Is San Diego less materialistic than Orange County? (Oakland, Santa Ana: foreclosure, crime)
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I would say generally yes, less materialistic. If you walk thru the malls in OC, esp Southcoast, the people there are much better dressed, more make up, hair, etc. (they dress up more to go out), than if you walk thru the malls in SD, where people tend to dress very casual/sloppy. There is much more emphasis on appearance on OC. I have a friend who dresses impecably all the time, and she stands out in SD as overdressed, but she fits right in in OC. Course, hard to generalize, depending on where you live in both areas, how much money you have, but generally speaking SD is less materialistic, IMO.
i would say that "new money" is more prevelant in southern OC, so that's where you'll see the most materialism. outside of that, both OC and SD are nice places to live. It shouldn't be hard to avoid this type of lifestyle in either location if it's not what you're into.
i would say that "new money" is more prevelant in southern OC, so that's where you'll see the most materialism. outside of that, both OC and SD are nice places to live. It shouldn't be hard to avoid this type of lifestyle in either location if it's not what you're into.
Well said and not all of OC is flashy either. Huntington Beach, Orange, Anaheim, etc.
Definitely, OC is more materialistic than SD, but to a certain extent. I think OC is heavily influenced by LA which contributes to all the excess flashiness.
But people in SD are prone to the same things. Everywhere you go, regardless of what neighborhood you live in, you will probably wind up seeing people driving mostly new cars, especially luxury cars.
I see it every day. New model BMW, Mercedes, all over the place. San Diego is a blue collar city with outrageous housing prices, but people tend to have this feeling that they are constantly having to keep up with the Joneses, Smiths, and Johnson's.
Even if they can't afford a new car payment, they still go out and buy a new car just to make them feel good, and to be part of the mainstream. Also because they want to be accepted by their peers, after all this is "California" the land of materialism.
San Diego is an old money type of a town though. (OC is new money= younger people), I think it's because San Diego has a higher population of older people living here, especially in East County and North County, so maybe that's why SD isn't as materialistic.
All in all, they are both similar, I think if San Diego had nicer places to shop, and more things to do, maybe both places would be as equal to each other. North County is the only area in SD county that is highly comparable to South OC, the major differences is that North County is older, more rural compared to South OC, which is basically all suburbia, nicer, and newer looking compared to here..
Definitely, OC is more materialistic than SD, but to a certain extent. I think OC is heavily influenced by LA which contributes to all the excess flashiness.
But people in SD are prone to the same things. Everywhere you go, regardless of what neighborhood you live in, you will probably wind up seeing people driving mostly new cars, especially luxury cars.
I see it every day. New model BMW, Mercedes, all over the place. San Diego is a blue collar city with outrageous housing prices, but people tend to have this feeling that they are constantly having to keep up with the Joneses, Smiths, and Johnson's.
Even if they can't afford a new car payment, they still go out and buy a new car just to make them feel good, and to be part of the mainstream. Also because they want to be accepted by their peers, after all this is "California" the land of materialism.
San Diego is an old money type of a town though. (OC is new money= younger people), I think it's because San Diego has a higher population of older people living here, especially in East County and North County, so maybe that's why SD isn't as materialistic.
All in all, they are both similar, I think if San Diego had nicer places to shop, and more things to do, maybe both places would be as equal to each other. North County is the only area in SD county that is highly comparable to South OC, the major differences is that North County is older, more rural compared to South OC, which is basically all suburbia, nicer, and newer looking compared to here..
San Diego is an old money type of a town though. (OC is new money= younger people), I think it's because San Diego has a higher population of older people living here, especially in East County and North County, so maybe that's why SD isn't as materialistic.
The percentage of people age 65 and older is almost identical in San Diego County (11.2%) and Orange County (11.1%).
Orange County is also significantly wealthier than San Diego County. Check out the per capita income numbers. I'm not sure how you define "old money" and "new money".
The poverty rate is also higher in San Diego County than in Orange County.
If you're looking for wealth, you'll definitely find more of it in OC than in SDC.
Don't know about OC, but SD has this ugly problem of people owning expensive cars while their RE property is unkept. I remember driving down several neighbors and noticing the numerous high end, ~$75k-$100k, cars parked in front of $400,000 homes falling apart with broken fencing, paint chipping, stained entryways...
I guess if ones property depreciates faster than their cars, their focus changes.
Don't know about OC, but SD has this ugly problem of people owning expensive cars while their RE property is unkept. I remember driving down several neighbors and noticing the numerous high end, ~$75k-$100k, cars parked in front of $400,000 homes falling apart with broken fencing, paint chipping, stained entryways...
I guess if ones property depreciates faster than their cars, their focus changes.
When people think of "OC" they are thinking about South OC and Irvine which is mostly HOA-bound. Places like Anaheim, Santa Ana, Garden Grove look like most central SD neighborhoods.
Anaheim is pretty ghetto, same as Santa Ana, when I lived in Buena Park back in the early 90's as a kid, the neighborhood was going through a rough time. At first the area was decent and safe, and then all of a sudden gangs started moving in from LA, and destroyed the neighborhood. My mom decided to move back to SD when the middle schools and high schools started to become really dangerous.
I remember being scared to death to walk outside the house, because gangsters would hang out in front of the yard a couple houses down from us and harass little kids by punking them into fighting. I would always wait until I didn't see those guys anymore to walk to one of my friends house. Our house would always get tagged up, even our roof would get tagged on! Shootings would occur every other night, and one of my brothers friends was killed in the middle of the street, a few blocks down from where I lived, it was pretty bad.
Anyways, today Buena Park is much cleaner, much nicer place to live than it was in the 90's, the last time I was in OC, I happened to drive into Buena Park, and the neighborhood looked much cleaner, all the homes that I remember being tore up, looked brand new. Every home was nice looking and up-kept, unlike before, every home was trashed.
It is true though, not all of OC is nice, they're still many parts that are run down, like Fullerton. But when entering South OC from SD, you get this feeling of being out classed. Driving throughout Irvine is a perfect example.
Anaheim is pretty ghetto, same as Santa Ana, when I lived in Buena Park back in the early 90's as a kid, the neighborhood was going through a rough time. At first the area was decent and safe, and then all of a sudden gangs started moving in from LA, and destroyed the neighborhood. My mom decided to move back to SD when the middle schools and high schools started to become really dangerous.
I remember being scared to death to walk outside the house, because gangsters would hang out in front of the yard a couple houses down from us and harass little kids by punking them into fighting. I would always wait until I didn't see those guys anymore to walk to one of my friends house. Our house would always get tagged up, even our roof would get tagged on! Shootings would occur every other night, and one of my brothers friends was killed in the middle of the street, a few blocks down from where I lived, it was pretty bad.
Anyways, today Buena Park is much cleaner, much nicer place to live than it was in the 90's, the last time I was in OC, I happened to drive into Buena Park, and the neighborhood looked much cleaner, all the homes that I remember being tore up, looked brand new. Every home was nice looking and up-kept, unlike before, every home was trashed.
It is true though, not all of OC is nice, they're still many parts that are run down, like Fullerton. But when entering South OC from SD, you get this feeling of being out classed. Driving throughout Irvine is a perfect example.
South of the train tracks in Fullerton is very sketchy. The very north part of the city is multi-million-dollar mansions and very nice neighborhoods. Garden Grove is still mostly scary as hell in most areas. I used to serve subpoenas down there and had a few, um, shall we say interesting experiences with the locals. It's hard to believe that city is close to the ultra-rich in Newport, Corona del Mar, etc.
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