Love the Bay but why the hate? (Riverside, Santa Clara: renting, how much)

[A1Lexo]

L.A Native. Always loved the Bay. Have lots of family in the Bay who I grew up visiting. Always look forward to my time there.....buuut....WHy so much hate for L.A? And though I know this is a generalization, it's been a consistent experience to hear pejorative stereotypes coming from Bay folks. It's a shame too, because outside of sports rivalries most folks I know back home in L.A dont have much to say about the bay period, or if they've been there like it....OR (especially in the case of the people who go there for college) come back irritated with the amount of negativity they get about their home town from the NorCal people.

So why does it continue? and Why does it feel far less playful then it should?

[jade408]

Possibly because people not from CA think that all of CA is like LA. And well about 30% of LA people I have met always talk about how much better LA is than than the Bay.

I don't really like LA all that much and pick on it as much as the next person, but lots of my close friends are from LA, and some of my friends even live there.

I don't think there is a culture of hating LA in the Bay.

[evergraystate]

The further north you go, the more people feel the need to hate LA in order to make themselves feel better about their miserable little lives. If you think Bay Area people are bad, ask Portland or Seattle people about LA. YIKES! I like both the Bay Area and southern California and I've been fortunate to live both places. I'm still split about where I want to settle down.

[The Informers]

I Love LA I actually go there for Vacation. The Weather, the Women, the Food all very enjoyable to me. Nobody really hates LA that I've met. The Traffic etc yes but that's just one part. The traffic up here can be just as bad if not worse on some days. I'll go to LA just to spend a few days eating Korean food.

[krudmonk]

LA grew bigger and more famous. That's it.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by jade408

possibly because people not from ca think that all of ca is like la. And well about 30% of la people i have met always talk about how much better la is than than the bay.

I don't really like la all that much and pick on it as much as the next person, but lots of my close friends are from la, and some of my friends even live there.

i don't think there is a culture of hating la in the bay.

I have to highly disagree with that, I think there is a strong culture of "hate"/Antipathy towards LA and SoCal in general here. Ironically you pretty much displayed it yourself and explained part of the reason why.

The fact that you even spend time picking on it with others shows the culture exists. Part of the reason that culture exists is because some apparently have an inferiority complex. Generally Northern Californians care and talk about SoCal much more than the other way around. It's some bizarre and annoying complex some seem to have up here. I really don't get why so many people in the Bay Area spend so much time hating on other places that they have no connection to.

[04kL4nD]

I actually think it's the other way around

People in LA always rag on SF for having fog and crappier weather and they're always quick to point out how much more famous Hollywood is than anywhere else besides NYC. Whenever I'm down in LA visiting friends they always wonder why I like SF so much and they constantly criticize how crowded and dirty SF is...

Personally, I like LA as a city (scenery, nightlife, weather, architecture, art scene, beach culture) but the majority of people the are pretty vapid and irritating to me. There are cool pockets of the LA area here and there, but overall, people living there don't give anywhere else much regard.

[bigdumbgod]

It's Kill Your TV vs. We Are TV. Or at least it used to be.

[rkwalton]

I grew up in L.A., and even I don't like it as a place to live. I LOVE heading back, renting a great car, seeing friends and family, and enjoying my time. Inevitably, I'll get stuck in traffic on the freeway and remember why I left though.

I just can't take the rivalry that seriously. Lots of cities have rivalries. Where are those hateful New Yorkers when you need them? Anyway, take a tour through these threads and you'll see all sorts of "my city is better than your city" territorial stupidity.

It's preferences and oftentimes pretense, depending on who is talking. As someone mentioned, head up to Portland and Seattle, and you'll hear the same sort of silliness.

I can see why some would like L.A. I really don't like living in any city that requires me to own a car and has sub par mass transit. (I say "requires" because to have anything close to a life there you have to be able to get around and you can't do that without having a car.) I hate being tethered to a car and as an L.A. native my parents got me a car when I was 16. For a city so spread out with so much air pollution, they should have a transit system that's the envy of the world. While they have some trains and light rail now, it's still not comprehensive. That's pretty much the primary reason I've no desire to move back.

[WeakandDizzy]

As someone who grew up in the Bay Area I give you my two cents:

1. Baseball Rivalry. I went to my first Giants game ( Mays, McCovey, Marichal era) when I was about 5 years old. I saw lots of " hate" spewed the Dodgers way. Although as an adult this does not make sense and frankly is a bit silly (I have no personal feelings against people from LA) a little bit of that emotion just gets " ingrained in you".

2. Water. I remember as a teenager and young adult having to limit water use during droughts ( no lawn watering, no car washing, bricks in the toilet tank) and watching on the TV news beautiful Southern California lawns and gardens being watered mid day with sprinklers shooting water on sidewalks with streams running down the gutters. Not hate but you feel a bit pissed off when you can't wash your car before a big date.

3. Money and Political power. It took forever to get Hwy 85 built on the west side of the Santa Clara Valley ( no dollars, etc.). As a young man, on many trips to Southern California ( Riverside area) it seems there were 4/6/8 lane freeways everywhere, often it looked like they were being built to nowhere until a few miles up the road a big subdivision was going in and it was clear the new highway was being built to serve that new development. You would never see that sort of thing going on in Northern California.

4. Hollywood culture. Vain people, plastic surgery, and a preoccupation with movie stars.

In summary growing up there were sports rivalries that started the ball rolling, compounded by a sense of unfairness with respect to natural resources and tax dollars being sent disproportionally southwards, combined with a distaste of the whole Hollywood " culture".