Southern Southern Californian Behavior vs. the Rest of the U.S. (Los Angeles: mortgage, house)

[goodgirl49]

Originally Posted by dodgerz

I Just Moved To North Carolina After Living In La For 50 Yrs, Its As Different As Night And Day. People In La Are Rude, Could Care Less About Who You Are,
What Your Doing, And Everyone Is Watching Their Backs, Because You Never Know What Can Happen At Any Moment. The People Here Are So Polite And Helpful. At Any Store, Gas Station, Resturant, Or Any Where You Go, Your Greeted With A Hello, How Are You, And Have A Great Day. Everywhere You Go People Will Wave Hello To You. In La If Someone You Didnt Know Was To Wave At You, You Duck, In Case They Shoot.

I agree with most of what you are saying. I moved here in 1977 from the East Coast, and wouldn't have been able to survive without my husband's family living here. There is really no sense of community or civic involvement. A lot of people live in their own little bubble. The political correctness also sometimes bothers me. If I could, I'd move back to the East Coast, but likely I won't ever be able to.

[LaoTzuMindFu]

SoCal Natives: We say Soda
Non SoCal: People say Pop

SoCal Natives: we dont really like hockey
Non SoCal: People actually like hockey

SoCal Natives: we drink venti no foam soy mochacchinos
Non Socal: People drink Sanka

SoCal Natives: We love our Macys, Nordstroms, and MACs
Non SoCal: People shop at Kohls, WalMart and use PCs

SoCal Natives: We love Whole Foods, Trader Joes
Non SoCal: General Stores

[UB50]

SoCal: Every freeway has a name -- "the Ronald Reagan freeway, the Golden State freeway."
Other places: It's I-95, I-10, I-4, etc. (they use the numbers)

SoCal: We have "surface streets"
Other places: "What's a 'surface street'?"

SoCal: Most people don't care if you go to church or where you go to church
Other places: This can be a MAJOR topic of conversation

[Charles]

Originally Posted by UB50

SoCal: Most people don't care if you go to church or where you go to church
Other places: This can be a MAJOR topic of conversation

Interesting data:

City, %religious (from Sperling's Best Places)

Las Vegas, 36.25%
Seattle, WA 37.26%
Dallas, 55.11%
Huntsville, AL 55.22%
Colorado Springs, 58.02%
Los Angeles, 58.08%

[zenjenn]

I imagine Los Angeles' numbers are artificially inflated due to the high number of Mexican immigrants, a large number of which are religious Catholics.

I wasn't really active in the Mexican community in the LA area, but 58% of people actually being "religious" wasn't my experience at all in the area where I lived. Church parking lots weren't filled to the brim on a random Sunday where I lived in California (Los Angeles county, but not Los Angeles), but here in Huntsville, they are so filled they have to assign police to direct traffic! I don't think the average person on this forum would experience that level of religiousity (in any traditional sense of the word) in L.A.

Also there's the question of what "religious" really means. Is it just asking the a survey respondent "are you religious?" or is it measuring actual religious practice in the home and participation in a place of worship?

[UB50]

Originally Posted by zenjenn

I imagine Los Angeles' numbers are artificially inflated due to the high number of Mexican immigrants, a large number of which are religious Catholics.

That's what I think too.

In LA, I've never had anyone ask "What church do you belong to?" or "What religion are you?" unless they've known me for at least a couple of months. The question doesn't come up in job interviews. I don't believe I've ever worked with anyone who planned their life around church activities. Though a lot of people send their kids to private schools, most of them are not church affiliated schools.

The "Bible Belt" is very different from this. Some areas still have Blue Laws. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_law

[Dennis P]

Being a SoCal native, having lived in Florida and having visited the Midwest and Northeast, I did notice behavioral differences between people here and in the areas of the country I've been to.

People here seem to be more health-conscious. When I was in the Midwest (Nebraska and Iowa), I noticed a lot of overweight people (maybe the cold winter weather has something to do with it?). However, Midwestern people were definitely friendlier, making time to make small talk with you.

In the Northeast (PA/NJ/NY), the people there have a tendency to do everything fast, like walking and talking. In the NYC area, the drivers are very aggressive and tend to honk their horns just for the heck of it. We're more laid back here.

In the Midwest, I noticed that families got their kids involved in extracurricular activities as soon as they were old enough to go to kindergarten. People also tended to belong to clubs of some kind or another (where they share a common interest). Here in California, it seems as if everyone is content to just "coast along" in their own little worlds. Someone else mentioned that here in SoCal, if another motorist is on the side of the road with car trouble, no one will get involved to help. But in the Midwest, people are more neighborly and will help a total stranger with car trouble out.

Another thing about the Midwest and Northeast I've noticed is that they tend to dress more conservatively than they do here. Also, tattoos and body piercings aren't as common.

[stock66]

I thought LA seemed more religious than what I used to when I moved here, but according to the Sperling Data my old area was only 37% so I guess my impression was right
What I noticed here is there seem to churches just about anywhere here. Two of my neighbors have services in their houses every week and there was a church in the next office in the building I used to work in.

[mgs333]

this might have been mentioned, but people in so cal love driving slow in the fast lane and NEVER, EVER move over for a faster car behind them. while on the east coast, cars are more likely to move over if you are coming up behind them at a faster rate (not always but at least sometimes)

[Charles]

Originally Posted by zenjenn

I imagine Los Angeles' numbers are artificially inflated due to the high number of Mexican immigrants, a large number of which are religious Catholics.

This is probably true. Therefore, how can it be artificial or inflated?