Where did everyone get this idealized image of SoCal?

<p>"The first time I visited California was in an extremely wealthy and clean part of Irvine."</p>

<p>Irvine actually isn't that wealthy...you have to go to Newport or Laguna for that. :) The wealthiest part of Irvine, Shady Canyon, is often-times considered a reject place for people from Newport. </p>

<p>But yes, I'm also from the "bubble" and frankly, I can't wait to get out of here as fast as I can. I used to live in Washington, so I know what snow/rain/etc. is like and MUCH prefer it to Irvine. I used to never have allergies in WA; now I have terrible ones in Irvine. There's a lot of smog. No one actually uses the nicely-groomed sidewalks to walk places; it's just for exercise. The trees are perfectly spaced apart. You have to get permission to paint your house a different color. Many times the community won't let you have a basketball hoop in front of your garage. There is absolutely nothing to do. Anything you can do will involve over-inflated prices. But most of all, I hate the fake-ness of the people. Someone from my high school wrote a book on living in Irvine and attempting suicide. It was actually a pretty popular book...Like the Red Panda. </p>

<p>L.A. is kinda different tho. Parts of it can be pretty 'ghetto' and in a sense..."real"?</p>

<p>I live in Oregon and it rains pretty much all the time up here (sometimes almost everyday during the fall,spring, and winter). I'm sure that in LA its only a couple times that rain occurs.</p>

<p>One of the reasons I plan to go to UCLA is for its location though, and I mean I hear that westwood is great, with a good surrounding area too...</p>

<p>Aren't you guys just saying its not that great because you're sick of the same ol' thing for all your lives or something?</p>

<p>"I'm sure that in LA its only a couple times that rain occurs."</p>

<p>But when it rains, it pours. Last year we had a week straight of downpour - I'm not sure on this, but I think we had more rain in that one week than Seattle has in year. (It was also the week there was that O.C. episode about the rain.)</p>

<p>i dont know wat u guys are talking about. I have lived in almost every county in California and i can tell you Irvine is by far the best. With its planned city, every little thing about Irvine is perfect. We have all the stores, nice people, no minorities ruining the city etc... People are rich, but not gaudy rich, just enough so everyones happy and comfortable. Plus i go and surf almost once a week, and the girls are even hotter than they are on tv.</p>

<p>
[quote]
However, it rains often,

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Dranakin,</p>

<p>You don't know rain. Try living in a place that has a monsoon season. THAT'S rain.</p>

<p>You don't know hot. Try living in DC for a summer. Or better yet, Tokyo. Dry heat is NOTHING, son. Humidity is what kills you.</p>

<p>kingroger317, no minorities ruining the city? That statement isn't as offensive as it isn't true. I don't know the exact numbers, but the Asian population in Irvine and the surrounding areas is exploding. UCI's student body is pretty much indicative of the community...And Irvine's planned utopia is what makes it so boring. I mean, it's either perfectly manicured houses or all those businesses..I've never seen a city so bland!</p>

<p>bfired2 is totally right about the minorities comment. It is incredibly offensive and untrue - look at the public schools in Irvine. There are many many Asians of all types - Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc. There are also many people of Indian descent (as in from India) and many of Persian descent. I have no idea where you've been, but you're totally wrong.</p>

<p>"not gaudy rich"</p>

<p>No way. When the students' parking lot at the hs has better cars than the teachers (i.e. Lexus, BMW, Hummers, etc.) it is gaudy rich. And when some parents drive their kids to school in Aston Martins/Ferraris/etc. it IS gaudy rich.</p>

<p>Kingroger317 is why I'm sometimes hesitant to say that I'm from South County.</p>

<p>


Doesn't Irvine boast the largest Asian population in Southern California? :rolleyes:</p>

<p>It's up there, although I don't believe it is Asian majority yet like Monterey Park and Alhambra.</p>

<p>UCLAri:
"You don't know hot. Try living in DC for a summer. Or better yet, Tokyo. Dry heat is NOTHING, son. Humidity is what kills you."</p>

<p>Actually, I said dry summers suck. I prefer humid heat. And I did spend my 2004 summer in D.C., complete with all of the fireflies. I had a much better time there (weather-wise, of course) than any summer I've spent here.</p>

<p>myk7000:
"Aren't you guys just saying its not that great because you're sick of the same ol' thing for all your lives or something?"</p>

<p>No, we're not saying this at all. We're just saying that other's views of SoCal are completely skewed. I suppose you can make that arguement for any other place, but I don't have first-hand knowledge of such.</p>

<p>sorry i meant underrepresented minoriteis</p>

<p>
[quote]
Actually, I said dry summers suck. I prefer humid heat. And I did spend my 2004 summer in D.C., complete with all of the fireflies. I had a much better time there (weather-wise, of course) than any summer I've spent here.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You're weird. There's no other way to put it.</p>

<p>You still can't argue that LA doesn't get a lot of rain. It hardly gets any.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.usacitiesonline.com/cacountywestwood.htm#climate%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.usacitiesonline.com/cacountywestwood.htm#climate&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>15 inches isn't that much, certainly.</p>

<p>Y'know...LA can get hot, but the normal daily max is 84 F in August.</p>

<p>84 F, and it's not even humid. And the average is 75 F.</p>

<p>You can't beat that kind of "summer."</p>

<p><a href="http://www.weather.com/outlook/homeandgarden/schoolday/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USCA1225?from=search%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.weather.com/outlook/homeandgarden/schoolday/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USCA1225?from=search&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Westwood won't come up. West hollywood is more like Westwood weather-wise than North Hollywood, yeah?</p>

<p>"sorry i meant underrepresented minoriteis"</p>

<p>OHHH. Ok, then. That totally fixes the racism.</p>

<p>I guess you're a model citizen after all.</p>

<p><em>i wish sarcasm translated over the internet</em></p>

<p>I'm going to say yes. North Hollywood is going to be more like the Valley than the LA basin.</p>

<p>i agree. how/where did people get this idealized image of SoCal? I'm sick of it...its like a effin sahara desert. i feel like i'm driving through nevada on the way to las vegas or something...except with in n outs here and there</p>