all of OC). In OC its all about the newest fashion, expensive cars and being part of the rat race trying to keep up with the Joneses.

[Abashi]

Originally Posted by Electronut

"OC tends to only be fiscally conservative"
Guess thats true if you are talking about wanting low taxes.

Now when it comes to personal finance, OC must be the most materialistic group of people you can ever meet (Not all of OC). In OC its all about the newest fashion, expensive cars and being part of the rat race trying to keep up with the Joneses.

Yah. But in San Diego, conservatism not only involves wanting lower/no taxes, but pro-war pro-military as well as rabidly conformist and socially conservative. People in San Diego tend to be more into buying larger vehicles, guns, and other redneck junk.

[Electronut]

Hey I thought Poway, PQ areas were mostly regular people, (maybe/hopefully mostly geeks).

[mlarsen23]

Which is kind of like a real city. Most of Orange County is purely suburban. Also, San Diego _city_ is actually not that conservative, I think it actually tends Democratic in elections.

[JakeDog]

San Diego is only "conservative" compared to California. Compare the people to the SOuth and it seems liberal.

[MisterMark]

Originally Posted by Abashi

Yah. But in San Diego, conservatism not only involves wanting lower/no taxes, but pro-war pro-military as well as rabidly conformist and socially conservative. People in San Diego tend to be more into buying larger vehicles, guns, and other redneck junk.

This is a pretty ridiculous generalization.

Marketing research actually shows many more similarities than differences between San Diego and the L.A. area (including Orange County).

If you really want a contrast, try comparing San Diego (or OC) with a place like Pine Bluff, Arkansas, or Greenville, South Carolina.

One measure of how much people accept diversity in a community is to look at the size of the gay population. San Diego's Gay Pride events? Big. Really big. Orange County's? Uh... Nonexistent.

[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.

[MisterMark]

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.

Actually it's the Southerners who really don't like hippies. The Midwest has a number of cities with a relatively high number of hippie-types - especially the Upper Midwest. Lots of earth-shoe vegetarians in places like Minneapolis and Madison.

[Abashi]

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.

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.