<p>If you don’t have a car, or money for transportation, and if you are studying diligently and perhaps playing a sport or an instrument, there may be little opportunity to leave the university bubble unless one of your interests is volunteering for the community.</p>
<p>Thats why my oldest had good public transportation as a priority for where she went to college & why my youngest moved to a house that was at the other end of campus from her apt but more central to town.</p>
<p>I would agree those things aren’t always possible & time constraints can make it difficult to get off campus for very long during much of the term for some schools.</p>
<p>I think the feel is different for schools that are located in areas where nothing much else is easily available compared to schools that are in cities or vibrant towns.</p>
<p>Some people just get tired of seeing the same faces every day. Where you are happy going to school could depend on your personality/where you were raised.</p>
<p>We live in a city & oldest wanted to attend college in a city- but she ended up at a school that was smaller than her sisters high school. However it was more than twice the size of * her high school* so it didn’t feel as constricting.</p>
<p>Someone who grew up in Brooklyn might love Carleton & the size of Northfield, or they might need to do a term in Mali.</p>
<p>I have not read every single post, but wanted to jump in. As a 1980 Midwest university graduate who moved to Upstate New York for my first job, married a career army officer and moved to Germany, Kansas, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and back to Maryland for the past 16 years, I have some observations on this topic. Oh, and I have visited relatives on the West Coast. </p>
<p>On the East Coast, and particularly in Maryland, people do not look at you when they meet you on the street. If they do not look at you, they do not have to speak to you. I am not referring to metropolitan areas about this. This is very unnerving for the friendly folks of the Midwest and West. Additionally, most people on the East Coast are door droppers. Those of us from the middle will hold a door for a person who is quite a few steps behind us.</p>
<p>I have family in Chicago, Boston and various points in New England, my parents lived for 8 years in Lexington, Virginia, and I’ve lived in Los Angeles, DC and New York as well as overseas. I can say that there is much more that binds us as Americans than separates us via regional differences. I thought there was really very little difference between Los Angeles and New York apart from looks. Big cities are big cities. College campuses are college campuses (though there were some obvious differences between Caltech and Columbia!) People hold doors open for me all the time in NY. I don’t think they are exceptionally rude, though I do think sometimes in the South people are exceptionally polite. (I spent a year traveling around the country photographing fire stations and really enjoyed Southern Hospitality.)</p>
<p>I eat (real) barbecue, but I’m happy to go to a barbecue where all I get is hot dogs and hamburgers.</p>
<p>Boston and the state of Massachusetts seem to have a very left leaning reputation in general, more so than California as a whole. But California as a whole is misleading, since there are considerable regional and demographic differences in social and political viewpoints. For example, in the 2010 governor election, Democrat Jerry Brown won 53.8% of the total vote to 40.9% for Republican Meg Whitman (with several other candidates at less than 2% each). But San Francisco County votes were 78.9% to 17.7%, while Orange County votes were 37.3% to 56.9%, and San Diego County votes were 44.1% to 49.8%. Whitman also won most of the more rural counties as well as Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties, but Brown won the rest of the urban and suburban counties.</p>
<p>There are other regional differences as well… it appears that the wealthy people in Orange County seem to be more prone to displaying their wealth (or maybe debt) with super expensive cars (like Rolls Royce and Bentley, not the more common Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, etc.), obviously flamboyant houses, personal boats seemingly the size of cruise ships, etc…</p>
<p>One thing I noticed on a visit to Philadelphia many years ago was the contrast between the actual city of Philadelphia (run down and crime ridden) versus the suburbs (very wealthy looking). The use of the terms “inner city” as a synonym for a poor area and “suburbs” for wealthy areas seemed natural there, but is very out of place in California, where both urban and suburban areas have their wealthy parts and poor parts (indeed, some of the poorest and highest crime areas in California are suburban).</p>
<p>Mathmom, I admittedly have only been to NYC and LA a hand full of times each, but I can’t think of 2 US cities more different. The street life in NYC is vibrant and interesting, walking is mandatory. In LA if you don’t have a car you’re out of luck, so you spend a great deal of time driving around, or you stay put in your immediate neighborhood. I’d take NYC any day. SF is much like NYC in that respect.</p>
<p>This is true of runners as well. When running in New York I thought it was very odd that other runners did not make eye contact. In the runners’ subculture out here in California, a runner who failed to acknowledge the other runners going the opposite direction would be regarded as stuck-up.</p>
<p>I’m curious. There were several posts regarding CA students having difficulty adjusting to early winter darkness in the midwest or east. What time does it get dark in the winter in CA?</p>
<p>I live in Maryland as well, and my experience has been quite different. When I first got married and moved here I kept wondering why everyone said hello to me on the streets. I went home and told hubby I must look like someone famous - lol. Now, 20 years later, I’m also chatting in the check out line at the grocery store. When I go back to NJ it started becoming a joke at how snappy people would get in the checkout lane. I even saw a man yell at a little old lady for having a few items too many for express.</p>
<p>I will now eat barbecue and eat burgers at a barbecue.</p>
<p>It isn’t the east/west distance that matters, it’s the north /south distance. In northern states (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Massachusetts, the New England states, Washington state) sunset may be 4:30 in January.</p>
<p>East/west does matter in the position of the location in the time zone. You may wonder why, in post 53, Eureka at the north end of California experiences a later sunset than San Diego at the south end of California. While both are in the same time zone, Eureka is also west of San Diego.</p>
<p>A place at the east end of the time zone will experience sunset (and sunrise) earlier than a place at the west end of the same time zone at the same latitude.</p>
<p>My S had a freshman room mate from Boston (they were in LA school). They got along pretty well, but the highlight for room mate was waking at the crack of dawn to watch hockey while for S it was to sleep until he was good & ready to wake–often for dinner! S did an internship at Newport News, VA & is now living in VA/DC. So far, he’s not mentioned much about cultural differences or any trouble adjusting or getting along. He’s been there > 6 months now. I’ll try asking him next time we see him. He does wear fitted dress shirts now (he does have a job & is no longer a college student); while he was home with us, he mostly wore the clothes he had in HS–cargo shorts, t-shirts, slippers & athletic shoes.</p>
<p>D also (at a U in LA) had a suite mate from the East Coast–she never mentioned anything in particular about adjusting to her & they are still great friends.</p>
<p>I do know he was VERY happy to be home in HI for the time he could get away from work. Liked the warm weather & sun.</p>
<p>On sunset times: Today, for example, when the sun set in New York, there was still 3 hours of afternoon left in California… This unfairness would not be lost on a California-raised student at an East Coast college.</p>
<p>I am from New York, and when I moved to N Cal and saw carpets on the triangle, I wondered “what happens when people get shot? Doesn’t the blood stain the carpet?” Don’t think I’ve seen carpets lately, though.</p>
<p>When I lives in LA I thought " these people must be crazy! Whey are they looking me in the eye and TAlKING to me? And I thought the earthquakes were subway trains. </p>
<p>Living in DC reminded meld club med; the tourists part, and the part for the " natives" . Don’t leave the resort!!!</p>
<p>I grew up in South Florida and lived their ten years. I have been in the suburbs of Atlanta for seven years now. The culture differences between South Florida and Georgia are huge! It was a culture shock when I moved here right before 5th grade. I’m now a senior in high school.</p>
<p>In South Florida, pretty much everyone is from up north. My whole family is from NY. It was much more liberal and had a total different atmosphere. I am half Italian and Jewish. I knew so many Italians/Catholics/Jews in Florida, not many here. I only know one Jew in my whole school of 2,600 kids. I know a lot more Muslims in Georgia then in Florida. The Catholics here are not Italian, but more Irish/German. I had only one black kid in my class in Florida; I now go to a school which is about 35% African American and 50% White. I like the diversity here, but religiously, pretty much everyone is Baptist and Methodist. We have some Mormons too, which I’ve never encountered in Florida. Basically, I had more religious diversity in Florida and more racial diversity in Georgia; however, there were a lot of Spanish people in Florida.</p>
<p>It’s also much more conservative here. People thought it was weird that I was white and a Democrat. They assume that all white people are Republicans. It is definitely the bible belt. I also noticed that in Georgia every school event is in church’s, Florida not so much. People really push religion into ones face. I’m pretty sure I have never seen a confederate flag before coming to Georgia. Honestly, I have never got that sense of southern hospitality. I never heard the word “y’all” before coming to Georgia. People in South Florida didn’t have southern accents. I found it strange people would say “yes sir” and “yes mam” to the teachers. Teachers considered it rude if you did call them that. In Florida, we had pizzerias and bagel shops and real restaurants. Here it’s all chains. I don’t know any real bagel shop that isn’t in Atlanta and we don’t go to Atlanta that often. They didn’t know what Sicilian pizza was here. Also, weather was a big difference. I never wore long sleeves or jeans in Florida. It is much more cold here in the winter. There are also a lot of two way roads here. In Florida everything had 4 lanes.</p>
<p>Overall, Florida may be geographically in the “South”, but it is nothing like Georgia. I’ve heard Northern Florida is more like the South though, maybe it’s just South Florida. My old friend who goes to high school in South Florida said her high school is really liberal. They have a lot of Jews/Catholics and a lot of openly gay students. Here, I know one gay kid in my whole school. I don’t blame a lot of gay kids for not coming out because it is not accepted which is sad. It may be completely different in the city of Atlanta but this is coming from a kid in the 'burbs.</p>
<p>I applied to most colleges in the northeast and midwest. I am looking forward to the change. I’ve always got the sense that midwest is very friendly.</p>
This unfairness would not be lost on a California-raised student at an East Coast college.</p>