<p>I find it ironic that Northern California, with its Silicon Valley, multi-billion dollar tech firms, more refined culture, and more affluent environment, is still more down to earth and caring than its stuck up counterpart to the south. Southern California pretends to be rich even though much of it is dirt poor (South Central LA, illegal Mexican immigrants, race riots, crips and bloods gangbangers, etc.) So Cal is like one big ghetto dotted with rich places like Hollywood or Beverly Hills. There is such a big gap between the rich and the poor, and there is so much racial/economic/social tension in southern california that the whole place strikes me as a hellhole. You would think that Nor Cal, with its vast riches, would have the problems So Cal has. But for some reason, the rich and the poor get along quite well in the San Francisco Bay Area, and it is not a strange thing to be unable to distinguish the rich from the poor just by looking at them. My friend's dad is a multi-millionaire CEO and yet he tries to take public transportation as much as possible to be friendly to the environment. So Cal seems to have adopted the snobbish attitude of the Northeast even though they are so poor they have nothing to be snotty about. Nor Cal has everything to be snotty about, and yet they are down to earth and understanding.</p>
<p>"more down to earth and caring than its stuck up counterpart to the south."</p>
<p>thats probably cause all the millionaires living up north are just successful nerds. northern california has more culture, better surfing, more money, and better weather(i prefer 70's all year round to temperature spiking up at 100). southern california has slightly hotter girls, better beaches, and a lot more immigrants. but yea, you're right, the insanely rich up north don't flaunt it. another reason that could be is because the standard of living is so high also.</p>
<p>It's just like American history. North > South. [Wealthy industrialists] vs. [Racial tensions and huge gap between rich and poor.]</p>
<p>I was about to say that. Funny how that happens. ;)</p>
<p>This whole thing is hilarious to me. It seems like I live way more north than anyone here...in good old Chico, California. This fight between NorCal and SoCal is so ridiculous. There are obvious differences between the two halves of the state, many of these are simply because of geographics. I mean, if I lived near a beach I'd be tanned and my hair would be lighter, and all that time in a swimsuit would probably make me self-consious (the main complaint I hear from friends who move down south...). Here we are pretty laid back, and spend time at the creek and near by lakes. Life moves at a slower pace. I live in a college town, so there are people from all over here. But you can never tell who is from SoCal and who is from NorCal. Except for the people who make it a point to perpetuate the fight between the two. Anywhere you go in California, you're gonna have fun. Where else could you concievably go snowboarding and surfing on the same day?</p>
<p>I live in Santa Cruz and would recommend it 100% UCSC is not for everyone tho, but as far as a cool town, SC is the best. I do not like socal at all - too hot, commercialized, snobbish, etc. Everything seems so fake and materialistic. And BTW - not everyone says hella...in Santa Cruz its considered blasphemy. go NORCAL [i'm goin to college on the east coast, but am gonna come back here to live.:)]</p>
<p>Calidan-I live in Riverside, my cousin went to Berkeley, my best freinds goes to UC Santa Cruz amd USC, and I go to UCSB. If reports from several different people that do not know each other tell me that there are bums in Berkeley, then I suspect that it is not the most desirable area. The area right outside of USC is not that horrible. UCSB is next to Deveraux Reserve to the west, the Pacific to the south, and a town of 40,000 or so to the north, it is fairly rural. There are many farms in the surrounding region. Davis is a developing suburb, especially if it is named one of California's fastest growing areas. Riverside is also developing, trust me I LIVE THERE. Essentially there are a lot of comparisions to be made.</p>
<p>Well then I guess that we just have differing opinions of what constitute rural, suburban, and urban areas. I say that we should just agree to disagree. :p</p>
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<blockquote> <p>There is such a big gap between the rich and the poor, and there is so much racial/economic/social tension in southern california that the whole place strikes me as a hellhole<<</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>Yeah, like there is no gap between Oakland and say Atherton, or for that matter between Palo Alto and East Palo Alto. And the residents of the the Tenderloin district look, think, and act just like everyone on Nob Hill. Yup, NorCal is just one big happy socio-economic family. No tensions there at all.</p>
<p>in comparison to southern california, it's not too bad. while epa and oakland are ghetto-territory, they have a school system and are areas people are looking to improve. oakland's school system has been drastically improved since jerry brown's office tenure(from what i've read in the papers), and epa, while still not the best of areas, has been in redevelopment the past 30 years. what non-profit organizations and the government have done are great, changing it from the complete hellhole it was 20-30 years ago.</p>
<p>Only in Southern California can I get shot for wearing all red in the wrong part of town. The race riots are indeed scary. And the smog sucks ass. In San Diego, there are yellow and black "immigrant crossing" signs on the side of the road. Yeah, instead of watching out for the traditional cute deer crossings, we have to watch out for illegal immigrants crossing the highway in the middle of the night. Even our rich areas like Orange County and Hollywood are probably not as good as the rich areas in nor cal like Menlo-Atherton, Tiburon, and San Francisco. </p>
<p>LA feels like a third world country. There is a HUGE gap between the rich and the poor, the environment sucks, and we spawn foriegn accented conservatives like Arnold. We are in California and yet we're conservative! WTF?!</p>
<p>southern california is really racially divided. u can clearly name off an area and someone can tell you that the area you named off is primarily composed of people of a certain ethnic makeup. sad but true. </p>
<p>anyone who lives in the area can clearly identify the main ethnic makeup of the following cities:
beverly hills =
inglewood =
san fernando valley =
east LA =
compton =
cerritos =
huntington beach =
santa ana =
newport beach =
mission viejo =
arcadia =
la puente =
fontana =</p>
<p>on another note, LA isnt like a third world country. we tend to think about places that stand out (i.e. beverly hills vs watts), but we forget about the sprawling san gabriel valley that is clearly middle class. </p>
<p>speaking of san gabriel valley, ppl down in socal call boba "boba". it seems like people from south bay area call it "pearl milk tea" instead.</p>
<p>I live in the Santa Clarita Valley (think Six Flags Magic Mountain) which is about 45 minutes out of LA... We've got roughly 165,000 people out here and it is an exceptionally middle class neighborhood, not at all like a third world nation.</p>
<p>the santa clarita valley is also known as the republican bastion of LA county. haha j/p</p>
<p>LA does not feel like a third world country. Have you been out to the midwest? Now there is some real third world country living for you. </p>
<p>Arnold isn't going to win the next election. People are still in shock that he went to Ohio to campaign for Bush. Considering that LA County went 65% for Kerry, SF County went 85% for Kerry, and Alameda County went 75% for Kerry, there will be some real backlash. Maria Shriver, you can come ova to my place if u get lonely. ;)</p>
<p>I lived in so cal and nor cal my whole life. So cal is where the races respect each other the most in America, Nor Cal is where they get along the best in America. So cal got really fine women, better beaches, and more of a nightlife clubbing scene. </p>
<p>nor cal is more kick back (yes its possible to be more kickback than LA), and is a great place to go for inspiration. I'm moving back to SF from LA in a week, I'm hella excited.</p>
<p>Actually yeah Santa Clartia is an exceptionally republican area... However me being a republican, I suspose I fit in well. :-)</p>
<p>Why must we argue over which half of the state is better? California as a whole is great. Let's make love, not war.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Nor*Cal was pretty big where I came from.</p>
<p>And, afterhours, not all of NorCal is "cold". It gets hotter here than in LA, and during the winter it's usually in the 50s, which isn't that bad.</p>
<p>Im so tired of these east coasters steroetyping california. they all say the same thing : yea i have family out there so da da da this place is like that. Its very easy to tell who in here is not even in college let alone old enough to buy a drink. anyways bottom line we in california dont CARE what you think of us because we know our states the best. Thats why everyone tries to move out here. anyways if you move out here to go to school i feel sorry for you cause your gonna have to break out the $$$$. but being a bay area native my self i would have to say norcal is much better. Better schools (all californians know berkeley is better than ucla and stanford is better than usc). anyways so cal has the weather but they also have the vain and shallow people. the 2 things that are the worst about so cal are
1 the traffic. the average person in so cal spends a week out of every year in traffic.
2 the transplants. a bunch of people from everywhere but california trying to act like its their home state.
oh yea so cal doesnt even have cannibus clubs for medicinal marijuana so if your trying to kick back good luck. norcal has cannibus clubs in sacramento, oakland, san fran (sucka free), hayward, san leandro, blah blah blah blah blah santa cruz blah blah blah blah
giants rule dodgers stink lakers stink.</p>
<p>To the guy talking about us rocking our norcal gear. sush. NORCAL is a skateboard company. And as i skateboarder im sick of all you guys jocking our style. ive been skating since middle school and it has never stopped. Since when is sitting in 3 hours of traffic just to get through orange country considerd cool. NORCAL NORCAL NORCAL NORCAL. </p>
<p>PS look how stupid people are in so cal. they actually though arnold was a legitimate choice where as we in the bay did not. that just goes to show that i should be crowned king of california. and when i am crowned king so cal can go back to mexico where it belongs!</p>