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Old 01-24-2012, 04:38 PM
 
Location: Whittier
3,004 posts, read 6,276,441 times
Reputation: 3082

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I think you have needed to live in So Cal for at least a few years before you hear, things like "South County" and have a vision in your head.

I could never see living in South OC and feeling like I belonged there, it's that different from North OC.

There are some "organic" parts of South OC and pockets here and there of "LA" culture, but OC has a culture all it's own.

From North OC "Bros" to South County "Trophy Wives" to "Cars and Coffee," to the beautiful beaches, it's not inherently bad, but there are differences, to be sure.
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Old 01-26-2012, 08:13 PM
 
Location: Irvine CA
101 posts, read 283,616 times
Reputation: 75
Quote:
Originally Posted by TommyCarcetti View Post
I'm interested in hearing different perspectives regarding this famous California County. Please only respond if you've actually visited or lived in Orange County.

What is the culture of Orange County? What are the people like? The architecture? The urban/suburban layout of the community? Anything else related to the county is welcome including personal experiences. Thanks.
While you cant lump us all together, we have a distinctly different culture from LA county. If I had to sum it up, overall its more politically conservative while LA county is more liberal.

I'm 50 and I've lived here all of my life, so if I wanted to (I dont) I could write a novel about it, but in general I think its one of the best places in the world to live. I've seen it change a lot over the years I've lived here, and have thought about relocating to another state, but I just cant find one that interests me enough.
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Old 01-30-2012, 05:48 PM
 
Location: California Mountains
1,448 posts, read 3,051,642 times
Reputation: 2356
Quote:
Originally Posted by cadj59 View Post
Bottom Line: Unless you are ridiculously wealthy and can afford a large house within 3 miles of the beach (pretty much the demarcation line where you need to run the AC constantly in the summers), I would not raise a family or live permanently in OC. Raise the kids in a more affordable area that offers a small town feel and then move here to retire to in a small condo close to the beach. The beach and the weather is the only reason to move to OC (potentially huge reasons). Good for temporary living (renting) for a younger demographic (20-25).

Agree with your post except for the last paragraph.

My take of OC:

Since 1950, for over 60 years and counting, five generations of us have raised dozens of children while living in OC. Meaning most of our children were born in OC. Most of them are very intelligent; some are extremely intelligent. Most are successful in their careers of choice; some are not. Most went to colleges and graduate schools in the East Coast, did their internships and post grad there, and moved back to OC to live and work. A very few moved to different states but still come back to OC regularly and still call it "home".

Most of us are squarely middle class; some of us are lower middle class. Our properties, owned or rented, are located anywhere between literally a few steps from one of the most beautiful beaches in CA to deep in the dry and barren inland. We live in North, Central, and South OC. We live in apartments, condos, townhouses, duplexes, and single-family detached homes.

From the experience my husband and I have garnered after living in three continents and six states, I would not have a problem recommending OC as a place to raise a family or live permanently. Hundreds of members of our family have done so successfully.

BTW, the youngest of us is 5 years old, and the oldest is 98.

Last edited by Ol' Wanderer; 01-30-2012 at 06:01 PM..
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Old 01-31-2012, 02:49 PM
 
72 posts, read 434,384 times
Reputation: 82
Orange County:

The Good: The most beautiful women in America.
The Bad: You get judged based on the car you drive.
The Ugly: Some neighborhoods, all of the houses look the same. Same color, same style. No originality at all (unlike Long Beach, Beverly Hills, etc.).
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Old 02-10-2012, 01:51 PM
 
1,410 posts, read 2,140,137 times
Reputation: 1171
Good post, Coldjensens. My thoughts are in bold:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldjensens View Post
Depends on where in the county you are. All of those things vary.

The overriding culture is materialism, competitiveness and one upmanship mixed with me-first. However it is not all pervasive and not even prevailing in some areas.
I do see the materialism and wealth, but without the snobbery I've witnessed in other parts of the country.
I also agree on the competitiveness.
"Me-first": prime examples of this are when I'm crossing at a crosswalk in a mall parking lot and some driver who's old enough to know better just plows through instead of yeilding my right of way as a pedestrian. I flick them off as they pass, but they're probably so self-absorbed that they're oblivious to it all. Thank goodness most drivers here do the right thing and wait their turn, but there are enough of those inconsiderate douches to give OC drivers a bad name.

Architecture:

I think "Taco Bell" comes to mind...way more stucco than brick and siding, for sure.

It is frantically busy. Very congested. And how!


Physically it was scrub desert. Trees are few and most are kept small. Forests are non-existient. Streams and rivers are usually dry gravel or concrete ditches. Landscaping is what makes things pretty. Flowers grow and bloom year round. The beaches are pretty. When it is not hazy/smoggy the mountains are pretty. Concrete asphlat red tile roofs and stucco - not so pretty. Plenty of concrete jungle.


People evalute you based on success. "What do you do for a living" is usually the first ting they want to know. Followed by what do you drive, where do you work, where do you shop. People often go massively into debt to drive a new BMW, wear the fancy brands, anything to "appear" successful. People tend to compete with each other through their children. Again this varies widely in different areas.

The odd thing is, that even though many people I meet here come from all over, the first thing I tend to get asked is my nationality. I'm not foreign and my relatives have been in this country for at least 4 generations, the rest alot longer than that. It really bugs me more when someone from a foreign country asks me that. Just last week, a woman who'd just moved here from Canada asked me that...she's coming to my country, yet asking me what country I'm from??? I didn't get this question before living here, so I think it's an O.C. thing. And I don't think I look foreign or exotic.

2nd most common question from strangers for me is the "what kind of work do you do?" I don't work, so that just awkwardly puts the brakes on the whole exchange as the asker's face drops upon my reply.

My car is decent enough, I think, but nobody ever asks me what I drive, luckily. Not that I'm much of a car person anyway - to me, it's just some machine to get me from point A to point B.
Nobody has ever asked where I shop either.
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Old 02-10-2012, 02:04 PM
 
1,410 posts, read 2,140,137 times
Reputation: 1171
Good post! My thoughts are in bold:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldjensens View Post
Depends on where in the county you are. All of those things vary.

The overriding culture is materialism, competitiveness and one upmanship mixed with me-first. However it is not all pervasive and not even prevailing in some areas.
I do see the materialism and wealth, but without the snobbery I've witnessed in other parts of the country.
I also agree on the competitiveness.
"Me-first": prime examples of this are when I'm crossing at a crosswalk in a mall parking lot and some driver who's old enough to know better just plows through instead of yeilding my right of way as a pedestrian. I flick them off as they pass, but they're probably so self-absorbed that they're oblivious to it all. Thank goodness most drivers here do the right thing and wait their turn, but there are enough of those inconsiderate douches to give OC drivers a bad name.

Architecture:

I think "Taco Bell" comes to mind...way more stucco than brick and siding, for sure.

It is frantically busy. Very congested. And how!


Physically it was scrub desert. Trees are few and most are kept small. Forests are non-existient. Streams and rivers are usually dry gravel or concrete ditches. Landscaping is what makes things pretty. Flowers grow and bloom year round. The beaches are pretty. When it is not hazy/smoggy the mountains are pretty. Concrete asphlat red tile roofs and stucco - not so pretty. Plenty of concrete jungle.


People evalute you based on success. "What do you do for a living" is usually the first ting they want to know. Followed by what do you drive, where do you work, where do you shop. People often go massively into debt to drive a new BMW, wear the fancy brands, anything to "appear" successful. People tend to compete with each other through their children. Again this varies widely in different areas.

The odd thing is, that even though many people I meet here come from all over, the first thing I tend to get asked is my nationality. I'm not foreign and my relatives have been in this country for at least 4 generations, most of them alot longer than that. It really bugs me more when someone from a foreign country asks me that. Just last week, a woman who'd just moved here from Canada asked me that...she's coming to my country, yet asking me where I'm from??? I didn't get this question before living here, so I think it's an O.C. thing. And I don't think I look foreign or exotic. My only guess is that due to so many foreigners coming here, they sort of hope that I'm foreign too?

2nd most common question from strangers for me is the "what kind of work do you do?" I don't work, so that just awkwardly puts the brakes on the whole exchange as the asker's face drops upon my reply.

My car is decent enough, I think, but nobody ever asks me what I drive, luckily. Not that I'm much of a car person anyway - to me, it's just some machine to get me from point A to point B.
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Old 02-10-2012, 02:11 PM
 
653 posts, read 946,215 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by temazepam View Post
Good post, Coldjensens. My thoughts are in bold:
Sometimes people are just making innocent small talk in an effort to try to get to know you when they ask where you're from or what you do. I think it shows a genuine interest in talking about you, versus them just rudely gabbing on non-stop about themselves. I'm far from exotic looking myself, but I get asked what nationality I am.

In nearly every city in which I've lived, I've been asked what I do. I don't take offense, even during periods when I decided not to work, because I realize they're likely asking because we spend so much time at our jobs, and a lot of people went into the industry they did because they, at one point, probably enjoyed it. I see it as a nice question, and nothing to be put off about.

What does put me off are the people who judge based on my responses. If I can financially support myself, for at least a very tiny while, without working because I saved, am very frugal, and planned hard, I do not prefer a rude "well THAT must be nice" with a slap in the face undertone. So I suppose it's all relative.

I've never been asked what I drive. If I were, my response would be, are you in the market for a car? (because they very well may be asking because they want to know how your experience is). I try to assume the best of people, unless they give me reason to think otherwise.
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Old 02-10-2012, 02:18 PM
 
Location: Declezville, CA
16,806 posts, read 39,955,069 times
Reputation: 17694
"What do you do for a living?" is a common bridging question, no matter one's socioecon level. If someone answers my question with "firefighter", we have something in common and can burn some time together. If they answer "Latina women's studies professor", well... I'll be struggling to find common ground.
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Old 02-10-2012, 02:25 PM
 
653 posts, read 946,215 times
Reputation: 408
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fontucky View Post
"What do you do for a living?" is a common bridging question, no matter one's socioecon level. If someone answers my question with "firefighter", we have something in common and can burn some time together. If they answer "Latina women's studies professor", well... I'll be struggling to find common ground.
Wait. You're NOT a Latina Women's Studies Professor?!
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Old 02-10-2012, 02:43 PM
 
Location: Denver
9,963 posts, read 18,503,523 times
Reputation: 6181
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fontucky View Post
"What do you do for a living?" is a common bridging question, no matter one's socioecon level. If someone answers my question with "firefighter", we have something in common and can burn some time together. If they answer "Latina women's studies professor", well... I'll be struggling to find common ground.
So there won't be any other possible common ground but work?

That's a serious people filter! I am sure you have a very diverse set of friends.
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