Do Seattle natives REALLY hate Californians? (Bellevue: fit in, live, store)

[ablau]

I've been hearing a lot about this on various message boards and forums, and I'm just wondering if it's true.

Do the majority of Seattle natives have issues with people from California? Or is it just that people from CA tend to complain, whine, act stupid, and do other things that like that just make them unlikeable?

I lived in San Francisco for a year and found that many people HATED anyone from southern CA. Just curious if this is true for Seattle as well. I can emphasize since I can't stand the majority of people in the Los Angeles/OC area either! But on the other hand, I don't want people to hate me before they get to know me...haha. Do you think most native Californians would have issues fitting into the Seattle culture?

More background: I'm not the type to whine about bad weather, I don't look/act materialistic, and I do not have obviously fake plastic surgery on any body part. Most people I've encountered when traveling overseas think I'm from Canada, if that says anything.

[toughguy]

Back in the 80's when Californians started moving here en masse, there was some resentment, but that is ancient history now. You will find that your Californian heritage will not raise any eyebrows, or even spark conversation. The area is so saturated at this point that it is not considered out of the ordinary to even have California plates on your car. The exoticness of "Californians" was lost 20 years ago. It doesn't make you any better or any worse in most people's eyes to be from Cali.

Edit- If you drive like a maniac on the freeway, you might get the occasional "Go back to California!"

[LongDawson]

It is absolutely not true at all, in my opinion. Well, I have been in Seattle all my life. Native PNW residents see a lot of nice people with money coming up from California to enjoy life here. On the other hand, California weather is so nice, and the government there is so stupid, they give away a lot of things to homeless people for free. So homeless losers from Seattle who can't get along with the weather, they go to California. Economically speaking, we Washingtonians have nothing to complain about.

The other thing is culture. Personally I don't care for women who have artificial breasts, and we do get a lot of this "plastic surgery" culture which is really absurd, all of it comes from Californians. But that is nothing to get upset about. In general there really seems to be a commonality in culture all along the west coast. East coast culture, now that is a different ball of wax--they come here and complain, and act as if they are superior. That is my opinion anyway.

[pw72]

The quick answer is "no".

The problem, as pointed out above, was there was a time when some (not all) Californians were bringing certain attitudes that didn't jive well with the Norrthwest vibe. I believe this has diminished in recent years due to the fact that many Seattleites have become more tolerant, and many Californians have become more accepting of the differences in the regions. Plus, and I may get some argument with this theory, but I believe California has become so intolerable for so many, they don't want a "California-north", they want a "Northwest". Just quit complaining about the weather, that's all I ask!

[VeronikaW]

As a Southern Californian that has moved to WA, I don't feel like I've been the victim of any sort of bias based on where I came from.

V. =)

[mitsuturbo]

I don't hate californians, but i most certainly loathe california.

[LongDawson]

In the 70s there were always suntanned kids with cool haircuts moving up here from California making moves on the good looking girls.

In the 80s some guy named Berger selling newspaper articles started his own effort to generate some anti-California feeling. He seemed to strike a chord, as far as I know he still sells the same schtick on a blog. I don't care for his literature.

As others have said, anything anti-California here is 20 years old.

[toughguy]

Originally Posted by LongDawson

In the 70s there were always suntanned kids with cool haircuts moving up here from California making moves on the good looking girls.

In the 80s some guy named Berger selling newspaper articles started his own effort to generate some anti-California feeling. He seemed to strike a chord, as far as I know he still sells the same schtick on a blog. I don't care for his literature.

As others have said, anything anti-California here is 20 years old.

Knute "Mossback" Berger of Lesser-Seattle fame. He yearns for the days when we were blue collar (code word for economically depressed) and he despises progress. I can't stand that guy.

[texastrigirl]

I'm not a native but I have many friends here from CA and I don't think anyone hates them that I know of!! But I do have to laugh a bit at your questions because when I first moved here I went to the Container Store at Bellevue Square (fancy mall). It took me FOREVER to find a parking spot and after 20 minutes of patient waiting and finally finding a spot which was clearly mine, some woman with CA plates spots it, looks me in the eye and guns it into the spot. I honk at her and she flips me off (with my 4 year old in the car no less)! Gets out of her Mercedes with her baked skin, hard body and perfect blond color job in her high heels and strides away. I have to say the first thing I muttered to myself silently was something not nice and then I said out loud to my son "She needs to go back to California". Now obviously that could happen anywhere and the plates could have been from anywhere but it was pretty funny knowing about the complex Californians have here and then having it play out that way. And on some level, stereotypes exist because there is a little bit of truth there. I lived in Texas and the Californians don't always fit in there either and have a similar complex...but most of them did fine as long as they embraced local culture and didn't expect it to be CA.

[eastwesteastagain]

Originally Posted by LongDawson

East coast culture, now that is a different ball of wax--they come here and complain, and act as if they are superior. That is my opinion anyway.

Sorry to reply a bit off the topic of the thread, but wow! That's quite a statement, my friend! Care to elaborate on your opinion?