"Go back to California" attitude (Seattle, Spokane: fit in, transplants)

[Kelso621]

Trying to figure out if I should move to Seattle or Portland from socal.. I've been reading alot of forums about the negative attitude in Portland towards Californians moving to the area. Is that "Go back to California" attitude as bad in Seattle?

[ryanst530]

DONT DO IT!

trust me you wont like it.

im from california as well so I know. most of the other people i knew from california ended up hating it and moving back in less than 2 years. im about to as well.

seattle = Most depressing place Ive ever lived. (my opinion of course )

[tada]

Seattle is the most depressing place I've ever lived. (By default; as it's the only place I've lived).

I imagine it would keep that title if I did move, though.

[allforcats]

Originally Posted by Kelso621

Is that "Go back to California" attitude as bad in Seattle?

I remember that 20 years ago, even 10 years ago, as California became more and more crowded and people wanted to move, there was a lot of public Californian-bating in the Seattle area. Lots of jokes and flack, in local broadcasts, newspapers, workplaces, over back fences. I've never seen racial or ethnic or religious discrimination here (although I suppose it must exist somewhere, since unenlightened people are part of every population), but there was a pretty strong negative attitude about a certain type of people from California -- those who moved here, chose to not adapt, chose instead to complain, and wanted to have, do and be here everything they had been, done and had in Calif.

They didn't want to become part of their new home -- they wanted their new home to become a carbon copy of where they had come from.

Chief among the dislikes locals had were imported attidudes which expressed here as elitism, snobbery, classism, and blatant materialism that many Californians brought with them and then used as the lenses thorugh which they viewed the Seattle area. Another way in which they chose not to fit in was their constant whining about the weather -- locals felt that the transported Californians should either shut up and move away, or adapt to reality as everyone else here does and not make their happiness depend on such a small component of life.

The dislike locals felt was not confined to Seattle: wherever Californians moved and kept those divisive attitudes, they found similar negative reactions among many of the people in other parts of Washington, in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, etc.

In the past half-dozen years or so, many many people have relocated to Washington state from all over the country, and from all over the world, due to a growing and desirable employment situation. The local culture has absorbed them all. As a result, former Californians are no longer so "visible". Nowadays the locals tend to label complainers and whiners as "transplants" or "foreigners" (meaning from out of state as well as out of country) since the origins of newer residents have become so varied.

So the moral of the story is: attitude is everything! -- personally and socially, eh?

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by allforcats

I remember that 20 years ago, even 10 years ago, as California became more and more crowded and people wanted to move, there was a lot of public Californian-bating in the Seattle area. Lots of jokes and flack, in local broadcasts, newspapers, workplaces, over back fences. I've never seen racial or ethnic or religious discrimination here (although I suppose it must exist somewhere, since unenlightened people are part of every population), but there was a pretty strong negative attitude about a certain type of people from California -- those who moved here, chose to not adapt, chose instead to complain, and wanted to have, do and be here everything they had been, done and had in Calif.

They didn't want to become part of their new home -- they wanted their new home to become a carbon copy of where they had come from.

Chief among the dislikes locals had were imported attidudes which expressed here as elitism, snobbery, classism, and blatant materialism that many Californians brought with them and then used as the lenses thorugh which they viewed the Seattle area. Another way in which they chose not to fit in was their constant whining about the weather -- locals felt that the transported Californians should either shut up and move away, or adapt to reality as everyone else here does and not make their happiness depend on such a small component of life.

The dislike locals felt was not confined to Seattle: wherever Californians moved and kept those divisive attitudes, they found similar negative reactions among many of the people in other parts of Washington, in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, etc.

In the past half-dozen years or so, many many people have relocated to Washington state from all over the country, and from all over the world, due to a growing and desirable employment situation. The local culture has absorbed them all. As a result, former Californians are no longer so "visible". Nowadays the locals tend to label complainers and whiners as "transplants" or "foreigners" (meaning from out of state as well as out of country) since the origins of newer residents have become so varied.

So the moral of the story is: attitude is everything! -- personally and socially, eh?

In the eighties the anticalifornia attitude had a lot to do with Californians moving up here with lots of money (from the sale of their homes) and paying cash for property. Supposedly that drove up housing costs in the late eighties. They were blanket statements about Californians and not after people met particular ones with bad attitudes. It also happened in the Spokane area as well.

Right now the same thing is happening in the Austin, TX area. The anticalifornia vitriol reminds me of Seattle circa 1988.

[509]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

In the eighties the anticalifornia attitude had a lot to do with Californians moving up here with lots of money (from the sale of their homes) and paying cash for property. Supposedly that drove up housing costs in the late eighties. They were blanket statements about Californians and not after people met particular ones with bad attitudes. It also happened in the Spokane area as well.

Right now the same thing is happening in the Austin, TX area. The anticalifornia vitriol reminds me of Seattle circa 1988.

Just move to eastern Washington. Most residents are so pissed at the coasties that they will overlook Californian's.

My two favorite bumper stickers:

Have a nice trip back to Seattle

And this one seen on a pick-up....

DON"T 206 509.

[LoneStarJerry]

Move wherever you want and don't worry about what people think.

[70Ford]

Originally Posted by tada

Seattle is the most depressing place I've ever lived. (By default; as it's the only place I've lived).

I imagine it would keep that title if I did move, though.

Much unlike California, which might be the most exciting place to ever live in.
California fires destroy 1,000 homes, winds ease | Reuters

[tada]

California isn't the only other place in the world.

[texastrigirl]

Personally, I don't care where you are from! You are free to live where you want, just like I am. That being said, Jennibc is right. That attitude is far more prevalent in Austin, TX than in Seattle right now. I think the main thing is to embrace where you live instead of trying to make it like the place you used to live and talking about the new place you live in such a manner. When in Rome...