Do Seattle natives REALLY hate Californians? (home, living, cost of living)

[Ira500]

Siobhan,
I think most of the anti CA sentiment has long passed, but there are ignoramuses all over..I'm shocked that someone from here sent you an email telling you not to come. They've never even met you.
But...when referring to the freeways, if you want to pass as a native, don't say " The 5" or " The 405", that's a dead giveaway. Say " I-5" or simply the number, leave the "the" out.

[rmkiefer07]

Originally Posted by iskray917

Unfortunately yes, many do have this natural disdain for us that I can't figure out but cest la vie. just don't tell people you're from California.

I say be proud of where you're from, don't hide it. I think what most people in any area resent is when one constantly talks about "...back in (insert place here), we did it this way or had better that". We can celebrate where we're from AND embrace our new homes. I'm a native Texan, and proud of it, but I am a Washingtonian by choice, and proud of that too.

[JustCallMeTC]

Rmkiefer has an excellent point. Take it all in stride understanding that we certainly have our share of knuckledraggers and mouth breathers here too.

As a 3rd generation Seattle native, I have never treated California folks any differently than anyone else. Sharing this place is where it's at.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Ira500

Siobhan,
I think most of the anti CA sentiment has long passed, but there are ignoramuses all over..I'm shocked that someone from here sent you an email telling you not to come. They've never even met you.
But...when referring to the freeways, if you want to pass as a native, don't say " The 5" or " The 405", that's a dead giveaway. Say " I-5" or simply the number, leave the "the" out.

Very good advice. This is also how we identify so cal natives in the Bay Area. Only in Southern California do the add a "the".

[iskray917]

Originally Posted by rmkiefer07

I say be proud of where you're from, don't hide it. I think what most people in any area resent is when one constantly talks about "...back in (insert place here), we did it this way or had better that". We can celebrate where we're from AND embrace our new homes. I'm a native Texan, and proud of it, but I am a Washingtonian by choice, and proud of that too.

I'm proud to be from San Diego it's just I'm not going to bring it up in a conversation if all I'm going to get is a lecture about how bad my state is at running itself/keeping track of money etc. Like I didn't know this?

[eskercurve]

Not really because most "natives" are usually transplants these days too. I think these days if you do ever hear anyone complain it's an assumption because someone somewhere saw someone else drive 90 mph on the highway, or buy a house that is ridiculously priced (and thus drive up home values even more), etc. But htat is rare.

[packet]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

Very good advice. This is also how we identify so cal natives in the Bay Area. Only in Southern California do the add a "the".

Having lived in the Bay Area for a couple years, I didn't know any people who didn't refer to 101 as 'the 101'. So, I can't say it's exclusively a southern california thing.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by packet

Having lived in the Bay Area for a couple years, I didn't know any people who didn't refer to 101 as 'the 101'. So, I can't say it's exclusively a southern california thing.

Perhaps you're right, there are a lot of so cal people up there now too. It's been a while since I live in the BA.

As far as Seattle is concerned, I agree with eskercurve that perhaps most people in Seattle are transplants. I say perhaps because I don't live there. However I spoke with a lot of people who did and it seemed like 3 out of 5 were from somewhere else. My harbor tour guide was from Florida. The girl at the QFC I went to was from Bakersfield Ca. one agent at the airport was from New York. Seattle shares this transplant culture with all other west coast cities. However this thread is the first I ever heard of them not liking Californians.

[JustCallMeTC]

The California thing has been around for decades. Emmet Watson's KBO, (Keep the Bastards Out) or the rebirth of "Lesser Seattle" was somewhat of an inspiration for it.

Keep the Bastards Out or KBO is a fictional organization invented by Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Emmett Watson. The KBO was a tongue-in-cheek group which never actually existed, but which expressed his frustration (and the frustration of many Seattle residents) with the influx of newcomers to the Puget Sound area from out-of-state. Watson periodically wrote about the group in his column for more than a decade in the 1980s and 1990s. The name was chosen in ominous emulation of the Soviet Union's KGB.
The KBO's raison d'être was to protest the irritating and prolonged immigration of newcomers into the Puget Sound region, especially to Seattle. They clogged the roads, spent too much money bidding up prices, did not understand the "NorthWest way of life" and just generally made trouble, ... hence the KBO's mission statement. Watson periodically suggested actions that KBO members could take to make "immigrants" (perhaps especially Californians) uncomfortable, and, hopefully, encourage them to leave. Readers and others occasionally observed that it was all a sort of joke, and Watson sometimes responded that people could think what they liked, but that he would continue to promote the KBO as one way to deal with the decrease in the quality of life in the Pacific Northwest and especially in Western Washington.

Keep the Bastards Out - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[seattle789]

Agree with what others have said about the 80s. I moved here 7/89 originally from Southern CA and got a few raised eyebrows because housing prices were rising dramatically back then and a lot of old time Seattlelites did not want change and wanted everyone to go back home. Yeesh. (Mossback) That is mostly old news now.

It's like anyone anywhere. If you move somewhere and boast about how great your former city was because of food, weather, government or types of people, you'll be an annoyance.