Another native Californian here. My history: lived in LA until I was eight, then in a very small rural town named Avenal for three years, and for the past seven or eight years in the Central Valley, mostly in Fresno. I also spent about three months at college in San Luis Obispo (Central Coast).
California is very different in different regions. North/South, East/West, urban/rural all make a difference. Personally, I much prefer LA and San Francisco to Fresno, but no one has really descrbed the Central Valley yet, so I’ll try. Fresno is agricultural, so it is very conservative politically. It also has poor air quality, but from field dust and pesticides. There isn’t much to do like there is in urban areas. It doesn’t snow, but still gets below freezing in the winter. Summers are hot; for most of July and August, if the temperature is in double digits it’s considered a cool day. People aren’t as environmentally consious, and we can’t even pass a law to have metered water. There are, however, more smokers here (although most I know don’t smoke indoors. I can’t imagine doing so). There’s also fresh fruit all summer, and it isn’t as expensive as the coastal areas.
The Central Valley is also extremely ethnically diverse. I’m told that there are more than 80 languages spoken here, but I don’t have a cite for it. There is a substantial population of Hmongs, as well as several other Asian nationalities. This is some sort of Armenian hub. I’ve known several Middle Eastern people here, mostly from Iran, and many Indians (the India kind). Of course, it’s California, so we also have a substantial Mexican population. There don’t seem to be as many African Americans as in LA (percentagewise, obviously), but I could be mistaken. And of course there’s causasians, but we’re boring and don’t really count as diversity. I know I’m leaving people out, too. This diversity makes for a lot of interesting cultural events, which is cool. I don’t really know, but I understand that much of the United States is a lot less diverse.
I rather agree with the take that California is full of radical conservatives and radical liberals, but not so many moderates. I’m on the radical liberal side of things, and the staunch conservatives around here drive me mad. Yeah, there’s also plenty of apathetic people, but not many people who care about politics and are moderate (in my experience).
I don’t think I’ll ever live anywhere but California. Arizona, Oregon, and Washington seem alright, but Arizona gets too hot and Oregon and Washington get too cold. If I can manage it, someday I’m living on California’s coast, where it isn’t too hot or too cold, and there’s a beach nearby.
I love the ocean and the mountains and the redwoods.
