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My fiance and I currently live in Orlando, Fl and she has a chance to work from Newport Beach for a large legal firm. We just got back from a visit there and we both thought it was a very nice much like the good parts of Orlando (Winter Park, Windermere) but even better. We can afford it there and everything no problem!
The only issue with OC is that my fiance is from Honduras (American) and I am your plain American white guy, I guess and it appeared we caught a lot of attention and honestly "bad vibes" from the people there in Newport and OC all together, in a very racist sort of way, it is hard to describe if it is just snobbishness or real racism. It is really causing us to think twice about moving there....
We do have money and look nice, here in Florida it is very common for Hispanic and White couples to mix so have never been in this situation. I seem to only notice Asian and White couples there as mixing...do they think they are better than Hispanic and White couples out there?
She really wants the job, but we are both afraid of moving into an area that is intolerant of white/hispanic couples we want to have kids in a year and don't want to be in that type of environment.
WE ARE CLOSE TO MOVING THERE and need to know if this will be a problem...I'd rather just stay in FL if it is.
I would really appreciate some honesty we can talk over email if you like
shoot you can call me this is a huge deal!
Southern Californians generally hate Mexicans... There's so much anti-illegal sentiment here that from my experience people think that there are no legal hispanic immigrants. No bother that she's Honduran, because to people around here, everyone who speaks Spanish is Mexican.
OC is traditionally VERY CONSERVATIVE. Yes, it's changing a bit, but for the most part, it's very white and republican. Hispanic males continue to work in the service industry, unless they're highly educated. Well qualified women, on the other hand, have a better chance at an office job, due to employers looking to diversify their population.
My husband is Mexican, by the way. I'm not a racist. I myself lived in Mexico for 5 years, prior to our moving to OC for the last 5 years. We're raising our children bilingual and to be proud of their heritage. It's difficult here. FYI, we're now leaving to Austin. But that is highly due to the cost of living that we don't care to afford.
It's common in So Cal for white/hispanic relationships, but not necessarily in Newport. Newport is very snobbish and the asians you speak of are part of the affluent community in the area(centered in Irvine). You can look to live nearby in Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Tustin, or further up the coast in Long Beach, Seal Beach, Rossmoor, etc if you want a less snobbish environment with more hispanic friendly vibes.
she has a chance to work from Newport Beach for a large legal firm.
The only issue with OC
"She has a chance", did she already get an offer or is it still not determined?
If she has an offer, consider the positives: Promising career opportunity, perfect weather, abundance of awesome neighborhoods with excellent schools within pretty decent commuting distance, and the biggest one of all, housing prices are falling like a lead zeppelin.
"The only issue with OC" probably isn't. Meaning, there are a lot of other things that will probably bug you more than perceived (or real) societal discomforts. Traffic is one. It can be tough to do simple things like drive to an Angel game or go to the beach on a Sunday. Property taxes, mello roos, and expensive HOAs can be another.
Other questions: Where are your families? Will this be a problem when kids come along? Will you get homesick? (This is real).
Newport people can be snobby in general, and it probably wasn't because your wife was Hispanic (money is all that matters there).
---If you don't carry a poodle with you to Gelson's Market, don't drive a black or silver Mercedes Benz/BMW/Audi/Exotic, don't both have face lifts, don't have a wife with an overdone boob job, don't run around talking about how hard life is because you couldn't find a dress at Neiman Marcus, and don't complain about how your "help" didn't clean the house right today then you might not be right for the Newport crowd.
^^^^
Granted this isn't everyone in Newport Beach (although my brother in law, his fake boob girl friend, and Newport friends are like that), but if you are more laid back, there are a lot better places to look in Orange County where it isn't all about money and being a snob. I don't want to offend people that live in Newport, but I really feel that it is where a lot of bad stereotypes of the county come from. I still can't believe I see a woman with a poodle in a designer purse everytime I am at a grocery there (that is disgusting IMO).
Look at Huntington Beach, Seal Beach, Costa Mesa, Los Alamitos, Dana Point, Tustin, Fullerton, Belmont Shore (Long Beach), etc... for a more laid back vibe that is still along the coast and more accepting of a mixed couple and just people in general.
Cabolissa are you white and your husband is Mexican? If so then you truly would understand.
I definitely got a feel like people were surprised to see us together, like surprised she even knew English very demeaning looks. I guess my fiance does look Mexican she is shorter with darker skin, she definitely doesn't look illegal though! I mean she dresses better than most white girls even out there.
I guess in FL we are more tolerant than CA, I never would have thought that being that all I hear about is how liberal and tolerant Californians are. What a bad surprise.
Here in Orlando I would never see people treat others like that, definitely not in a racist manner.
Your comment explains a lot and I appreciate it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cabolissa
Southern Californians generally hate Mexicans... There's so much anti-illegal sentiment here that from my experience people think that there are no legal hispanic immigrants. No bother that she's Honduran, because to people around here, everyone who speaks Spanish is Mexican.
OC is traditionally VERY CONSERVATIVE. Yes, it's changing a bit, but for the most part, it's very white and republican. Hispanic males continue to work in the service industry, unless they're highly educated. Well qualified women, on the other hand, have a better chance at an office job, due to employers looking to diversify their population.
My husband is Mexican, by the way. I'm not a racist. I myself lived in Mexico for 5 years, prior to our moving to OC for the last 5 years. We're raising our children bilingual and to be proud of their heritage. It's difficult here. FYI, we're now leaving to Austin. But that is highly due to the cost of living that we don't care to afford.
We drove around Costa Mesa and Tustin and it just appeared very run down to us. Huntington seemed too punk and skater bros I guess.
We like upscale places, but just not snobby borderline racist places.
That brings up a nother question: We noticed that only Hispanics seem to be doing the hard jobs there, do any white or asian people do yardwork or wash their own cars or is that soley the hispanic peoples job?
It seemed very strange.
Here in FL I guess it is much different, you will see White, Black and Asian people doing everything that a Hispanic person would do. I guess it is pretty even.
That might have made us uncomfortable too, you know "hey welcome to CA oh but you look exactly like the yardworkers"..."shouldn't you be washing a car" type attitude.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bhcompy
It's common in So Cal for white/hispanic relationships, but not necessarily in Newport. Newport is very snobbish and the asians you speak of are part of the affluent community in the area(centered in Irvine). You can look to live nearby in Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Tustin, or further up the coast in Long Beach, Seal Beach, Rossmoor, etc if you want a less snobbish environment with more hispanic friendly vibes.
Charles - Her firm has a partner in Newport that does commercial real estate contracts and they want her to come out and work for a major pay upgrade. Honestly she makes enough money for both of us, but I work in contracts as well mainly for Credit companies which there seems an abundance of out there.
Traffic is pretty bad here in Orlando, I4 sucks and we take tolls everywhere to get around that cost 10 bucks a day per car.
We would rent at first and could afford some where in the range of 4k a month, that seemed doable in Newport.
The family issue is actually what will improve we think, her parents are in Costa Rica retired..so we would be closer. My parents are in FL but they love to travel to Costa Rica so we would be fine to meet all there with the kids, when we have them.
Everything is fine except for the feeling of being in an uncomfortably snobbish or racists area, I never thought this would be an issue in Cali...amazing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles
"She has a chance", did she already get an offer or is it still not determined?
If she has an offer, consider the positives: Promising career opportunity, perfect weather, abundance of awesome neighborhoods with excellent schools within pretty decent commuting distance, and the biggest one of all, housing prices are falling like a lead zeppelin.
"The only issue with OC" probably isn't. Meaning, there are a lot of other things that will probably bug you more than perceived (or real) societal discomforts. Traffic is one. It can be tough to do simple things like drive to an Angel game or go to the beach on a Sunday. Property taxes, mello roos, and expensive HOAs can be another.
Other questions: Where are your families? Will this be a problem when kids come along? Will you get homesick? (This is real).
The poodle thing happens here too (we live in Winter Park which is very upscale but mixed), shoot I think my wife might be the kind of girl that would carry a poodle in a bag . Could it be that OC people just aren't used to seeing a hispanic girl with money?
So what I am hearing from everyone (and I really appreciate it) is we should work in Newport but if we don't wantto deal with snobbish/racist attitudes we should live somewhere else?
This is highly unfortunate because we really wanted to live close to work and in an affluent area. However, I do not want my wife and kids to be exposed to that kind of people.
Quote:
Originally Posted by missionhome
Newport people can be snobby in general, and it probably wasn't because your wife was Hispanic (money is all that matters there).
---If you don't carry a poodle with you to Gelson's Market, don't drive a black or silver Mercedes Benz/BMW/Audi/Exotic, don't both have face lifts, don't have a wife with an overdone boob job, don't run around talking about how hard life is because you couldn't find a dress at Neiman Marcus, and don't complain about how your "help" didn't clean the house right today then you might not be right for the Newport crowd.
^^^^
Granted this isn't everyone in Newport Beach (although my brother in law, his fake boob girl friend, and Newport friends are like that), but if you are more laid back, there are a lot better places to look in Orange County where it isn't all about money and being a snob. I don't want to offend people that live in Newport, but I really feel that it is where a lot of bad stereotypes of the county come from. I still can't believe I see a woman with a poodle in a designer purse everytime I am at a grocery there (that is disgusting IMO).
Look at Huntington Beach, Seal Beach, Costa Mesa, Los Alamitos, Dana Point, Tustin, Fullerton, Belmont Shore (Long Beach), etc... for a more laid back vibe that is still along the coast and more accepting of a mixed couple and just people in general.
This topic of racism always comes up in OC...it really shows how nasty of a place it can be.
Listen to Cabolissa, she has it right. Whatever is said about SoCal in an intolerant or conservative manner, it applies to OC 10x more and Newport Beach 50x over...
My wife and I met in South Florida. I can tell you Florida is much more racially tolerant than Southern California (don't call it Cali btw)..
My wife is Mexican and I am 1/2 Mexican/Irish (I am very pale) so I am mistaken as full white sometimes...we lived in Newport for a year and it was by far the worst experience living somewhere we ever had, I honestly heard more racist comments directed at my wife in Newport within 1 year, than we ever heard anywhere in our entire lives. Irvine is an order of magnitude better but still very bad, only Asian and Whites, very to themselves it would be tough to meet people there.
Sorry to say but, listen to these folks, stay far far (very far) away from Newport Beach if you are a clean intelligent Hispanic person. If you want clean but open minded towards hispanics, I honestly think the closest place you will find is Long Beach Belmont Shores which is in L.A. County... not OC, don't do it to your fiance, it will drive you both insane...avoid, avoid... abort, abort!
p.s. i love your username lol
Last edited by Mach50; 02-23-2009 at 10:38 PM..
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much like the good parts of Orlando (Winter Park, Windermere) but even better. We can afford it there and everything no problem!
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. Could it be that OC people just aren't used to seeing a hispanic girl with money?
