Do California folk really think...... (San Diego, Fresno: home, neighborhood, high school)

[MtnSurfer]

First off most Californians aren't.

That is California has become not only the melting pot of our nation but the world. If you visit any large city such as LA, San Diego, or SF you will quickly realize this. As a native and having lived their for over 40 years I speak from experience. I am not saying this is a bad thing necessarily. But it is just a very diverse place.

You really get all kinds in California from the nicest people you will ever meet to the snobbiest. To find a lot of the kind of people you mention just walk down Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. But not everyone is a wannabe movie star. There are a lot of friendly people who genuinely care about others and not just their face lift, botox injections and breast implants.

One thing I have noticed in moving to Colorado Springs which is more conservative is that people as a whole are more outwardly polite. But the society at large is more reserved. People tend to keep to themselves and their own more. There is a lot less outward expressiveness. For example in our neighborhood we hardly ever see our neighbors. Whereas in Cal. we not only knew our neighbors but hung out with them, our children played together, etc...

With Californians you will usually know pretty early on where someone stands. They tend to be more outspoken. Maybe not as much as New Yorkers but much more so than in the mid west. People can tend to be either friendly or rude and you get a better sense of this right away. In Colorado most folks seems 'socially' polite. But it is 'much' harder to get beneath the veneer to know what one really thinks or feels.

These are just generalizations of course and obviously don't apply to everyone. But I have noticed these behavioral trends after living in both places.

[UB50]

Snobbishness has nothing to do with being from California -- it has everything to do with the person themself. In other words, your snobby coworker would be snobby if she were from Idaho or Wisconsin. That's just the kind of person she is.

I've met snobby people from Arizona. Doesn't that just take the cake?

[collected_eve]

And behavioral trends from place to place is probably the most of this situation.

Like I said before, I don't know anyone (other than the girl I work with) from Cal. & have never been there, or ever had any concern about California in my life. But after moving to AZ, everyone talks about Californians, so it's a part of my life now.

I've lived in Louisiana, Illinois, Missouri & now Arizona.
In LA, everyone is pretty slow-paced & laid back. You know everyone in your town/city, wherever you live & if you don't come out of your own little world & join in the fun, then something's wrong with yah! Gossip was never an issue in my little community, because if you made a bad decision or were having a problem, then others were there to support you, not bash you for having an idiot moment.
In IL/MO people were generally friendly & outgoing. Eager to meet you when you are new to the area, but will let you know when they want left alone. I've had some of the best stranger conversations in my life in MO/IL & still keep in contact with 2 that I met at a grocery store.
Here in AZ, folks are different from what I grew up with. My neighbors (in both neighborhoods that I've lived in here) come home & shut their garage door, not to be seen until they leave for work the next morning while you strain a 'good morning' out of them. People seem to want to hurry up, get done, get the day over with & stay outta' their way. Life seems so wreckless. And of course, when I ask locals why people seem so rushed, the answer always is, "It's the California people, they don't want to know yah & just stay out of their way."

[Kibbiekat]

California is a big place, and has lots of types of people. Most of California is not like LA, although people from other states seem to think LA and California are one in the same. I hate to generalize, but I think people's low opinions of Californians are sometimes based solely on their interactions with people from LA/OC. Maybe not even on interactions but on the assumptions and stereotypes in their heads.
Charles, you must spend all day on your computer to come up with the links and photos you post!

[debjame]

I actually grew up in Los Angeles and was then uprooted (against my will) at the age of 14 to Northern California.

My parents were from a small town in Louisiana. In fact, at the time, pretty much everyone in the neighborhood was from small towns in either Louisiana or Texas. People who were moving to California from one of those places had people to help them find places to live, locate jobs, etc.; much like the experience Collected Eve had growing up in Louisiana.

California has changed a lot; especially Los Angeles. They Bay Area when I arrived here was small, laid back, etc. Now it's like "Escape From New York City." I live in Alameda, California, which is still a small city, but even here we're starting to have problems with crime, people speeding up the street blasting loud music, etc.

I'll be retiring in a few years, and am looking forward to find a small place to move to. I'm thinking New Mexico or even Louisiana. I just don't think I can take the Louisiana winters.

[debjame]

[quote=Charles;2551651]Supposedly, there is resentment against ex-Californians because Californians raised local housing prices

http://billandkent.com/blog/blogimages/higgs-032305.jpg (broken link)

You're running into California natives who are escaping California because of the very things that you are talking about. I am a native Californian, and I can't believe the way it's changed.

Housing was not always a fortune; the schools were excellent, and there weren't lunatic drivers all over the place.

[Mountain Mike]

Actually I have found the reverse to be true: everyone hates us. Oregon, Washington, and Colorado are three places that I know for certain hate Californians and all for the same reason: "Too many" Californians are moving there. An article in the Seattle Newspaper had a "guide" for Californians moving there and it was very sarcastic: it read 1)Lose your California Driver License
2) Lose your tan
3) don't be rude
4) don't jaywalk

This is apparently what Washingtonians (or at least those in Seattle) think of us.

[debjame]

That's what it seems to have turned into. Native Californians are leaving in droves because of "outsiders" messing the place up. To me, it's beginning to look like New York City. I live in a smal city, but commute to San Francisco to work. I'm always glad to get out of there and really grateful to be able to take the ferry to and from work; thus avoiding the crazy drivers.

[Jakehorror]

To the OP, I don't know really. I do know that in my home state (Indiana) I have experienced my share of rude people too. When people find out we are moving to CA they get kinda pissy, and talk crap about CA. They say lots of bad things I wont repeat. I'd say CA is loved AND hated more than any other state in America. We happen to love it there! So much that for the past 3 years all we have done is saved and planned and next month our dream is coming true. As bad as CA may seem as far as cost of living, really all I can say is you get what you pay for and CA is not for everyone, but neither is minus 20 degree weather

[OutOfSoCal]

hate to generalize here BUT if you look at the BIG cities, LA Chicago, NY, Miami they all tend to leave the "values" of the 60s behind. They appear far more driven to acquire "stuff" multiple cars, bigger better homes and care less about beinga stay at home mom or raising their kids. they would rather work harder and pay for daycare so they can keep up with the Joneses.
Life in most other states is slower and they seem to care less about obtaining "stuff" and more about family.

I have been in Cali my whole life(43yrs) and these very reasons are why we are looking to move out. We have visited Colorado and Utah and have found life to be much slower and simpler in both locations.