Why Are People In The Bay Area So Soft? (Oakland: violent crime, stats)
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The Southeast Hills District is one of the largest areas of wealthy minority households in the entire country. In fact, Ive been looking for a wealthy neighborhood somewhere in America that rivals the Caballo Hills neighborhood as far as wealth and diversity.
Caballo Hills
Average Houshehold Income: $121,583
Pop Density: 984 per sq mile
The SF Bay Area has approximately 7.7 million citizens, some of the busiest freeways and transportation networks in the U.S., two major world ports, premier research universities, dozens of Fortune 1000 companies, abundant entrepreneurship (and competitiveness), and, last but not least, the McArthur Maze.
My question is this: "[How] Are People In The Bay Area So Soft?" Not why, but how? Sure, it's not the Bos-Wash Corridor, but 7.7+ mill. is no Mayberry.
The SF Bay Area has approximately 7.7 million citizens, some of the busiest freeways and transportation networks in the U.S., two major world ports, premier research universities, dozens of Fortune 1000 companies, abundant entrepreneurship (and competitiveness), and, last but not least, the McArthur Maze.
My question is this: "[How] Are People In The Bay Area So Soft?" Not why, but how? Sure, it's not the Bos-Wash Corridor, but 7.7+ mill. is no Mayberry.
People in the Bay Area aren't that soft... People in the western US are just more laidback than the prevalent mindset/attitude for much of the Northeastern US. It's really not seen as a bad thing. People in much of the Bay Area(natives) actually have a much tougher or forward attitude than a lot surrounding region. Coming from California to Oregon, I've gotten in trouble for actually speaking what's on my mind and being upfront with people. Moving from Santa Cruz to Portland, I was surprised at how much less aggressive the mindset was after leaving the Bay Area region. It's just in comparison with a small section of the US, the Northeastern cities, that somehow the Bay Area is perceived as being soft.
It's funny because in college in Oregon I met a bunch of kids from the East Coast from places in Jersey or New England(outside of Boston). They talked good game about how much tougher it was back East, thinking that they could fool us West Coast kids into thinking how much more urban it was where they grew up and how much tougher they were. Then I saw where they actually grew up---expensive suburbs with less diversity than Marin County, or New England small towns that made Monterey look like Compton... But they could get away with it, because of the image of the Northeastern corridor, even though it's not as if they grew up the Bronx.
People come from New York to the rest of the US and make the claim that New York is the biggest, most urban, and most diverse city in the US(which is absolutely true)--and then wonder why the rest of the US isn't as big and diverse as New York. New York is actually the anomaly for the US though. It's big on a different scale, it has a whole different level of diversity due to its size and the fact that it's always going to be a premier destination for immigrants from all over the world. I love New York, but it isn't as if it's the baseline for diversity. The Bay Area is more diverse than practically anywhere in the US---it feels more ethnically mixed than many other large metros in the US--however it isn't as if the comparison of New York somehow negates that diversity.
People come from New York to the rest of the US and make the claim that New York is the biggest, most urban, and most diverse city in the US(which is absolutely true)--and then wonder why the rest of the US isn't as big and diverse as New York. New York is actually the anomaly for the US though. It's big on a different scale, it has a whole different level of diversity due to its size and the fact that it's always going to be a premier destination for immigrants from all over the world. I love New York, but it isn't as if it's the baseline for diversity. The Bay Area is more diverse than practically anywhere in the US---it feels more ethnically mixed than many other large metros in the US--however it isn't as if the comparison of New York somehow negates that diversity.
Good point. It really is all relative. I think a lot of people native to the New York area don't realize that it's an anomaly until they visit other cities in the country. I always imagined Chicago to be like a NYC in the Midwest and was surprised to see that the streets are pretty empty of people. Likewise, before I moved to SF...the vibe of the Inner Richmond isn't what I had in mind. I think the New Yorker who hasn't traveled has a certain idea of what "city" is like and pictures SF to be Russian Hill or Haight-Ashbury with the population density of Union Square on a Saturday afternoon...throughout all hours of the day.
Likewise, I've met people from more homogeneous cities with higher population densities such as Seoul and Cairo who think NYC is a more innocent place in relation to their own cities.
I don't know about "soft" or "hard", but I do notice that there is a different concept of personal space and personal boundaries in the Bay Area compared to NYC. And as you said, the suburbs in NJ also differ from NYC in varying degrees. In a general sense though, there is a stronger feeling of competition in every aspect of life in the NY Metro - and a more in-your-face vibe of "time is money" compared to the Bay Area. I wouldn't say "dangerous" by any means, but in the Northeast someone that doesn't seem to have that "time is money" mentality would appear "soft", or unable to hack it in the competitive environment. It's not necessarily true by any means, but that's the perception. On the other hand, there is truth to it for a lot of west coasters who move out to NYC. Many say it's a nice place to visit, but not to live. And still others will stay in NYC for a few years of work then decide that they miss the laidback vibe.
Well, i dont agree to your comments. I live in New Jersey and go to New York for work. New York sucks and so the people. NYers are agressive, rude, have attitude problem, and just dont care about others. Working in financial companies in new york is like working in hell.. The city is dirty by the way....
Just visit NY penn station and subways, and thats enough to prove about the city.. The weather is another huge problem... We have long inconsistent winters...
Last edited by sudhakarsr; 07-07-2011 at 07:52 PM..
Reason: Adding few more info
As an SF native I moved to NYC and after 7 months have came to several conclusions:
I don't like sticky warm weather
I also don't walking through hoards of sticky hot people in stick warm weather.
Also, people in NYC are not as rude as portrayed in media, but certainly not a melting pot.
Like a funny comic said, "I moved to NYC thinking it was one huge melting pot. But when I came here it was more like certain pots living next to other pots just like them."
In my kids classes we have Russians, Bosnians, Indians, Iraqis, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, White (northern euro), Mexican, puerto rican, Guatemalan, korean, Black, Argentinian, El Salvadorian, Pakistani, and Kenyan. That is out of 50 kids.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BayDude
Does the bay area have:
- Large community of Dominicans?
- Same for Columbians?
- Jamaicans?
- Africans?
- Puerto Ricans?
- Russians?
- Arabs?
- Brazillians?
- Peruvians?
- other "ethnic" whites? (large identifiable, intact, communities of italians, greeks, polish, jews etc)
The list goes on and on. If the BA does'nt really have those groups well represented but NY does, how can you claim the Bay Area is more diverse? And NY still has way more blacks even when it has higher housing prices. How is that possible? Whats the BA excuse for that?
New York is well represented with all of those groups. They have thriving communities. They have a more broadly represented middle class (as opposed to white and asian yuppies that typifies SF and SJ). SF (and the greater bay area) DOES NOT have that same kind of broad representation, period. There is no argument. Why are you arguing a point you don't have?
Its mostly asians (including indians), mexicans, a smattering of blacks, whites (the non-ethnic, anglo variety) and a smattering of the occasional "exotic" ethnicity. That's it. Even LA is more diverse than that.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Deezus
People in the Bay Area aren't that soft... People in the western US are just more laidback than the prevalent mindset/attitude for much of the Northeastern US. It's really not seen as a bad thing. People in much of the Bay Area(natives) actually have a much tougher or forward attitude than a lot surrounding region. Coming from California to Oregon, I've gotten in trouble for actually speaking what's on my mind and being upfront with people. Moving from Santa Cruz to Portland, I was surprised at how much less aggressive the mindset was after leaving the Bay Area region. It's just in comparison with a small section of the US, the Northeastern cities, that somehow the Bay Area is perceived as being soft.
It's funny because in college in Oregon I met a bunch of kids from the East Coast from places in Jersey or New England(outside of Boston). They talked good game about how much tougher it was back East, thinking that they could fool us West Coast kids into thinking how much more urban it was where they grew up and how much tougher they were. Then I saw where they actually grew up---expensive suburbs with less diversity than Marin County, or New England small towns that made Monterey look like Compton... But they could get away with it, because of the image of the Northeastern corridor, even though it's not as if they grew up the Bronx.
Oh I know exactly what you mean. True Bay Area natives have an edge that gets us into trouble with others on the west coast. I still have that issue and I've been in San Diego for a long time. It was much worse when I moved here. Again, this is true of natives, not transplants which is a big part of the population there now.
Uh, FYI- this was all over all of the local news here a long time ago. We're all familiar with the incident so it's quite pathetic to keep posting this as if you're "on to something" new.
Fights and bad behavior happen--they happen all over the world- big city and small towns--it's not unique or shocking. I don't understand why you're here posting since you're not really contributing anything. You're like a 5 yr old that tells the same fart joke 10 times a day and expects everyone to laugh or be shocked.
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