Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > General U.S. > City vs. City
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
 
Old 08-12-2010, 08:15 PM
 
Location: Uncharted island
329 posts, read 1,044,432 times
Reputation: 463

Advertisements

I'm a huge fan of San Diego for a bunch of reasons (warm, surfing, kinda lazy like me, lotsa mexican food!) but I was wondering if there were parts of LA and its surrounding burbs that were similar to it?

What's Malibu like compared to SD? How about Santa Barbara?

Take note, I'm not asking which are better or worse or any of that. I mean in terms of lifestyle and some of the factors listed above...is it any different?
Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-12-2010, 08:21 PM
 
Location: SF Bay Area
18,957 posts, read 32,414,649 times
Reputation: 13588
You might get more responses if you have this moved to the CA forum. Malibu is more comparable to La Jolla or Del Mar, small and wealthy.

There are parts of coastal LA that have a similar atmosphere as SD. I would say Venice (similar to OB in ways), Redondo and Manhattan Beaches (similar to PB and MB)

Santa Barbara is like a bigger La Jolla imo.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-12-2010, 09:25 PM
 
Location: Pasadena
7,411 posts, read 10,318,361 times
Reputation: 1802
The surfing culture is all along the coast even as far north as Santa Cruz and near San Francisco. In Southern California the beach scene\ surfer lifestyle is common everywhere along the immediate coastline with some cities strongly reflecting that focus. In Los Angeles county it would be especially prevalent in areas like Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Malibu. In Orange county places like Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, San Clemente, etc.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-12-2010, 10:40 PM
 
3,674 posts, read 8,625,645 times
Reputation: 3085
Malibu is a very, very small beach town. A gated beach town. It isn't someplace you are allowed to go unless you have a reason for being there.

San Diego is a very, very large suburban area.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2010, 12:01 AM
 
Location: Pasadena
7,411 posts, read 10,318,361 times
Reputation: 1802
Quote:
Originally Posted by coldwine View Post
Malibu is a very, very small beach town. A gated beach town. It isn't someplace you are allowed to go unless you have a reason for being there.

San Diego is a very, very large suburban area.
That is not true. There are no private beaches in California; the California Coastal Commission makes that very clear and orders wealthy people to not block any access to the beach. A person can swim or surf at any beach since they are all public and owned by the state. Zuma and Pt Dume are just two of many great beaches for water activities.
Malibu

Los Angeles
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2010, 04:01 AM
 
Location: Earth
17,440 posts, read 28,462,274 times
Reputation: 7472
Quote:
Originally Posted by californio sur View Post
That is not true. There are no private beaches in California; the California Coastal Commission makes that very clear and orders wealthy people to not block any access to the beach. A person can swim or surf at any beach since they are all public and owned by the state. Zuma and Pt Dume are just two of many great beaches for water activities.
Malibu

Los Angeles
Very, very true.

Malibu however due to its isolation from the rest of L.A. County (it's even isolated from Santa Monica) has a sort of very insular mentality/feeling ; going to the Malibu Inn makes me feel like I'm in a small town where everyone knows each other and hangs out no matter what the entertainment's like. There's not really much to do other than the beach, which is open to the public as Californio Sur states. I wouldn't compare it to SD at all ; the most similar places in CA to Malibu would be parts of Marin, like Stinson Beach.


It is, unquestionably, very beautiful, and Zuma's the best beach in L.A. County for any sort of water activity due to it being outside of Santa Monica Bay (barely, but enough to know the difference). Point Dume and County Line are also great beaches for the same reasons.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2010, 09:30 AM
 
Location: Cleveland, OH
1,973 posts, read 5,187,809 times
Reputation: 1940
The SoCal beach culture can be found up the entire coast. It's inland where you see the real differences. Of course some areas will have a different feel than others.

Malibu is an upscale suburb that is pretty quiet. The appeal there for the rich is getting a house where you can walk out of your back door and on to the beach. No public path runs behind the houses.

Santa Barbara is a small and upscale beach city. It feels more laid back and refined than San Diego. More boring also. A larger version of LaJolla is not a bad comparison.

I think you would like the beach towns that Californio Sur mentioned above. Hermosa Beach is a favorite of mine in particular. It's kind of like a nicer version of Pacific Beach in San Diego.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-15-2010, 03:52 PM
 
Location: Denver Colorado
2,561 posts, read 5,787,316 times
Reputation: 2246
[quote=majoun;15455077]Very, very true.

Malibu however due to its isolation from the rest of L.A. County (it's even isolated from Santa Monica) has a sort of very insular mentality/feeling ; going to the Malibu Inn makes me feel like I'm in a small town where everyone knows each other and hangs out no matter what the entertainment's like.

scott5280 reply

Not sure if you know.. The Malibu Inn closed it's doors last year; it really was such a cool place to drink and catch some amazing music. I agree Malibu does feel very isolated, but totally laid back and friendly...
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-15-2010, 04:49 PM
 
Location: Pasadena
7,411 posts, read 10,318,361 times
Reputation: 1802
The residents of Malibu understandably want to keep it 'under the radar' as much as possible. Pacific Coast Highway is often crowded and slow-going yet no one is advocating for more lanes or a freeway type highway. Historically, Malibu has always been off the beaten track and somewhat exclusive. The fact that many very wealthy people live in Malibu reinforces the attitude that outsiders are intruders. But the same attitude is common in many very wealthy communities all over the nation. Santa Barbara, especially Montecito is very exclusive as well. To a lesser extent Newport Beach and Laguna Beach have that vib and certianly La Jolla, & La Costa reflect that mindset. I don't necessarily resent that some communities are very wealthy so long as they don't try to keep others out of public areas [ie. beach].
Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


 
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:
Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > General U.S. > City vs. City
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top