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Los Angeles County (that's what I think about when I picture "LA"), beach towns (with either a preppy vibe, college town vibe, yuppie vibe, tourist vibe, family vibe, party vibe, and/or bohemian vibe), Hollywood culture, Silicon Valley, The Bay Area, West Coast Hip Hop, skater culture, West Coast Punk Rock, surfer culture and lingo, car culture (heavy traffic, exotic cars, customed/tricked-out cars, old school classic cars), In-N-Out Burger, San Diego, Mexicans, Highway 101 or the Pacific Coast Highway, Gangsta Rap, Psychedelic Rock, Lake Tahoe, Redwoods, Wine Country in Napa and Sonama, possibly the most diverse weather patterns and physical geography on the continent, the Sierra Nevadas, Asians (most especially Chinese, Tagalogs, Japanese, Koreans, and Cambodians), celebrities in LA and a lesser extent San Francisco, the California Republic Flag, Korean Tacos, Alternative/Experimental/Reinvention culture and way of life, people can be chill and laid-back in one part or smug and pompous in another (like anywhere else actually), weird and eccentric people of all types in that distinct West Coast way (one of the quirks that I love when thinking about Cali lol), awesome food (seafood, farm-to-table craze, New American, Mexican, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Italian, Vegetarian/Vegan, etc., etc.), the popularity of urban farming in places like Sacramento, LA (you'll even see them in Compton too), San Francisco, San Jose, etc., great college towns such as Berkeley, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, etc., Comic-Con in SD, prevalent hippie culture, the iconic black cultures of South/South Central LA, San Francisco, and Oakland, a major producer of fruits, vegetables, wines, and meats, LAX, wildfires, earthquakes, a lot of major tech and electronics companies, Pan-Asian vibe, iconic scenic drives, gorgeous reddish-orange with a splash of golden yellow colored sunsets, certain songs give me a Cali vibe (For example: The Recipe by Kendrick Lamar/Dr. Dre, Nine is God by Wavves, Kings and Queens by 30 Seconds to Mars, California Love by Tupac, or that old school funk song that says "it's always sunny in Southern California", don't know if that's the actual name of the song), Sunset Blvd, nearly endemic homeless population, the foghorns echoing in San Francisco Bay, a plethora of roadside diners, dolphins jumping out of the water and pelicans flying off into the distance towards the sun, UCLA vs. USC, high-rolling Persians and Jews and high end dining in Beverly Hills, the MANY farmers markets of LA, the trolleys of SF, the LA Metro (most especially it's massive and efficient bus system), Palm Springs, the Central Valley (probably the Rust Belt of the West Coast), Cali fashion (Clean-Cut/Neon-Colored/Avant Garde/Beach Casual=LA and Grunge/AfroPunk/Minimalist/Psychedelic/Bohemian/Prepster=SF Bay Area), old school drive-thru movie theaters, Bay Area slang, optimistic attitude, beloved by my fellow progressives and liberals but hated and despised by conservatives, when I think of cars and Cali these are the vehicles that come to mind (old school Volkswagen with floral markings, station wagon, Prius, Mini-Cooper, tricked-out '64, Tesla, Jeep Wrangler, Hummer Limo, convertible, and Lamborghini), expensive real estate (particularly for buyers), the beautiful street art and murals in LA and San Francisco, beautiful Cali girls from each sub-region of the state, and a variety of interesting architecture (Mid-Century Modern, Art Deco, Victorian, Edwardian, Stucco, Experimental, Post-Modern/Contemporary, Futurism, Spanish Revival, Mediterranean, etc.).
I love Cali, she's a really cool state. Hope to explore more of her next time I go there
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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What do I think of California? I think of how I haven't been since 2007 and I'm long overdue for a visit. San Diego is my favorite city in the state. It doesn't knock my socks off but I'm always very pleased when I visit because its just sooooo, nice. LA, I could take it or leave it. It's always fun, just not my favorite place to be in Cali. Love San Francisco of course, would like to see more of the Bay Area and get up to Napa and Sonoma.
When I think of California I don't just think of San Francisco or Los Angeles or San Diego as much as I like those places--I also think of all the oak-covered golden hills and little roads out through them out in the country in much of the state(from the edge of LA to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada). There's something about that landscape--it just reminds me of what it was like in the early Mission period or the Gold Rush--it's a very Mediterranean feel to it that no other US state really has that much of. And the little Spanish named villages and towns all over the state with names that sound funny if you know what they mean in Spanish.
And I think of the way you drive across the Central Valley and all the little Chicano farming towns in the hot hot heat to get to the Sierra from the Coast--or the way Highway 395 turns from the low desert into high desert with the mass of the Eastern Sierra looming on the other side--and then getting to Lee Vining and driving over Tioga Pass into Tuolomne Meadows.
Or driving down 101 or 199 from Oregon and getting into the foggy coast and dark redwood forests full of hippies, pot growers and probably Sasquatches until you get to the edge of the Bay Area and the city again. Or driving down to Santa Barbara and then past the surfer kids waiting for swells at Rincon Point and then hitting Ventura until you can just feel the frantic energy of Los Angeles.
Or I think of going with my family down from Santa Cruz to Big Sur or Monterey for the day and stopping on the way back for a big cioppino at Phil's in Moss Landing or crab enchiladas at the Whole Enchilada. Or driving up Highway 1 to San Francisco and crusing into town right as the fog lifts on Ocean Beach and driving right down the side of Golden Gate Park to Haight Ashbury when I was a teenager.
-More socially progressive than a good deal of the country when it comes to things like consumer/employee protection, etc.
-Superficially "laid back" per the stereotype of Californians with a more casual vibe in dress, etc. especially warmer locations near the beaches. But superficial is the key word because with housing costs being so outrageous, even though wages are somewhat higher, it doesn't make up for the extreme cost of living in certain areas. So while there's a sense of it being more casual, the cost of living would have to take its toll on how relaxed people really are.
-More ethnically diverse than most of the country with Hispanics (mainly Mexican) but even more distinct from the rest of the country, a large Asian culture.
-Better Mexican (especially LA and points south) and Asian (San Francisco) food than much of the U.S.
Different areas leave a different impression: Southern: (San Diego, Orange County): Conservative, not like the Deep South but one of the more conservative areas of the state, military (San Diego), wealthy (much of Orange County) Los Angeles: Superficial "laid back" vibe of the surfers, sunshine, beaches, etc. but the fastest paced area in California (only slightly edging out the Bay area). Faster paced than the rural South and Midwest, slower paced than the urban Northeast (N.Y.C, Boston, DC, etc.). About on par with the urban Midwest (i.e. Chicago) as far as pace of life. Expensive but not as expensive as San Francisco. Creative and appearance conscious. Traffic, traffic, traffic. High crime in spots. San Francisco/Bay Area: Socially progressive and open but maybe not as liberal as it's stereotyped to be...people are just going about their daily business, lots of smart, artsy, tech people, expensive, elite-drawing the best and the brightest- and priced accordingly, very dense but the hills and views of water don't make it seem as crowded as if you had that many people on the East Coast. Huge Asian influence. I posted a vacation related question in the San Francisco section of this forum and was impressed with how quick, accurate, and polite the responses were. Areas along the coast between LA and San Francisco, and north of San Francisco: Fairly rural but socially progressive, harder to pinpoint Desert, inland areas: Hot, poorer than coastal areas, agricultural in the North Central/Central Valley, slower pace (except for commuters who live far east of LA and have a torturous commute), more socially conservative.
Best place on Earth!! I've never once left California, all of my vacations have been in state, why leave when you already live in paradise!
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