Flight To California (1952)

[Bulldogdad]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

So did some regular ones, including my aunt's working-class tract off Crenshaw in Torrance.

Also Latinos. My paternal Grandparents were able to buy into a whites only neighborhood in 1955 because the realtor and neighbors thought they were from Portugal and not from Mexico.

[Bluesmama]

I was born in 1952! So while my memory can't serve that particular year, my vivid memories begin in '54-55.

But I was raised on a farm in Central California, so the environment in general doesn't seem that much different from today at a glance. However, agriculture was much more vibrant, even small farms thrived. I went to great schools and took pride in my small town. Fresno was the nearest "big city" ~ it pretty much offered a bit of everything for activity and entertainment.

My parents never went to LA for anything. They didn't even make a special trip to take me to Disneyland (had to do that on my own later). But I do remember San Francisco and the Central Coast well. In the 60's San Francisco was actually one of the cheapest "big cities" in the nation.

California had a lot of people but not nearly anything like it is now. It was manageable. Migrant workers were restricted to field work and they didn't bring their families with them then. Central Valley had a lot of European immigrants then, most of them hired at dairy farms. People complained about traffic but, of course, if they only knew . . . .

I've never enjoyed sunsets anywhere like the ones in the San Joaquin Valley. And I miss the weather. And the beaches.

Do I think it was better then? You betcha'!

[HighPlainsDrifter73]

As an outsider, I believe California in the '50s and into the '60s was truly a promised land. Now I could never see myself living there.

[sjnative]

Originally Posted by HighPlainsDrifter73

As an outsider, I believe California in the '50s and into the '60s was truly a promised land. Now I could never see myself living there.

The mindlessness shown in this post is why CA is now CA.

Lots of people saw CA as a promised land.

Those same people moved to CA and drove up the cost of living and traffic congestion.

Now you can't see yourself living there because it is what you would make it if you did.

Question: Who "promised" CA to anyone? God?

[ILdÐÆMcº³]

I've had this discussion with older people for lots of different states and nearly everyone seems to romanticize the past and thinks the future or present is worse off. It seems like romanticizing past memories is almost a human constant of some sort.

When I came to California I didn't have any idea of what it was like in the past or an image in my head of what it was supposed to be. What I found I liked and I liked it a lot. Probably in part because I don't have any preconceptions to disappoint. Also watching that video I like what California is now better. The culture then was different and I feel much more at home in the current culture.

I'm not saying people should strive to make it better, but perhaps stop lamenting over what California was and start enjoying what it is.

[.highnlite]

California still is,