The ol’ joke…
All the attempts to split California have failed because nobody wants Fresno.
I am a lifelong Northern California resident, and I think that I have finally figured this one out.
It’s environmental.
Week before last I was at a conference at the LA Convention Center for three days. The night before I was leaving, I was trying to figure out the best way to get back to LAX such that I wouldn’t have to worry about being late for my flight. I caught myself thinking the following words:
“Well, I could take the 110 to the 105, or the 10 to the 405…”
I would never in my wildest dreams (or most frightening nightmares) even ***think ***“the 80”, or even “the 5” (yes, it goes through NorCal as well). But just three days in the heart of LA had obviously warped my thinking.
I’m guessing it’s either the smog, or something that happens to our water on its way down South.
Actually, my theory is that it’s because nobody wants L.A., not even anybody living in L.A. The people who live in San Pedro don’t want to share state boundaries with L.A., nor do the people who live in, well, wherever the heck the real city boundaries are.
The ol’ empty threat: we can bring the water south or send all the people north.
I went to Cal State Chico, and can attest to the local attitude that everything south of Sacramento (itself north of San Francisco) is, well, far south.
As a native from NorCal I can say that I hold nothing against Angelenos. It is annoying with the “the” freeway thing but that’s really minor. The people from SoCal are just fine by me.
That being said, I would never want to live in LA. Its just not diverse enough over a variety of variables. This is just another way of saying that its just not “bay area” enough though, so its not really a rational criticism or anything. I just like the bay area better.
One thing LA does have going against it is the Dodgers. God I hate that team. 
Change that to Giants and right back atcha!
Robert Heinlein once noted something along the lines of “The USA blames California. California blames Southern California. Southern California blames LA. LA blames Hollywood. Hollywood blames the people above Sunset. The People above Sunset revel in it.”
Having made the drive from the PNW to CA, I can safely say it’s ALL boring and ugly. 
Anyway, as a non-native of Los Angeles, where I now live, I find the annoyance at the “the” freeway thing peculiar. I’ve lived in 3 states, and in all three, each freeway has been referred to as “the [number and letter].”
I guess the difference is the “the” part means we are using “the [number and letter]” as a short for “the [number and letter] freeway”, whereas the people who say just the number consider that its name. So us using “the” sounds to them like saying, “Go talk to the Gary about the file you need from him.”
Whatever. This state is too big for everyone to be happy with one another anyway.
The people in Mt. Shasta area don’t care for SoCal either, in my experience. In fact, may of them in the far northern counties want to form a new state, called Jefferson, with southern Oregon counties on the other side of the line.
There’s a Northern California?
We don’t obsess about southern california. We know its better up here and when asked why we say so. Southern californians can’t say the same thing so of course they “don’t think about it”.
Oh and for you really northern californians (i.e. Chico). Go ahead and be the west coast equivalent of west virginia. Let us know how that works out.
Speaking as a non-native, I like the Bay Area much better. It has more of an East coast vibe to it and I feel like it would be easier to get around the city for fun stuff-since SF seems way more concentrated as an urban area than L.A… The biggest issue I have with L.A. is that it is imopssible to meet anyone. I only work with geezers, and every venue I’ve tried to meet people my age-like my school alumni clubs, Indian professional networks is pretty much dead. They never meet. The SAME clubs up north have events going on every weekend.
Also, I know this is pretty pathetic but my eagerness to get out and about town in Los Angeles is pretty much directed by how long it will take to get anywhere, and how bad the traffic is going to be in any given direction. It’s been a little over a year and I still cannot deal with traffic everyday, pretty much round the clock. I just thank whatever metro transit deity that decided Pasadena needed a light rail into downtown because I would probably have tranferred out of here in months if I had to drive to work everyday and Route 110 isn’t even as bad as some of the others.
Pretty much the only reason I haven’t asked for a transfer up North is because the SF division’s politics and departmental in-fights are the stuff of OGC legends whereas my division in L.A. is well-known for being extremely laidback, easygoing and friendly. However, there are very nice things about L.A… I like the cultural diversity and the weather and all the little neighbourhoods. I don’t think I could live here forever but it is a nice enough change from the Midwest. My heart, however, is definitely back in New England. Too bad I had to tramp across the country over a period of 5 years to figure that out (growing up in MA all I ever wanted to do was LEAVE).
Although the weather is dipping below 75 and the natives are taking out their puffy parkas and woolly mitts. Which always makes for excellent entertainment in the morning. Gods, you’d think we were under cover of Arctic climes the way they behave in their “winter”.
Ah, so it exists! Do, tell me more about this land you call “Northern California”. Do you keep goats or some other sort of animals? Have you discovered the wheel yet? (If not, I can share my knowledge of advanced civilization with you in exchange for only 7 years of indentured servitude)
Oh, and your women, are they very fertile? You do have women, don’t you?
Eagerly awaiting your response from the New World,
Rigamarole
I can see a movie in this. Northern Californian journalist doing “SoCal Cultural Learnings for Make Benefit Glorious Nation Northern California!”
Word. Except I say UC meaning the University of California. I don’t mean the University of Caucasians Lost among Asians or the people’s republic of berzerkley. Sheesh, I went to UC Davis, and that doesn’t mean I have penis envy of other campuses.
Living abroad, I introduce myself as Californian, Northern that is. Although, I will be the first to admit that the Sacramento/San Juaquin valley is pretty much as nasty an armpit as anywhere. Vetern of 8 years in Colusa, which most Californian’s haven’t heard off, much less can find on a map.
One more strike against it.
I’m not sure what that means. Are you saying that we’re isolationists up here, or that we live out in the boonies, or something? I guess we do live out in the boonies somewhat, that’s what we like about it. However, we don’t get to be isolated, because everyone is selling their house in the Bay Area and buying a house here. Then they complain that it’s getting too crowded and there’s too much building going on.
Cal is the name of one particular university in the UC system. It doesn’t mean that UCLA doesn’t exist, it just refers to one school. I don’t understand the annoyance about that one either.
No one cares in L.A.
silenus, haha :). I do wonder how many people who hate L.A. with every fibre of their being have actually lived here for more than a year, or if their distaste is based on a brief visit. It has its own charm, I just like SF better aesthetically. But as far as I am concerned, both will bleed you dry financially.
I lived there for the first eighteen years of my life and I hate it with every fiber of my being. I have to drive down there a few times a year for family events and it fills me with an (admittedly irrational) sense of stress and dread.
Hello.
Yes, but is it related to the city specifically or the life you led here? Because I hated Boston with every fibre of my being and got out at the age of 18 and in retrospect it was just because I hated my high pressure high school and the tension and everything that went along with it.
Now I live sort of a mundane life in Los Angeles and while there are annoying things about it-like the sprawl, like of commuting options and traffic…I can’t say it fills me with “dread and terror.” I can’t imagine any city filling me with “dread and terror” unless I were associating it with horrible memories.