Is San Diego Status Conscious? (Mission Hills, Mesa: low income, fit in, mortgage)

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by esmith143

If your point that a young San Diegan is more likely to spend his first dollar on a nice car than to put it into a savings account or to get an apartment of his own, that's probably true.

It shows a juvenile and warped sense of responsibility where the appearance of status (i.e. driving a luxury car) is more important than actual status. If that isn't status seeking I don't know what is.

I grew up in an area where the median income is 90k for 10 miles in all directions and you would never see what goes on here. People drive Toyotas. I just got back from the Hamptons, saw lots of beemers and benzes... driven by grown men! Price to play is too high for 20-somethings, they all just pile into shares and most took the bus from the city anyway. NYC has a way of humbling the wanna-be rich kid out of you real quick.

Drive up the 805 any weekday. Black guys with braids in bimmers and 23 year old girls with huge sunglasses in a Lexus going to 10-dollar an hour jobs, sorry but it's asinine.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

I grew up in an area where the median income is 90k for 10 miles in all directions and you would never see what goes on here. People drive Toyotas.

Wow, you couldn't be more spot on. A couple months ago, I did a mini Midwest driving tour (Indy, Cincy, Pittsburgh, Louisville and Columbus) and one thing I noticed right away was how few nice/expensive cars were on the road in each city. I drove thru the most exclusive areas of each place and hardly saw any MBs, Porsches, BMWs, etc. I don't think I even saw a single Hummer. Here were these mansions with a Fords and Chevrolets parked in the driveways. Compare that to the cars you see in RSF, La Jolla, Highway 101 from Del Mar thru Encinitas/Carlsbad.

Had this thread come up before my trip, I might have answered differently, but now I think SD is no more or less showy than places like LA, ATL, Dallas or OC.

Drive up the 805 any weekday. Black guys with braids in bimmers and 23 year old girls with huge sunglasses in a Lexus going to 10-dollar an hour jobs, sorry but it's asinine.

LOL...no kidding.

[hanna_house]

I have been in the area about 10 months and so far I have found that people blend pretty well due to the laid back nature of the region. Everyone wears comfortable attire and flip flops whether they are bag boys or doctors. I don't doubt that status can become an issue once you begin getting to know people, but so far the majority of the people I come in contact with are friendly and down to earth.

I would say the most noticeable gap, when it comes to status, are the bums vs. everyone else. I'm sure people who grew up in the area and went to school here experienced more of a cultural divide, but as a newbie it hasn't affected me in the least one way or another.

[esmith143]

A couple months ago, I did a mini Midwest driving tour (Indy, Cincy, Pittsburgh, Louisville and Columbus) and one thing I noticed right away was how few nice/expensive cars were on the road in each city.

There's a different factor at play here. The area you drove through is a GM/UAW heartland. It is conservative and patriotic. Driving a German car like a BMW or a Porsche is considered bad taste. People don't necessarily drive less expensive cars, but their idea of luxury is different. Michigan has the highest Corvette registration rate in the country. Instead of a Mercedes, a well-off individual would get a Caddy. Also, we often think "Ford/Chevy = cheap", but in reality a loaded new Expedition costs as much as a new BMW 5-series.

Drive up the 805 any weekday. Black guys with braids in bimmers and 23 year old girls with huge sunglasses in a Lexus going to 10-dollar an hour jobs, sorry but it's asinine.

I never saw it like that. I'll try to pay attention on my way to work tomorrow.

It's perfectly natural for a younger guy you see on the 805 to make 60k plus. Lots of high tech jobs in the area. If you're single, you live with a roommate or in a 1-bedroom apartment, and you make 60k, you'll have plenty of money left to afford a used beemer. My previous car was a BMW. I bought it when it was 3 year old, 5k down, $420/month for 5 years.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by esmith143

There's a different factor at play here. The area you drove through is a GM/UAW heartland. It is conservative and patriotic. Driving a German car like a BMW or a Porsche is considered bad taste. People don't necessarily drive less expensive cars, but their idea of luxury is different. Michigan has the highest Corvette registration rate in the country. Instead of a Mercedes, a well-off individual would get a Caddy. Also, we often think "Ford/Chevy = cheap", but in reality a loaded new Expedition costs as much as a new BMW 5-series.

Yeah, you are probably right about the heartland thing going on, especially with Detroit nearby. Not a Prius in sight in that neck of the woods...lol. The girls definitely didn't have the "look at me" attitude, either. No short skirts to their necks, big sunglasses or fake Chanel handbags. More wholesome, I guess. Not good or bad, just something I noticed.

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by esmith143

It's perfectly natural for a younger guy you see on the 805 to make 60k plus. Lots of high tech jobs in the area.

Guys wearing tank tops and braids in their hair, or sleeved tattoos aren't going to 60k/yr jobs.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

25-year olds don't drive 60 thousand dollar cars unless they:
- earn enough money to afford a ~500/mo+ car payment (extremely rare)
- inherited enough money to afford it (extremely rare)
- mommy and daddy are paying for it (common)
- live in a crap apartment or with their parents and / or lease it for 349/mo (very common)

There is no other way. Do you honestly think the goon with the sideways baseball cap is secretly a top-notch bioscience engineer?

Take a note of all the late-model entry level luxury imports you see on a given day. Lexus IS250, Infiniti G35, BMW 3-series. They are literally a dime-a-dozen and I would bet 90% are leased. If you don't know people who do it you don't know many working class / native San Diegans. My 23-year old cousin is a manager at Jamba Juice. She drives a 50 thousand dollar Mercedes Benz that she got brand spanking new.

Well if their parents are paying for it then I wouldn't assume it's a lease automatically then. I know of some people who still get some additional financial support from their parents, they're almost all from the Northeast too and one of them has a nice car like that.

I'm am sure there are plenty of people like you describe but there are also a decent amount of people in that mid to late 20's age range that do make enough to buy that type of car. A good percentage of my friends can afford those types of cars, the $35k and under not the $60k ones. I see a lot of Acura TSX's among younger people, which a few of my friends have, and those are not that expensive, I could afford one but I just don't like having car payments though. I see just as many of those as the other entry level luxury brands.

I am sure there are a fair amount of $30K millionaire types of out there but I think some people exaggerate to the extent of it and in the process unfairly stereotype and make assumptions about those that fall into that demographic that can actually afford those types of cars.

[msgsing]

Interesting thread. Living in a condo in Mission Valley, I'll sometimes take the dog for a walk through the Promenade, a large apartment complex. Renters appear to be young, maybe late 20's. I've never seen such a large concentration of high end luxury cars. Land Rovers, BMW and Mercedes vehicles, customized Escalades. Recently took a drive up and around Mt Soledad. Much older group of people, million dollar plus homes. In the driveways some luxury cars but many older Honda, Toyota compacts. Chevy pickups.

[MissNM]

Luxury cars in average neighborhoods stand out. And average cars in luxury neighborhoods stand out.

You know how rich people get/stay rich - they don't throw away money on things they don't need. Mt. Soledad sounds like the type of people I want to hang with.

[loveautumn]

there used to be a saying here in California..."you are what you drive", you can tell alot about a person by their car and their shoes! Seriously though, there is a mixture of people in all areas here, even the well to do ones. But, make no mistake about it, they don't socialize with each other.

It depends on where you come from, when I visit my family back in upstate NY, they think I am always overdressed and can't understand buying even middle market "designer' clothes. People here will say they live in Del Mar or La Jolla, when they don't really, they live in Carmel Valley, etc. because it's 'close enough".

There is alot of status here...say young girls shopping at Nordies looking at $1500 handbags when you know they don't have a dime to their names. But OC and LA are much worse than here. I would say here wealthy people can dress down and poorer people can dress "up" so I wouldn't say it is about the clothes so much, as education, job status, home address, etc. People here are definitely "categorized" by their home address.