Orange County, CA: Anus of the World

[Lardog]

Originally Posted by k374

I think some of it is true, but the grass always looks greener on the other side. We do have good weather and the people are shallow no doubt but still relatively friendly.

The diversity and cultural opportunities are certainly tremendous... just around my area and accessible nearby in LA there are so many things to do, many parks and so many theatres.

The one thing I do agree with is the lack of daily human interaction which is quite minimal, and this is due to the absence of mass transit like in Chicago, New York and Boston. There is a special good vibe you get when you catch the trains to wherever you need to go and see other people, you feel alive in the city, I certainly agree on that point. The OC Metrolink is a ridiculous joke with 5-6 trains per day instead of a train every 15 minutes in Chicago.

Case in point: I was in downtown Boston on Sunday afternoon and the place was beautiful, absolutely full of people enjoying the day, I went to downtown LA on Saturday evening and the place was desolate, not a soul in sight besides a few homeless sleeping in Pershing square. A downtown is supposed to be the most vibrant part of the city, ours is just dowright depressing!

I lived in Chicago for 5 years and commuted on both commuter trains and the "L" and while it is a much better system of mass transit than we have out here, there was very little interaction on those trains. Most people get in, pull out their newspapers and don't look up until they get to their destination. Kind of like being in an elevator where no one wants to make eye contact.

As for dowtown LA, this has always been the case in LA....good bad or indifferent, LA was once described as not a city but a series of suburbs strung together by the freeway system.

[SaintLaurent]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

For real people, you'll need to go back East to NYC, Chicago, or Houston. Dallas-Fort Worth should be avoided because it is a carbon copy of Greater Los Angeles. NYC is still in its heart, a blue-collar town. L.A. is a white-collar town. Is the weather really worth it to become socially isolated to the point of suicide? Are people much better in L.A. County (esp. West L.A.) though?

I'm from LA and LA will never be a white-collar town. LA is overrun by poor Mexicans. It's very blue collar.

No huge city can ever be referred to as white collar. There are white-collar towns sprinkles across major cities, and NY actually has more of that wealth than LA.

But to the NJ guy... If you're miserable why don't you just go back home? Or try San Diego, as boring as that place may be.

[LAtoOCtoSD]

Dakicka, I used to live in Irvine so I know that Newport Beach is the most EXTREME example of the superficial, wealth obsessed, culture of Southern Calfiornia. Even if you move to cities just a few miles away like Huntington Beach or Laguna Beach, you'll find the people more down to earth. I would suggest you to move out of Newport and ,try places like Redondo Beach, Santa Monica, Huntington Beach, Hermosa Beach, or San Diego. I personally don't like Newport either, it's just too fake, it's almost strange.

[dakicka]

Originally Posted by LAtoOCtoSD

Dakicka, I used to live in Irvine so I know that Newport Beach is the most EXTREME example of the superficial, wealth obsessed, culture of Southern Calfiornia. Even if you move to cities just a few miles away like Huntington Beach or Laguna Beach, you'll find the people more down to earth. I would suggest you to move out of Newport and ,try places like Redondo Beach, Santa Monica, Huntington Beach, Hermosa Beach, or San Diego. I personally don't like Newport either, it's just too fake, it's almost strange.

Thanks for your feedback. It's good to realize it's not me with the problem. I am going back and forth everyday wondering should I be here or not. It seems like 75% of my life is in check-- career, weather, general happiness or where I'm at in life and what I do and where I live, but the other 25% screws it up, meeting fake people, being amongst wealth-concerned/obsessed individuals who feel having a certain car and living in the exclusive zip code is more important than having a real base of good friends and good people to be around. VERY Strange I agree, but thank u for confirming I'm not wacked out for thinking these things! So You think San Diego is better from a down-to-earth perspective huh? What areas would be good in SD? I hear a lot of areas are gang-infested, run down, and just lower income... I liked downtown but then I heard many mixed reviews with regard to traffic, crime, congestion, section 8 housing, illegals...

[Mach50]

It takes East Coasters around 1 year to 18 months to adapt to SoCal "Culture".
This is my experience, as well as many of my East Coast friends living here.

Eventually you either give in to the superficial lifestyle or learn to disregard the behavior as childish obsession.

My wife and I have learned to just ignore the SoCal plastic people, unfortunately that leaves us with a lot of friends that are from the East Coast lol.

So give it some time and you will adapt, like I said it takes at least a year.

[YLresident]

Originally Posted by Mach50Thunderdart

It takes East Coasters around 1 year to 18 months to adapt to SoCal "Culture".
This is my experience, as well as many of my East Coast friends living here.

Eventually you either give in to the superficial lifestyle or learn to disregard the behavior as childish obsession.

My wife and I have learned to just ignore the SoCal plastic people, unfortunately that leaves us with a lot of friends that are from the East Coast lol.

So give it some time and you will adapt, like I said it takes at least a year.

It's disappointing to hear so many people with such terrible things to say about Orange County.

I do like nice things, and I did grow up here.

Yes my parents bought me my first car: a 1996 Ford Contour. Wow--how luxurious.

Yes, I'm attached to my Coach purse--but I bought it at an outlet. And Coach is the poor man's designer bag, anyway, but hey, they look nice and are well made.

Yes, I live in the city with the highest median household income in the US, and while my parents' incomes approached Yorba Linda's average $121,000 annual salary when my father was still alive--I currently make less than a 1/3 of that a year.

All of my friends drive normal cars, have jobs, and are either in school, or have already graduated. We all like nice things, but our parents raised us to work hard for what we want and to be thankful for what we have. I haven't been able to save much yet, but I've donated little bits here and there to the HRC (hardly Republican) and hope to be able to give to others later. Most of my friends have volunteered at some points in our lives, too, and NONE of us are self-absorbed idiots.

I can't say that I've never met any plastic people in OC (or didn't go to high school with some), but self-obsessed, dimwitted parents breed self-obsessed, dimwitted children--and not every parent of an OC dimwit was born and raised in OC themselves... some people just let their wealth or perceived self-importance go to their heads. It's a shame those same people procreate, really, because when they breed, the collective IQ of OC dips with each resulting birth. But, you adapt and move on--just skip those people... they're easily forgotten once you realize all the other wonderful things OC has to offer.

Diversity didn't really start to matter to me until college because as a child--and especially as a teenager, making good friends was more important to me than making friends from every color of the rainbow... it was just a bonus when I found a great friendship in someone from a different background than me (I did actually have a fairly diverse group of friends), I honestly was more concerned with just having good friends--no troublemakers. In college, I got really into student orgs to satisfy my desire to branch out a little more and also to learn more about my mother's culture--and I learned more than I could've ever imagined. I think my experience with diversity, tolerance, and a culture of learning in college benefited me much more than having a diverse childhood could ever have.

No one place in the world is perfect for everyone--unless you believe in Heaven, of course, but if you do, I guess that's not of this world, anyway... but after growing up for the last 20 years in Orange County, I could never bring myself to want to live anywhere else. I love it here--the people, the awesome food, the proximity to everything fun and cultural, my friends, the weather... and I'm only 25. I can't wait to start a family here--this is a wonderful place to raise thoughtful, intelligent, happy, and healthy (but not health-obsessed) children. I know, because I was one of those kids. ^_^

OC isn't for everyone, but that's why there's other places in the world to live... if you don't love it here, then find somewhere you CAN love--or find some things you love about OC and develop your interest in them.

[Mach50]

YLresident I wasn't trying to talk bad about OC as much as I was sympathizing with other East Coasters coming here. OC is a beautiful place with lot's of opportunity.


However, East Coast Culture especially from DC to Boston is totally different than SoCal. I think there are higher expectations on people in the NorthEast all together, high expectations are great.

Here in SoCal (Especially OC/LA) the expectations seem to be entirely placed on looks and cash flow, it takes some getting used to.

People in the NorthEast are judged on character more-so than appeal. A person can be out of shape, look like a nerd, dress like a hood-rat, but if they have attitude and intelligence then they will be generally accepted. I cannot say the same for OC.

I think the Bay Area is much more of a smooth transition from the East Coast.

OC comes with some nice things too, like dakicka said on this same page prettty much sums it up:

Originally Posted by dakicka

It seems like 75% of my life is in check-- career, weather, general happiness or where I'm at in life and what I do and where I live, but the other 25% screws it up, meeting fake people, being amongst wealth-concerned/obsessed individuals who feel having a certain car and living in the exclusive zip code is more important than having a real base of good friends and good people to be around

Newport is the worst.

[Lardog]

I find it funny how people coming from out-of-state find people in OC so self absorbed, image/status concious, fake, etc when so many people that call this place home moved here from somewhere else! Go to an Angel game when the Yankees, Red Sox and Indians are in town and you'll see what I mean....the stadium is nearly half full of fans of those teams, mainly because they're transplants.

A lot of those same transplants acclimate and become and act just like most people in OC.