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Are there any somewhat distinct differences you notice between people who grow up in the eastern vs the western United States?
In my own experience I think people who grow up in the eastern US tend to move at a faster pace and be more tradition based which seems logical as that is the older part of the country.
People I meet from the western US tend to be move at a slower pace, and not be as traditional in general.
Granted neither of these could obviously apply to everyone from either side of the I-35 (roughly), however; these seem to be some of the general differences I noticed between people who grow up on the different sides of the US.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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I think one needs to refine this down even further as there are differences between East Coasters (Northeast v South) and West Coasters (SF v SoCal) etc.
In general, metro NY’ers seem to get along on the Westside of LA and SF while people from New England have an affinity for San Diego. Again, generalizations and plenty of exceptions. I cannot speak for the South and did not pick up enough quirks from the PNW after only visiting, not living there.
Aside from that, the biggest clash of cultures/differences from my experience on both coasts are between those from the NY metro area (does not include upstate NY) and good portions of SoCal.
NY metro area people are more aggressive, faster paced, direct, more sarcastic and quick witted, more likely to keep a commitment and be punctual and/or not flake, more bull in the China shop (vs more easily offended/PC types), ask more personal questions upfront and seem to develop more meaningful relationships (vs acquaintances) faster, are not afraid to call out BS in front of another’s face v behind their back, use their car horn, more decisive (know what they will order by the time they get to front of the line at Starbucks vs only beginning to give thought to that once they get there, holding up others behind them), depending upon person are typically more urban activity motivated rather than nature oriented, tend to be more passionate and vocal about their sports teams, more likely to cling to bands from the past, will use ketchup on burgers and mustard on hot dogs rather than vice versa. These are a few items that come to mind.
Last edited by elchevere; 12-01-2020 at 07:22 AM..
I grew up in the East, lived in the SW for many yrs. People in the East are more uptight, more "wound up," even in parts of the SE (larger cities) it can be like that. In the SW, it's cool to be more "chill," and not get upset over things. Just move on and don't fret too much. East coast more down to earth, West not so much. E. Coast people will come out w/ things, speak their minds more vs in the W. not so much. Some of the differences I saw.
Having lived in Nevada all my life, when I travel I really notice RULES.
We don't have a whole lot of signs everywhere, fees to get into a nature park or RULES like back East. No sign to warn you of the mountain lion living on the hill behind your house that you hike on, no signs when you go out on the BLM managed lands and ride ATV's or bike ride...heck in my city..most of the trails are leash-free for dogs except in the city itself.
We are also very live and let live and mind our own business, but that might be more a Nevada thing because Californians can be uptight about RULES and neighbors and they are even further west lol....
East coast is definitely more uptight, fast-paced, stressful and RULES when I visit...also cars honk like it's an OK thing to do...not so in Nevada
You take care of yourself, more self reliance here and to me there is definitely more freedom and it's hard to get used to alot of the restrictions and rules in other locales...but it could be bigger city differences as well, I have had people from Seattle go totally off the wall crazy and call 911 because our Golden Retriever was off-leash on a beach where the locals all walk their dogs off-leash...they called 911 and screamed curse words at us! LOL!
Noone does that around here, people are respectful and friendly to each other, we look strangers in the eye and say 'hi' and btw 911 or a police officer ain't responding to an off-leash Golden Retriever...they do not care, they would just throw a ball for him and pat him on the head
Honestly there are a ton of West Coast transplants here in New York and I cannot tell the difference about them behaviorally.
Not even how they talk?
The New Yorkers are pretty obvious in Nevada and we have got a lot of them
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