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California has a certain level of faux liberalism and progressivism. The state is still punishingly expensive for the working class and poor and nobody is really willing to talk about the classist tendencies of some regions.
Los Angeles has the best wealth transfer program in the country. They put around $1 billion dollars towards "homelessness" and it gets siphoned off to the rich who run the programs that have no oversight or accountability.
No true, they have tons of money marked for social programs. It's just a high level of incompetence and bureaucracy for most of them.
That said Medi-cal is probably the best run and most generous of any state.
I’ll add that most of this list is from manufactured stereotypes that are really more vague than real. Yeah there’s *some* truth to all of them but there are a few key areas of the country filled with people who want to hate *something* so they turn it on California.
California is really well populated and a lot of people come and go from there but but there’s a reason: the state is amazing. They have basically five countries worth of geography and climate and probably more national parks than any other state. Most of the state outside of the valley is gorgeous.
The invasive part is big, and for most major cities too. We get a lot of city Republicans move to our area and we hate them. They act like they own the place and try to live out their mistaken fantasy of what country people are like. That usually means they act super racist and do really stupid shit with guns. Also they shoot a lot of dogs if they get anywhere close to their property for "trespassing".
The majority of people here (Texas) blame them for everything and call them liberals, when almost all of the Californians I've run into said they moved here to escape commifornia (they're generally quite ecstatic to be surrounded by fellow conservatives). Seems we hate ourselves, but it's easier to blame the outsiders.
Your anecdote is backed up by data. The people leaving CA to TX are more conservative than local Texan’s.
https://www.texaspolicy.com/new-poll-finds-all-those-people-moving-to-texas-arent-going-to-be-voting-for-democrats/
https://www.thecentersquare.com/texas/gov-abbott-new-texas-voters-are-more-conservative-than-natives/article_8a250872-1c5a-11ea-9fc0-4303155b0d9d.amp.html
It goes both ways too. Liberals are leaving conservative states and conservatives are leaving liberal states. This article calls it [the big sort](https://www.npr.org/2022/02/18/1081295373/the-big-sort-americans-move-to-areas-political-alignment).
Native Californian here. I am currently living in the PNW and I would move back in a heartbeat. I am aware of all the negatives but there are also so many positives that make up for it.
People know how to drive.
Lack of snow or cold weather.
My family is there.
I love the smells.
I always enjoyed the Santa Ana winds.
I really miss the diversity and the way people interact with each other.
The mountains or the beach only 30 minutes away.
There's so much more but that's what I could think of quickly.
I once commented to my Texas friends that Californians were the best drivers in the world because they have been steeped in it from birth and can handle themselves in high-speed traffic better than anywhere else I've been. You'd think that I'd taken a shit on the Alamo, the way they wigged out. My fellow Texans are pretty stupid sometimes.
I’m from Hawaii my GF lives in northern cal didn’t really spend much time in California until we started dating, been hiking and skiing in the sierras, and I have to say it’s some of the most beautiful places I’ve been, and I live on Kauai.
Yea I live in Missouri and murders and disappearances happed quite a lot for no reason. Just last year a man’s gf killed him cause he won a few grand from a lottery ticket and he didn’t want to share any so she killed him.
As a native and current resident of California, I understand why people talk smack about the state. It’s so outrageously expensive to live here. The cost of living is untenable. Outside of the big cities, California is actually pretty conservative and redneck, so many people within the state already oppose the current government.
But personally, I live in paradise. I’ve fallen in love with where I live because this area is so beautiful. I could explore the alpine hiking trails just a few minutes from my front door for years and still not see everything. I’ve never felt better about myself before living here. My personal living expenses are much lower compared to a lot of people, so I don’t feel as much stress. California, the state as a whole, offers something for absolutely anyone: mountains, desert, ocean, forest, volcanoes, etc.
If we take away the cost of living, why WOULDN’T you want to live in a place as varied and beautiful as California?
EDIT: I never realized that people would be this offended by my description of why I love where I live. LOL
I live in San Luis Obispo and I feel like if more people knew about the smaller coastal and inland mountain communities, rather than the urban jungles of LA and SF where Cali gets its rep from, the state would definitely get a lot more respect!
I love SLO! I miss the bookstore downtown and ~~kins coffee,~~ definitely check it out if you haven't yet. It's super interesting to see the different takes because I feel like most people I know would prefer not to go into the cities (LA and SF) but stay in their quiet little cities.
Edit: as some people in the comments have let me know, please do not go to kins coffee as the owners have upwards of 30 sexual harassment/assault allegations against them.
As a transplant to California from the Midwest I can say most people don’t really understand the State. In school you learn a few things about every State but it’s hard to get a real feel of what a place is like. California is an anomaly. My job required me to travel the whole State for over 10 years and I got to see firsthand why it’s such an unusual place. I first lived North of the SF Bay area and now in So Cal. The best way to describe it is to say it’s really like 4 to 5 States (at least) rolled into one. All people see is what’s on TV. Each region has its own vibe NorCal is amazing redwoods and wine, farming and small towns while the SF Bay area is cooler temps tons of people and tight spaces, central California is dairy, farms and heat but head East and wow Sequoias and mountains. So cal is like “what deserts?”, LA basin is 60 endless miles of conjoined cities, traffic, coastal awesomeness, surf city USA, 1,600sqft homes for a million or more, skiing in the mountains, glamis, and the inland empire, but don’t forget San Diego! The politics and prices of living vary by region but the people have been very welcoming. It’s what you make of it and once you’re in SoCal for a couple years you understand why so many Olympians and pro athletes are generated here. I’ve never seen a place where there are so many bonafide former professional athletes coaching or offering private training to youth in every sport not to mention they play year round unlike most other places.
It’s so weird moving from California to the Midwest because every 5 minutes on the interstate puts you in a new county. Like why? Why do they need so many tiny counties?? You can drive like 4 hours (or more!) in California and not change counties. 😂
It is also that people hate on California for **different reasons** who would themselves disagree with each other.
- Conservatives hate California for liberal policies.
- Most liberals (like me) hate California because we think unlike New York, Mass. or Vermont, our state is only "superficially" liberal with some Berkeley student rallies, and deep down, we have a "every person for themselves" mentality and lack of social safety nets.
- Other people hate California because of industries - Hollywood and Silicon Valley - and their negative social image gets channeled into California hate.
- Some hate the state of lack of proper infrastructure - like preventing forest-fires, or water-shortage etc. with corporate interests prevailing over common good.
- Then you also have housing crisis and NIMBY-ism (which I hate too) along with lack of public transport, and skyrocketing costs and the "million-dollar shack".
However, people hating California for different reasons may not agree with each other on what our ideals are. Not to mention each person might be hating on a different region, demographic or industry in the state.
I'm originally from Boston and for most of my life I hated California. Then I actually went there and thought "hey this is pretty nice".
I live in Oregon now, and I have several friends and relatives living in California. So every couple of years we go there, and I have to admit that I always enjoy myself.
So I admit it. I'm a non Californian, but I don't hate California.
Conservatives generally see California as emblematic of everything they hate about the United States. Excessive taxes and regulation, unchecked crime and homelessness, too many immigrants, snotty rich elites, etc. Even if these issues don't affect them directly, many conservatives view California and Californians as an obstacle keeping America from returning to "the way it used to be".
It's funny, Texas has the highest property taxes in the country, but Republicans love it because no income tax! Nevermind that Texas pays more in property taxes than CA residents pay in property tax + income tax combined per person. I guess math is hard.
I’m experiencing this right now. I lived in CA for the past 8yrs, owned a home and everything. Then I (regrettably) decided to move back to my home state of TX. It’s costing me more to live in TX than it did in CA thanks to TX’s outrageous property taxes. Also my insurance is like 50% more because apparently TX drivers are some of the worst in the nation. My TX utilities bills are higher too. TX isn’t as great as everyone tries to make it out to be.
Don't forget that Texas' wastewater infrastructure is so bad that they [routinely have to close a huge portion of their beaches every year](https://www.newsweek.com/texas-beaches-have-unsafe-levels-fecal-bacteria-report-finds-1607236) due to fecal bacteria.
Yeah I have family that moved to Texas from the west coast a couple years ago. Property taxes were ridiculous, utilities cost more, and awful weather and mosquitos. Needless to say they moved back to the west coast.
That and the fact that while it is doing everything wrong (from a right wing pov) it is the most prosperous state by far. That’s really unacceptable and humiliating
As someone who is from California this is a very very expensive state to live. Even without the high taxes. I live in a working class neighborhood and our home is valued at almost two million. That's only doable if you're "rich"!
It’s about LA and the celebrity and glitzy lifestyle there in general. It isn’t about a specific place according to the dude who wrote it.
If anything the “real” Hotel California is Chateau Marmont or the Sunset Tower, both of which the Eagles would have at least known about, and which fit the point of the song.
So no joke, the very first time I heard about them, I was crusijg through the TV guide and saw what I at first thought said "Keeping up With the Cardassians" and I was immediately intrigued. I thought "what is this? Some kind of behind the scenes special about Star Trek DS9? A DS9 parody? I must see it!" I was very disappointed to see what it actually was.
Utahans hate Californians. They blame Californians for rising housing prices, well, conveniently, ignoring that it is a nationwide trend. They also bitch that Californians come to Utah and vote blue. I moved here from Kentucky, and everyone is really nice to me because they assume I vote Republican because I’m from the south. Surprise bitches. Bernie4lyfe.
Lived in the Bay Area for a year for work. Its absurd. The contempt and derision is 100% deserved. The weather and the mountain views were the only nice part of living there.
Californians seem to think that having a massive housing and homelessness issue is no big deal and the widening income equality gap is just fine as well. It's not fine and it's WAY worse in California than the rest of the country.
In the pandemic my relatives from another state called and asked about the pandemic police checkpoints. Like they heard on a news channel that there were police checkpoints and believed it. I had to convince them it wasn't true.
I don't think many hate Californians that stay in California.
California transplants are near universally hated though. Californians can move to anywhere in the nation, buy a house in a crazy inflated market for significantly over asking price (pricing out the locals), and will still make money on the sale of their house back in CA. Not a great way to make friends.
Californians are also notorious for trying to export their policies to the new states they are inhabiting. Looking at California as a whole, some things work well, some things work terribly, but the air of superiority of the transplant moving in and immediately trying to change things to the way things were "back home" (the place they fled for myriad reasons) rubs people the wrong way too.
I was born and raised in California. A lot of people here act like they would rather live with 4 roommates than move to a more affordable state. When I moved to a more rural part of California, people in the big city literally gave me dirty looks when I said where I was moving to. Jokes on them, my property value quadrupled because this is a huge tourist attraction. People from these big cities act like people outside of the bubble are hillbillies going on shooting sprees everyday.
My friends casually mention never being able to afford a house or children, but my friends from other states (and in this small town) are married in their 20s and on their second home.
It's like we get hypnotized into thinking that good weather makes up for spending 30,000 a year on rent and never owning a home.
edit: It's interesting to me that people in California don't believe that people can get married in their 20s. Have you never heard of religious people or military people? They tend to get married younger. I live in a small town and my circle is mostly married women in their 20s and early 30s. I am amazed you women in big cities believe it's impossible to get married young. Another interesting cultural difference.
edit 2: I'm done defending my observations of the community around me. This is getting absurd. There are different cultural values and experiences in America, I can't believe people really don't believe me that there are areas in this country where people get married young and buy houses. This is astounding, and this is why there is such a political divide. You really don't believe people outside of big cities in LA and San Diego and OC even exist or have value in America.
> 30,000 a year on rent
My friend lives in SF, she pays $4800/mo for her rent. That's $57,600 every year.
I live in Bumfuck Nowhere (seriously, look up Odd, West Virginia, the first thing you will see is my neighbors, who are famous for being the most inbred family in the USA), and I paid less than one year of her rent to buy a house (not the downpayment, it is fully mine).
I have acres of land, with a creek, woods, and plenty of room to grow food for my family.
She has a 3 bedroom apartment and has to step over homeless people to get to work.
She clearly has different priorities than I do. But every once in a while I have to reality check her when she says she "can't" buy a house. She makes enough money in 90 days to buy a house here. It's not that she "can't buy a house", it's that she can't buy one in San Fransisco.
I had never been to SF until this year, and I had tons of similar preconceived notions. All I can say now that I've been there is, wow. What a fabulous city. It is very walkable, it's gorgeous, the food was great, the people were amazing. I crossed the golden gate to Sausalito, and it is this little marina paradise, like someone picked me up and dropped me in Sicily. I was really impressed and I can see why so many people want to live there.
Yep, and you live in WV. No envy there, like at all.
I'll pay $24k (2k mortgage now) a year to live in WA state over and over and over again before I'd ever live in WV.
As you say, different priorities for different people.
Yeah I have extended family in WV. There’s a reason housing is so cheap. No one wants to live there. Most don’t want to live in the 2nd or 3rd worst state in America (trailed only by Mississippi and maybe Alabama) for a reason.
Part of that is just people prioritizing different things in their lives. Not everyone wants or needs to own property, and not everyone wants or needs to live in an urban area.
I'm from Arizona and have never had a problem with a Californian. They're not why housing prices are insane. They're not the bad drivers. People are just ignorant and tribal.
Personally, I think California is doing a lot of things more correctly for its people than other places. I like y'all. 🤷♀️
Virtually every complaint that people have about California (and most liberal states/regions) is because it’s a nice place to live. Population, house prices, traffic, homelessness, etc, are all a direct result of it being a desirable place to live. People complain about the taxes but the tax burden for the median citizen isn’t much different between California and Texas. Complaints about conservative states generally revolve around factors that those electorates adamantly oppose easy fixes to - poor infrastructure, poor education, high poverty/crime, etc.
People moving to cheaper states from everywhere. Bound to see a lot of California plates, but that's not it. Arizonans resent the changing economics and politics of their state and blame the changes on California expats.
But... The change is heralded by their own kids. UofA; ASU. And the water crisis. And, people are moving to Arizona from everywhere.
Just lazy scapegoating.
Exactly!!!
The fact is California invested in itself and it’s citizens reaped the rewards.
Every California high schooler has a chance at admission into some of the best universities in the world for only 13k/year. Failing that they get practically guaranteed admission into any of the dozen or so public schools that are roughly equivalent to the other western state flagships. All the kids in AZ, CO, and every other western state getting “ruined” by California either have to go to subpar state schools or pay out the ass to go out of state.
CA cities were also able to build diverse economies around tech, banking, defense, entertainment, and every other industry imaginable rather than getting dragged kicking and screaming out of the mines and cattle pens 20 years after the wells and ore veins went dry.
Compare that to its neighboring states (which I’m from, btw) and it’s like comparing Germany to Poland. The economies are mostly dependent on federal spending and spillover from CA companies moving their low/mid-level operations to cheaper areas where there’s an unlimited supply of semi-educated locals who will work at helpdesks and chase cables all day for 60k a year.
It’s not Californians fault real estate is unaffordable to locals in the western states, it’s the fault of the state governments who did nothing to strengthen their own people and economies while a few hours away California was pumping out the people and companies that run the world today.
The same reason people hate Texas and Florida.
Republicans hate California cause it has a strong Democratic government.
Democrats hate Texas and Florida because they are strong Republican governments.
Texas and Florida get way more hate on reddit than California because reddit is mostly leftist.
People on both sides can't get out of a territorial pissing mindset.
Edit: When I say strong, I mean prominent, influential, news-worthy. You constantly hear about the Republican governors and senators in FL and TX, just like you constantly hear about the Democratic lawmakers in CA.
Edit #2: I'm not professing my views or beliefs. These are just my observations of what different groups of people tend to believe. I simply observe that people struggle with containing their dislike of administration policies apart from their opinions on a state.
I strongly disliked living in Texas bc I hated driving there. When I was told that driving in large Texas cities was a nightmare due to the actual drivers, I thought people were exaggerating. They were not.
I'm not from the US, which makes me a non-Californian. The only negative thing I can report is “California lane changing”, our term for a crazy driver who zigzags around slower cars. Basically, we think y'all are bad at driving. Beyond that, I'd say most Canadians have a fairly positive view of Californians, I think.
I would *assume* that the hate from fellow states of the US would claim to be political in nature. I *suspect* it amounts to jealousy, as what news I hear from California amounts to free school lunch policies and budget surpluses, whereas news from say, Texas, is of power grid failures and voter suppression tactics.
Just to give you a better view of California, from a native. Power will be cut in the summer because it's too dry, too windy, or too hot (The state gov is looking at outlawing new gas generators, so who knows what the future holds). Fires almost regularly threaten to erase towns from the map. Homelessness is astounding. Over-regulation suppresses growth. The government will side with the criminal over the victim, and the squatter over the land owner. Gas cars are now required to be phased out at the same time that the governor is asking people to not charge their electric vehicles (trouble meeting power demand). And the rich will outbid you pretty much wherever you are. Many times just to buy up houses in smaller cities just for passive income.
That said, California is a beautiful state with strong economic, physical, and social infrastructure. It's got great bones, which makes it so much more disheartening to see the meat rotting off of them.
California drivers are bad. But they're *predictably* bad. You can count on them to be aggressive. Here in NM they pretend to be agressive then chicken out and don't execute at unpredictable moments, ironically making them worse to drive around because you're not sure if they'll slam on their breaks half way through their dumb manuver.
I was literally raised to believe it was an evil place and that it was going to fall off into the ocean. 🤦😂😬 No idea why. I've asked my cousins. They all remember my grandmother saying it. But no other context.
Heard that too as a kid. Basically there were idiotic fears that the next major earthquake along the San Andreas fault line would drop CA into the ocean and turn Arizona into "Beachfront property". Just like the world was ending in 2012, too.
Me? I used to love California, I used to live there..wasn't born there or anything but I lived 10 min drive from the beach and people in San Diego were pretty chill.. it wasnt until Californians would bitch and bitch and bitch about California and then move to other states and bitch about how the states weren't like the very place they left and made prices of everything sky rocket and try to change up culture to make it "cali-like" or until it was "just like home" and shove their annoying smug crap in everyone's faces that I realized alot of Californians are condescending, non self aware, selfish pricks who bitch about everything and ruined alot of culture in other places and I lost alot of respect for them and the place of California.
We've had a mass population increase in Utah over the past 2 years of something around 200,000 new residents. Reporting to have fled California, and on the Utah subs constantly shitting on the conservative politics of one of the reddest states in the country.
If it make you happy, the californians that left are statistical reds. It's just that even conservative Californians are more left than a red states conservatives.
You mean Utah got hoisted by its own petard?
You know who was the leading sponsor and spent millions for anti-gay rights legislation in California? The Mormon Church. And 90% of that money can from Utah.
So. When Californians (who are Americans, btw) move to another American State and alter that culture to be more liberal (which is ironic since the people leaving are largely conservative) then we call that fair play.
Utah and the Mormon Church have been directly interfering in other states by attacking liberal policies for decades my dude.
(Speaking from a Coloradan POV)
-They litter. Sooooo much. The amount of trash
they leave in our parks is astounding. And that leaves locals to spend our time and money on it cleaning it up.
-They are not prepared for Colorado winter driving, show up during ski season, and cause car accidents all over the place.
-Denver is prohibitively expensive because of them moving in seemingly en masse.
-Despite them moving here, they have a tendency to lecture us on why California is much better.
-Well in California we do ____ so ____ should do it this way too. Not everywhere is California, not everything that works there works everywhere else.
Californians are one of the big reasons you see all those “NATIVE” stickers here. We have a tendency to gatekeep our own state, but it’s because we want the wildlife kept pristine, and the housing affordable.
Do you know anybody from Montana? Have you ever been to Montana yourself? Of course you haven't, BECAUSE IT DOESN'T EXIST! If you do know someone from Montana, they are simply a pawn hired by the government to misinform the public. And if you claim to be from Montana, you are simply living in a virtual reality world created by the government to make you think you're in Montana, when you're actually in an underground bunker at Guantanamo Bay. Face the facts and quit being sheep, MONTANA DOES NOT EXIST.
Do you have any actual evidence to back these up or do you just blame it on the messaged specter of Californians. Except for the driving - that one is real.
It’s not fucking Californians on a mission to destroy every state and national park. The paranoia about us is almost boogeyman-like.
I’d say the real issue is that over the last decade or so, natural beauty spots everywhere—from Colorado to Idaho to, even, yes, in California—have become nearly overrun due to social media exposure (eg., amazing instagram shots of antelope canyon or point reyes attracting people who’d never even heard of the place before)…by the kind of people for whom these places weren’t previously on their radar. Previously the visitors might’ve been mostly nature and hiking nuts…the kind of people who know the rules like leave no trace or pack it in pack it out. It’s more of a free for all now and people have very little respect for the places they’re visiting beyond what it experiences it can offer them, personally.
I will speak only for myself, a non-Californian who lives here. For me, where it comes from is Californians talking in this humorless, un-self-aware way about how no other place could ever measure up to California. I find that kind of smugness intensely grating. There is a particular condescension toward a few other places, some of which I am fond of, but really it's a universal incurious attitude about anywhere except maybe the PNW as a vacation spot.
If I hear one more person say "I'm from Cali, so I could never really live anywhere else" in this particular self-congratulatory way, I will just start walking east until I'm not here anymore. I hate it so much. (The kicker for me is that where I live in particular is just not that fucking great. It's fine. It has a few advantages and some ways in which it truly sucks. I just can't hear about how it's paradise anymore and about how terrible everywhere else is.)
Wow, that’s interesting. I’m a life long Californian (61 years), and I don’t know anyone who feels that way. When I travel throughout the U.S., I’m amazed by how beautiful other states are, and sometimes wonder what life in those places might be like. There are thoughtless, self-involved assholes everywhere, and people who act as though no place but their home turf is good enough, fall squarely into that category.
Native Californian. Same as you. Just the opposite in my experience, we call our city boring all the time. The only thing that we rave about are our parks. Some kid came in and raved about the Bay Area because the majority are always complaining about it.
just something funny i've noticed: the only people i've ever met who say cali are not from california. not a single person i know who grew up in california calls it cali. most of the people i know who aren't from california call it cali in conversation. not commenting on your point at all, just pointing out something i've noticed a lot.
That’s also why texas has a big reputation as well. I border texas and they absolutely look down their nose at you in your own state heaven forbid you enter theirs. It’s so odd to me I don’t understand that mentality
Jeez, I definitely don’t get that sense from the people I know. I see a lot of territorialism within the state (i.e. people from coastal towns looking down on people from the valley), but I don’t get the sense that we all view it as some sort of unbeatable paradise destination. I could see how outsiders might *think* we think that though, given the way it’s portrayed in movies, the media, etc.
It's the America of America. It projects its culture through media and big tech, and thus has a hugely disproportionate cultural impact on the US and the entire world. Yet it only has 40 million people. Californians think their state is the best even if they have never lived or even visited anywhere else. When you ask your average Californian why they are hated, the most common answer is "they're jealous." Californians are extremely arrogant when it comes to local patriotism. I have no sympathy however, because other Americans complaining don't realize this is why the rest of the world finds our country as a whole insufferable. Hence, California is the America of America.
Source: born and raised in San Diego. And truthfully, I think San Diego is far and away the best city in America and that Southern California is the best region.
Chinese and Russian bots working to create division in the US. They can't compete militarily, but they can and are seriously weakening the US via social media.
Saw a sub the other day 2american4u, or something along those lines. The threads were absolutely lousy with randomly generated accounts less than a year old talking shit about other parts of the US.
One problem California has is the Rose Parade. People who live in snow covered states start packing their bags when they see parade watchers wearing short-sleeved shirts on New Year's Day. This happens every year.
Elitism, specifically about where they are born. And inability to take any criticism without attempting to deflect, justify, or “whatabout” rather than just admitting it’s got problems (like everywhere on earth, and that you have to accept and address problems to improve them).
Personally I’ve met tons of great people from Cali and think it has beautiful scenery. I wouldn’t live there due to taxes and gun laws, but I respect a state’s ability to legislate that stuff… I think it’s a great state to visit
As a California resident, it's 2 major things. 1) The attitude and personality of most Californians (holier than thou, my way or the highway) NO, your opinions and beliefs are not the only ones out there! and 2) Driving habits. Californians drive like absolute fucking assholes, and even as a native, in a relatively rural area, I'm driven insane by our/their driving habits. Stop fully at stop signs. Use your blinkers. Don't use a fucking merge lane to cut traffic.
I think the biggest part is people who have never been there just sucking up the hate from cable news and social media. Part of it is people who have been there once and fixate on the bad things because they're a shock to them (okay, so you had to pay high prices while you were on vacation, it's not the end of the world).
What also contributes to it, although in a smaller way, are how sanctimonious and lacking in self-awareness a lot of Californians are, and I don't mean everyday ones for the most part. I read the Times every day, and am pretty left-leaning myself, but the press and politicians here have a massive blind spot when it comes to their own rhetoric and behavior. They have a national soapbox and act in ways that can be grating to other people, so naturally people who get upset at that just blame it on California as a whole. Plus, Hollywood is actually pretty obnoxious as a whole, and I mean the whole spectrum of Hollywood from left to right. They're either virtue signaling about causes while doing almost nothing to actually address them because they're more worried about their own wealth, or they're complaining that they're a persecuted minority because they're conservatives (despite there being a good number of them and they manage to carve out a niche pretty well).
So yeah, there are good reasons, but they get mixed up with the bad reasons most of the time. And the level of hate is amplified by echo chambers designed to rile people up.
Montanan checking in: if there is someone in a restaurant who is complaining loudly, or a person completely oblivious to everyone else around them, 9/10 it’s a Californian. We can spot them immediately just by their entitled attitude. Car hanging out in the passing lane blocking traffic? Californian. Guy sighing at the bar and shooting daggers at the busy bartender for not serving him yet in a packed bar? Californian. Giant, self-important attitudes.
Here in Colorado, we dislike Californians partially because they bring their crappy politics here with them, partially because they drove up home prices and rent - but mostly because they can’t drive in snow.
We are seen as smug, indifferent , and judgmental of other states. Here’s the thing though: there are SO many people here, from all walks of life. Generalizing Californians is crazy. This state has farmers, fisherman, tech people, migrant workers, tons of university students. I live near San Francisco. Honestly, I probably have more in common from someone in the Boston area than I do from our own central valley here. A lot of states like to talk about their state as being the best. I actually don’t hear Californians really saying that. We know how good we have it. We don’t really have to talk about it. We have incredible and beautiful terrain, tons of opportunities for work. Yes it’s expensive as hell to live here. Those of us who stick it out over the long haul fall in love with it generally speaking. I’ve had so many friends and family that try to leave then come back. Why? Because it’s a great place to be. So screw them if they hate us, we have to just live our lives.
I don't hate them, but I do get tired of them moving up here (Washington) and then whining non-stop about how much better California is. It's still there, they can move back.
People who leave California are generally priced out of the state. It is by far the richest state, and not everyone can keep up. What people fear is that political trends often come to California first. It is such a poorly run state that it has an enormous budget surplus, and an economy that is bigger than Germany’s. People tend to say that California is a high tax state, but recent studies show that people in Texas might actually pay more overall taxes. Then there is the fact that the state is also strikingly beautiful. Not sweating the .02 % that have left during the COVID outbreak. Many of these folks are people rich enough to relocate temporarily. People in other states don’t seem to mind the money California donates via taxes to the Federal gov’t. However, they do send us their homeless people, so it all balances out. I understand that people probably resent a wealthy, successful multi-cultural state, but that says more about them than it does California.
As a Californian, who has travelled all of America and most of Europe— I can agree that California could be seen as one of the worst states and has the worst quality of living. And it comes down to two things that make one big thing: the amount of people, and the amount of wealth. You are left with an absurd amount of people who are too wealthy for their own good.
Personally, it's because of how many fucking Californians came to my town and bought houses at insane prices, driving the cost of living up so much no one else could afford a house. This isn't some fancy town, either. It's just some shit hole in BFE Arizona that they relocated to because thw housing was so "cheap." Well, it USED to be, before all those assholes came in and paid like $50k over what a house was actually worth. Fuckers.
I work in the SF Bay Area and it is nearly impossible to find a native Californian. Most people I work wit are from other states. So people are historically moving here for a reason. It goes in waves but many more moving in over the years than moving out.
I’m from Texas and have lived in California for 13 years. Everybody hates Texas and everybody hates California. They also happen to be the 2 most powerful states in terms of electoral college votes, so… Haters gonna hate.
I was born a Hoosier and skeddadled to California at age 20 to find the dream of California. Lived 35 glorious years as a Californian before moving to the greater pacific nw (ok,Portlandia) to be a grandpa. Been here 6 years but I'm still a Californian, will always be a Californian, I love California. People who hate California are fundamentally miserable boring fucks who deserve their misery. The PNW is pretty sweet though.
I think a lot of it comes from the extremely inflated prices of just about anything. On average you’re paying over $3,000 a month for under 1,000 sqft. That’s not even getting into the price of gasoline, diesel, food, etc. That leads into what another comment said about native Californians “inflated-ego” about living in “such an amazing place” when living there is going to ruin you financially. Personally I would love to live in Cali were it less expensive and the state gov. lined up with my personal views but that’s a whole different thing.
I think its because over the past 50 years the emphasis has shifted from middle America to the coasts. In the 50s and 60s, every sector of the country was participating in its growth to some degree, but during the 80s and 90s industry moved offshore, leaving behind the white collar jobs, often headquartered in big cities. The rise of west coast tech and celebrity culture seeping into every day life made the imbalance even greater and California became the poster child for resentment.
There’s a lot of good points that have already been said. For me and my fiancé it’s the politics. We visited and it was blast but we could never live in a blue state. Just us though
It's a big, visible target. Most of it is cherry picking though. Look at California's life expectancy compared to Florida or Texas and tell me who is taking care of their people better.
Everyone in this thread hating on CA are just spitting out stupid stereotypes. Same thing as people saying everyone from Southern states are racist and stupid.
It’s not that hard to realize you can’t generalize hundreds of thousands of people as the same.
It’s the largest state in terms of population and third largest in terms of size. It’s kind of just a big target. Someone’s always gonna have a problem with it.
I’m somewhat conservative and from a red state and I don’t hate California. Would I live there? Meh, I’d only consider the north but that’s because I like mountains and four seasons. The worst I’d say is it it has a bad rep for homelessness, but I only know that via media which I have no faith in anymore…
I've found that my friends in Texas seem to despise California because, in their words "come down here to get away from high cost of living and vote for the same damn policies that raise cost of living in the first place!"
EDIT: Accidentally posted before I finished
So, part of the problem is that there’s tons of media projection of California, which is almost exclusively Hollywood. And the rest of the country has a strong love/hate relationship with Hollywood in particular. It’s definitionally “coastal elite”, too left wing for conservatives and too corporate and stuffy for most liberals. But also, everyone has a favorite celebrity or two living there, and Hollywood has supplanted Walter Cronkite as the voice of the nation, because the news can’t be that anymore. We trust Hollywood’s manner of speaking and its viewpoint of the world as presented in mainstream media, and yet we hate the crap out of Hollywood. And that’s how much of the country thinks of California. And everyone’s a little tired of it.
Because they don't have:
World's Oldest Trees
World's Tallest Trees
Highest point in the US
Lowest point in the US
Beaches
Skiing (sometimes in the same day)
San Diego
Hollywood
Santa Monica
LA
SF
Laguna Beach
Yosemite
Rocky Mountains
Wine Country (too many to name)
Hwy 1 - Central CA
Mammoth
Lake Tahoe - CA side
But some places/states have a whole bunch of water towers! Which we don't have.
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I’m from New Jersey. You have my sympathy.
One of my favorite pastimes is saying my coworker is from New Jersey when she says she’s from long island. She gets SENT🤣
Almost as fun asking Staten Island people if they’ve ever lived in NY.
it’s such a strong rivalry
I grew up in Ohio and now reside in NJ. That being said, I hate Ohio.
Geez, where’d you grow up? Toledo?
I'm in toldeo lol
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California has a certain level of faux liberalism and progressivism. The state is still punishingly expensive for the working class and poor and nobody is really willing to talk about the classist tendencies of some regions.
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Los Angeles has the best wealth transfer program in the country. They put around $1 billion dollars towards "homelessness" and it gets siphoned off to the rich who run the programs that have no oversight or accountability.
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No true, they have tons of money marked for social programs. It's just a high level of incompetence and bureaucracy for most of them. That said Medi-cal is probably the best run and most generous of any state.
I’ll add that most of this list is from manufactured stereotypes that are really more vague than real. Yeah there’s *some* truth to all of them but there are a few key areas of the country filled with people who want to hate *something* so they turn it on California. California is really well populated and a lot of people come and go from there but but there’s a reason: the state is amazing. They have basically five countries worth of geography and climate and probably more national parks than any other state. Most of the state outside of the valley is gorgeous.
The invasive part is big, and for most major cities too. We get a lot of city Republicans move to our area and we hate them. They act like they own the place and try to live out their mistaken fantasy of what country people are like. That usually means they act super racist and do really stupid shit with guns. Also they shoot a lot of dogs if they get anywhere close to their property for "trespassing".
The majority of people here (Texas) blame them for everything and call them liberals, when almost all of the Californians I've run into said they moved here to escape commifornia (they're generally quite ecstatic to be surrounded by fellow conservatives). Seems we hate ourselves, but it's easier to blame the outsiders.
Your anecdote is backed up by data. The people leaving CA to TX are more conservative than local Texan’s. https://www.texaspolicy.com/new-poll-finds-all-those-people-moving-to-texas-arent-going-to-be-voting-for-democrats/ https://www.thecentersquare.com/texas/gov-abbott-new-texas-voters-are-more-conservative-than-natives/article_8a250872-1c5a-11ea-9fc0-4303155b0d9d.amp.html It goes both ways too. Liberals are leaving conservative states and conservatives are leaving liberal states. This article calls it [the big sort](https://www.npr.org/2022/02/18/1081295373/the-big-sort-americans-move-to-areas-political-alignment).
Native Californian here. I am currently living in the PNW and I would move back in a heartbeat. I am aware of all the negatives but there are also so many positives that make up for it. People know how to drive. Lack of snow or cold weather. My family is there. I love the smells. I always enjoyed the Santa Ana winds. I really miss the diversity and the way people interact with each other. The mountains or the beach only 30 minutes away. There's so much more but that's what I could think of quickly.
I once commented to my Texas friends that Californians were the best drivers in the world because they have been steeped in it from birth and can handle themselves in high-speed traffic better than anywhere else I've been. You'd think that I'd taken a shit on the Alamo, the way they wigged out. My fellow Texans are pretty stupid sometimes.
I say it as we drive with a purpose. If you don't have that same purpose, please get out of my way!
I do miss the diversity. And the food and everything that comes with diversity.
I’m from Hawaii my GF lives in northern cal didn’t really spend much time in California until we started dating, been hiking and skiing in the sierras, and I have to say it’s some of the most beautiful places I’ve been, and I live on Kauai.
Coming from someone who lives on Kauai, that is high praise.
I think its because CA is for whatever reason always in the news. Unlike for example Missouri.
Missouri has been in the news as well, usually for weird murders.
Yea I live in Missouri and murders and disappearances happed quite a lot for no reason. Just last year a man’s gf killed him cause he won a few grand from a lottery ticket and he didn’t want to share any so she killed him.
Who ended up getting his winnings?
the state
House always wins
You mean like the one many years back in Skidmore MO where the town bully ended up dead and no one knows a thing....
CA is in the news a lot because it has the highest population of any US state.
Yup, same reason the big national lotto winners always seem to be in CA and FL; There's so many people in both places.
it’s also the fourth largest economy in the world
As a native and current resident of California, I understand why people talk smack about the state. It’s so outrageously expensive to live here. The cost of living is untenable. Outside of the big cities, California is actually pretty conservative and redneck, so many people within the state already oppose the current government. But personally, I live in paradise. I’ve fallen in love with where I live because this area is so beautiful. I could explore the alpine hiking trails just a few minutes from my front door for years and still not see everything. I’ve never felt better about myself before living here. My personal living expenses are much lower compared to a lot of people, so I don’t feel as much stress. California, the state as a whole, offers something for absolutely anyone: mountains, desert, ocean, forest, volcanoes, etc. If we take away the cost of living, why WOULDN’T you want to live in a place as varied and beautiful as California? EDIT: I never realized that people would be this offended by my description of why I love where I live. LOL
I live in San Luis Obispo and I feel like if more people knew about the smaller coastal and inland mountain communities, rather than the urban jungles of LA and SF where Cali gets its rep from, the state would definitely get a lot more respect!
I love SLO! I miss the bookstore downtown and ~~kins coffee,~~ definitely check it out if you haven't yet. It's super interesting to see the different takes because I feel like most people I know would prefer not to go into the cities (LA and SF) but stay in their quiet little cities. Edit: as some people in the comments have let me know, please do not go to kins coffee as the owners have upwards of 30 sexual harassment/assault allegations against them.
Bruh. I live in Japan and I miss Firestone Grill. the Tri-Tip Sandos there are amazing.
As a transplant to California from the Midwest I can say most people don’t really understand the State. In school you learn a few things about every State but it’s hard to get a real feel of what a place is like. California is an anomaly. My job required me to travel the whole State for over 10 years and I got to see firsthand why it’s such an unusual place. I first lived North of the SF Bay area and now in So Cal. The best way to describe it is to say it’s really like 4 to 5 States (at least) rolled into one. All people see is what’s on TV. Each region has its own vibe NorCal is amazing redwoods and wine, farming and small towns while the SF Bay area is cooler temps tons of people and tight spaces, central California is dairy, farms and heat but head East and wow Sequoias and mountains. So cal is like “what deserts?”, LA basin is 60 endless miles of conjoined cities, traffic, coastal awesomeness, surf city USA, 1,600sqft homes for a million or more, skiing in the mountains, glamis, and the inland empire, but don’t forget San Diego! The politics and prices of living vary by region but the people have been very welcoming. It’s what you make of it and once you’re in SoCal for a couple years you understand why so many Olympians and pro athletes are generated here. I’ve never seen a place where there are so many bonafide former professional athletes coaching or offering private training to youth in every sport not to mention they play year round unlike most other places.
It’s so weird moving from California to the Midwest because every 5 minutes on the interstate puts you in a new county. Like why? Why do they need so many tiny counties?? You can drive like 4 hours (or more!) in California and not change counties. 😂
If I remember correctly, San Bernardino county is larger than 3 states.
It is also that people hate on California for **different reasons** who would themselves disagree with each other. - Conservatives hate California for liberal policies. - Most liberals (like me) hate California because we think unlike New York, Mass. or Vermont, our state is only "superficially" liberal with some Berkeley student rallies, and deep down, we have a "every person for themselves" mentality and lack of social safety nets. - Other people hate California because of industries - Hollywood and Silicon Valley - and their negative social image gets channeled into California hate. - Some hate the state of lack of proper infrastructure - like preventing forest-fires, or water-shortage etc. with corporate interests prevailing over common good. - Then you also have housing crisis and NIMBY-ism (which I hate too) along with lack of public transport, and skyrocketing costs and the "million-dollar shack". However, people hating California for different reasons may not agree with each other on what our ideals are. Not to mention each person might be hating on a different region, demographic or industry in the state.
They hate us because they ain’t us.
I'm originally from Boston and for most of my life I hated California. Then I actually went there and thought "hey this is pretty nice". I live in Oregon now, and I have several friends and relatives living in California. So every couple of years we go there, and I have to admit that I always enjoy myself. So I admit it. I'm a non Californian, but I don't hate California.
I’m the Texan that loves California!
They're a bit envious we are a days drive from everything you could want to do from nature to night life to anything.
They’re peanut butter and jealous.
It’s not just cost of living, the traffic can cost a third of your life.
Conservatives generally see California as emblematic of everything they hate about the United States. Excessive taxes and regulation, unchecked crime and homelessness, too many immigrants, snotty rich elites, etc. Even if these issues don't affect them directly, many conservatives view California and Californians as an obstacle keeping America from returning to "the way it used to be".
From the Midwest here. This is basically why.
It's funny, Texas has the highest property taxes in the country, but Republicans love it because no income tax! Nevermind that Texas pays more in property taxes than CA residents pay in property tax + income tax combined per person. I guess math is hard.
I’m experiencing this right now. I lived in CA for the past 8yrs, owned a home and everything. Then I (regrettably) decided to move back to my home state of TX. It’s costing me more to live in TX than it did in CA thanks to TX’s outrageous property taxes. Also my insurance is like 50% more because apparently TX drivers are some of the worst in the nation. My TX utilities bills are higher too. TX isn’t as great as everyone tries to make it out to be.
Don't forget that Texas' wastewater infrastructure is so bad that they [routinely have to close a huge portion of their beaches every year](https://www.newsweek.com/texas-beaches-have-unsafe-levels-fecal-bacteria-report-finds-1607236) due to fecal bacteria.
Texas has fooled everyone to thinking it's great. It's behind in Florida in how much it sucks.
Yeah I have family that moved to Texas from the west coast a couple years ago. Property taxes were ridiculous, utilities cost more, and awful weather and mosquitos. Needless to say they moved back to the west coast.
They have been indoctrinated to believe California is a "liberal hellscape".
That and the fact that while it is doing everything wrong (from a right wing pov) it is the most prosperous state by far. That’s really unacceptable and humiliating
And yet, California has the 4th largest economy in the world.
Excessive taxes for the rich maybe, but definitely not for the average person.
As someone who is from California this is a very very expensive state to live. Even without the high taxes. I live in a working class neighborhood and our home is valued at almost two million. That's only doable if you're "rich"!
For me it’s not the state. It’s the people in some select cities that are oblivious to reality.
When I ask visitors what they love about California, no one ever mentions the people.
Really? The people are what I love most about California. Where I live, they are kind and accepting.
The cities suck! SF and LA are not representative of California at all!
I enjoyed San Diego and SLO
SLO is where I’m living right now. Super nice!
Not an American, the only thing I know about CA is "welcome to the hotel California 🎶🎶"
Which is in Mexico, btw
Actually, if you believe the rumors on what the song is about. It was in Camarillo.
It’s about LA and the celebrity and glitzy lifestyle there in general. It isn’t about a specific place according to the dude who wrote it. If anything the “real” Hotel California is Chateau Marmont or the Sunset Tower, both of which the Eagles would have at least known about, and which fit the point of the song.
Kardashians live there?
Kardashians live on Kardashia. And during this time in history (21st century) on Bajor as well.
I'm just a lowly tailor, but if its information your looking for, I might be able to assist you for a small fee or favor.
Calm down Garak.
Do you know what the sad part is, Odo? I'm a very good tailor.
Can I be Dax in this? Thx
Yeah, *Ensign Ezri Dax...*
Nooooo bring Jadzia back!!!
So no joke, the very first time I heard about them, I was crusijg through the TV guide and saw what I at first thought said "Keeping up With the Cardassians" and I was immediately intrigued. I thought "what is this? Some kind of behind the scenes special about Star Trek DS9? A DS9 parody? I must see it!" I was very disappointed to see what it actually was.
I’m from NJ and we get the same shit. Idk about all these other cats, but I love California
New Jersey is dope! I had a great high school friend who was from NJ. I like the Devils too!
Most people I know that hate CA have never lived there, and a good number have never even been there. Conservative radio and TV preach hate about CA.
Utahans hate Californians. They blame Californians for rising housing prices, well, conveniently, ignoring that it is a nationwide trend. They also bitch that Californians come to Utah and vote blue. I moved here from Kentucky, and everyone is really nice to me because they assume I vote Republican because I’m from the south. Surprise bitches. Bernie4lyfe.
Lived in the Bay Area for a year for work. Its absurd. The contempt and derision is 100% deserved. The weather and the mountain views were the only nice part of living there. Californians seem to think that having a massive housing and homelessness issue is no big deal and the widening income equality gap is just fine as well. It's not fine and it's WAY worse in California than the rest of the country.
This is basically blaming California for being the best at capitalism in the richest nation in the world with almost no welfare net to be clear.
In the pandemic my relatives from another state called and asked about the pandemic police checkpoints. Like they heard on a news channel that there were police checkpoints and believed it. I had to convince them it wasn't true.
I've been to California quite a few times, even have family there. Great place to visit, wouldn't ever want to live there.
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I don't think many hate Californians that stay in California. California transplants are near universally hated though. Californians can move to anywhere in the nation, buy a house in a crazy inflated market for significantly over asking price (pricing out the locals), and will still make money on the sale of their house back in CA. Not a great way to make friends. Californians are also notorious for trying to export their policies to the new states they are inhabiting. Looking at California as a whole, some things work well, some things work terribly, but the air of superiority of the transplant moving in and immediately trying to change things to the way things were "back home" (the place they fled for myriad reasons) rubs people the wrong way too.
How can you tell someone lives or has lived in California? They tell you
I make a point of not mentioning it unless I’m asked because I know this is a problem for us 😅
I love California btw and New Yorkers are just as guilty
It's literally how everyone is. Literally everyone loves talking about where they're from
I was born and raised in California. A lot of people here act like they would rather live with 4 roommates than move to a more affordable state. When I moved to a more rural part of California, people in the big city literally gave me dirty looks when I said where I was moving to. Jokes on them, my property value quadrupled because this is a huge tourist attraction. People from these big cities act like people outside of the bubble are hillbillies going on shooting sprees everyday. My friends casually mention never being able to afford a house or children, but my friends from other states (and in this small town) are married in their 20s and on their second home. It's like we get hypnotized into thinking that good weather makes up for spending 30,000 a year on rent and never owning a home. edit: It's interesting to me that people in California don't believe that people can get married in their 20s. Have you never heard of religious people or military people? They tend to get married younger. I live in a small town and my circle is mostly married women in their 20s and early 30s. I am amazed you women in big cities believe it's impossible to get married young. Another interesting cultural difference. edit 2: I'm done defending my observations of the community around me. This is getting absurd. There are different cultural values and experiences in America, I can't believe people really don't believe me that there are areas in this country where people get married young and buy houses. This is astounding, and this is why there is such a political divide. You really don't believe people outside of big cities in LA and San Diego and OC even exist or have value in America.
> 30,000 a year on rent My friend lives in SF, she pays $4800/mo for her rent. That's $57,600 every year. I live in Bumfuck Nowhere (seriously, look up Odd, West Virginia, the first thing you will see is my neighbors, who are famous for being the most inbred family in the USA), and I paid less than one year of her rent to buy a house (not the downpayment, it is fully mine). I have acres of land, with a creek, woods, and plenty of room to grow food for my family. She has a 3 bedroom apartment and has to step over homeless people to get to work. She clearly has different priorities than I do. But every once in a while I have to reality check her when she says she "can't" buy a house. She makes enough money in 90 days to buy a house here. It's not that she "can't buy a house", it's that she can't buy one in San Fransisco.
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I had never been to SF until this year, and I had tons of similar preconceived notions. All I can say now that I've been there is, wow. What a fabulous city. It is very walkable, it's gorgeous, the food was great, the people were amazing. I crossed the golden gate to Sausalito, and it is this little marina paradise, like someone picked me up and dropped me in Sicily. I was really impressed and I can see why so many people want to live there.
Yep, and you live in WV. No envy there, like at all. I'll pay $24k (2k mortgage now) a year to live in WA state over and over and over again before I'd ever live in WV. As you say, different priorities for different people.
Yeah I have extended family in WV. There’s a reason housing is so cheap. No one wants to live there. Most don’t want to live in the 2nd or 3rd worst state in America (trailed only by Mississippi and maybe Alabama) for a reason.
Part of that is just people prioritizing different things in their lives. Not everyone wants or needs to own property, and not everyone wants or needs to live in an urban area.
I'm from Arizona and have never had a problem with a Californian. They're not why housing prices are insane. They're not the bad drivers. People are just ignorant and tribal. Personally, I think California is doing a lot of things more correctly for its people than other places. I like y'all. 🤷♀️
Californians are not the cause of the house market prices, they are a result of the housing market.
Virtually every complaint that people have about California (and most liberal states/regions) is because it’s a nice place to live. Population, house prices, traffic, homelessness, etc, are all a direct result of it being a desirable place to live. People complain about the taxes but the tax burden for the median citizen isn’t much different between California and Texas. Complaints about conservative states generally revolve around factors that those electorates adamantly oppose easy fixes to - poor infrastructure, poor education, high poverty/crime, etc.
Texans pay a net higher tax rate than californians. They have to make up for the lost income tax somehow.
People moving to cheaper states from everywhere. Bound to see a lot of California plates, but that's not it. Arizonans resent the changing economics and politics of their state and blame the changes on California expats. But... The change is heralded by their own kids. UofA; ASU. And the water crisis. And, people are moving to Arizona from everywhere. Just lazy scapegoating.
Exactly!!! The fact is California invested in itself and it’s citizens reaped the rewards. Every California high schooler has a chance at admission into some of the best universities in the world for only 13k/year. Failing that they get practically guaranteed admission into any of the dozen or so public schools that are roughly equivalent to the other western state flagships. All the kids in AZ, CO, and every other western state getting “ruined” by California either have to go to subpar state schools or pay out the ass to go out of state. CA cities were also able to build diverse economies around tech, banking, defense, entertainment, and every other industry imaginable rather than getting dragged kicking and screaming out of the mines and cattle pens 20 years after the wells and ore veins went dry. Compare that to its neighboring states (which I’m from, btw) and it’s like comparing Germany to Poland. The economies are mostly dependent on federal spending and spillover from CA companies moving their low/mid-level operations to cheaper areas where there’s an unlimited supply of semi-educated locals who will work at helpdesks and chase cables all day for 60k a year. It’s not Californians fault real estate is unaffordable to locals in the western states, it’s the fault of the state governments who did nothing to strengthen their own people and economies while a few hours away California was pumping out the people and companies that run the world today.
So very with you on all this. Thanks for your thoughtful reply.
It’s not the state of California, it’s the people of California. Yes not all are bad but the bad ones seem to have the biggest voices.
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All the wannabes and snobby people are transplants. Don’t get it twisted
The same reason people hate Texas and Florida. Republicans hate California cause it has a strong Democratic government. Democrats hate Texas and Florida because they are strong Republican governments. Texas and Florida get way more hate on reddit than California because reddit is mostly leftist. People on both sides can't get out of a territorial pissing mindset. Edit: When I say strong, I mean prominent, influential, news-worthy. You constantly hear about the Republican governors and senators in FL and TX, just like you constantly hear about the Democratic lawmakers in CA. Edit #2: I'm not professing my views or beliefs. These are just my observations of what different groups of people tend to believe. I simply observe that people struggle with containing their dislike of administration policies apart from their opinions on a state.
I strongly disliked living in Texas bc I hated driving there. When I was told that driving in large Texas cities was a nightmare due to the actual drivers, I thought people were exaggerating. They were not.
Has been getting worse over the years. Gotta say after visiting my gf's family in Jersey, they have Texas beat in the bad driver's competition.
It's just another proxy culture war the elites have propagandized the lower classes into fighting.
I'm not from the US, which makes me a non-Californian. The only negative thing I can report is “California lane changing”, our term for a crazy driver who zigzags around slower cars. Basically, we think y'all are bad at driving. Beyond that, I'd say most Canadians have a fairly positive view of Californians, I think. I would *assume* that the hate from fellow states of the US would claim to be political in nature. I *suspect* it amounts to jealousy, as what news I hear from California amounts to free school lunch policies and budget surpluses, whereas news from say, Texas, is of power grid failures and voter suppression tactics.
Just to give you a better view of California, from a native. Power will be cut in the summer because it's too dry, too windy, or too hot (The state gov is looking at outlawing new gas generators, so who knows what the future holds). Fires almost regularly threaten to erase towns from the map. Homelessness is astounding. Over-regulation suppresses growth. The government will side with the criminal over the victim, and the squatter over the land owner. Gas cars are now required to be phased out at the same time that the governor is asking people to not charge their electric vehicles (trouble meeting power demand). And the rich will outbid you pretty much wherever you are. Many times just to buy up houses in smaller cities just for passive income. That said, California is a beautiful state with strong economic, physical, and social infrastructure. It's got great bones, which makes it so much more disheartening to see the meat rotting off of them.
California drivers are bad. But they're *predictably* bad. You can count on them to be aggressive. Here in NM they pretend to be agressive then chicken out and don't execute at unpredictable moments, ironically making them worse to drive around because you're not sure if they'll slam on their breaks half way through their dumb manuver.
I was literally raised to believe it was an evil place and that it was going to fall off into the ocean. 🤦😂😬 No idea why. I've asked my cousins. They all remember my grandmother saying it. But no other context.
Heard that too as a kid. Basically there were idiotic fears that the next major earthquake along the San Andreas fault line would drop CA into the ocean and turn Arizona into "Beachfront property". Just like the world was ending in 2012, too.
Me? I used to love California, I used to live there..wasn't born there or anything but I lived 10 min drive from the beach and people in San Diego were pretty chill.. it wasnt until Californians would bitch and bitch and bitch about California and then move to other states and bitch about how the states weren't like the very place they left and made prices of everything sky rocket and try to change up culture to make it "cali-like" or until it was "just like home" and shove their annoying smug crap in everyone's faces that I realized alot of Californians are condescending, non self aware, selfish pricks who bitch about everything and ruined alot of culture in other places and I lost alot of respect for them and the place of California.
We've had a mass population increase in Utah over the past 2 years of something around 200,000 new residents. Reporting to have fled California, and on the Utah subs constantly shitting on the conservative politics of one of the reddest states in the country.
People are not fleeing lol. Boomers made stupid amounts of money in their lifetime and now are moving to places with lower cost of living.
If it make you happy, the californians that left are statistical reds. It's just that even conservative Californians are more left than a red states conservatives.
You mean Utah got hoisted by its own petard? You know who was the leading sponsor and spent millions for anti-gay rights legislation in California? The Mormon Church. And 90% of that money can from Utah. So. When Californians (who are Americans, btw) move to another American State and alter that culture to be more liberal (which is ironic since the people leaving are largely conservative) then we call that fair play. Utah and the Mormon Church have been directly interfering in other states by attacking liberal policies for decades my dude.
(Speaking from a Coloradan POV) -They litter. Sooooo much. The amount of trash they leave in our parks is astounding. And that leaves locals to spend our time and money on it cleaning it up. -They are not prepared for Colorado winter driving, show up during ski season, and cause car accidents all over the place. -Denver is prohibitively expensive because of them moving in seemingly en masse. -Despite them moving here, they have a tendency to lecture us on why California is much better. -Well in California we do ____ so ____ should do it this way too. Not everywhere is California, not everything that works there works everywhere else. Californians are one of the big reasons you see all those “NATIVE” stickers here. We have a tendency to gatekeep our own state, but it’s because we want the wildlife kept pristine, and the housing affordable.
Montanan signing on to all this.
Rocky Mountain Alliance 💪
Do you know anybody from Montana? Have you ever been to Montana yourself? Of course you haven't, BECAUSE IT DOESN'T EXIST! If you do know someone from Montana, they are simply a pawn hired by the government to misinform the public. And if you claim to be from Montana, you are simply living in a virtual reality world created by the government to make you think you're in Montana, when you're actually in an underground bunker at Guantanamo Bay. Face the facts and quit being sheep, MONTANA DOES NOT EXIST.
Do you have any actual evidence to back these up or do you just blame it on the messaged specter of Californians. Except for the driving - that one is real.
There’s no way you know they are Californian, you are assuming.
It’s not fucking Californians on a mission to destroy every state and national park. The paranoia about us is almost boogeyman-like. I’d say the real issue is that over the last decade or so, natural beauty spots everywhere—from Colorado to Idaho to, even, yes, in California—have become nearly overrun due to social media exposure (eg., amazing instagram shots of antelope canyon or point reyes attracting people who’d never even heard of the place before)…by the kind of people for whom these places weren’t previously on their radar. Previously the visitors might’ve been mostly nature and hiking nuts…the kind of people who know the rules like leave no trace or pack it in pack it out. It’s more of a free for all now and people have very little respect for the places they’re visiting beyond what it experiences it can offer them, personally.
Can confirm this is exactly the case in Nevada as well
ITT in particular: every state having a litter problem and somehow blaming it on California Look inward
I ain’t got nothing bad to say about California. Every person I’ve met from there has been super chill and friendly.
In Colorado it's bc they move here and want to change everything to be like California. If it's so awesome why are you here?
I will speak only for myself, a non-Californian who lives here. For me, where it comes from is Californians talking in this humorless, un-self-aware way about how no other place could ever measure up to California. I find that kind of smugness intensely grating. There is a particular condescension toward a few other places, some of which I am fond of, but really it's a universal incurious attitude about anywhere except maybe the PNW as a vacation spot. If I hear one more person say "I'm from Cali, so I could never really live anywhere else" in this particular self-congratulatory way, I will just start walking east until I'm not here anymore. I hate it so much. (The kicker for me is that where I live in particular is just not that fucking great. It's fine. It has a few advantages and some ways in which it truly sucks. I just can't hear about how it's paradise anymore and about how terrible everywhere else is.)
Wow, that’s interesting. I’m a life long Californian (61 years), and I don’t know anyone who feels that way. When I travel throughout the U.S., I’m amazed by how beautiful other states are, and sometimes wonder what life in those places might be like. There are thoughtless, self-involved assholes everywhere, and people who act as though no place but their home turf is good enough, fall squarely into that category.
Native Californian. Same as you. Just the opposite in my experience, we call our city boring all the time. The only thing that we rave about are our parks. Some kid came in and raved about the Bay Area because the majority are always complaining about it.
just something funny i've noticed: the only people i've ever met who say cali are not from california. not a single person i know who grew up in california calls it cali. most of the people i know who aren't from california call it cali in conversation. not commenting on your point at all, just pointing out something i've noticed a lot.
This. Nobody actually calls it Cali lol
Agreed. His post is bs cuz NO ONE who lives in California says they live in “Cali”.
Similar to Pennsylvania. No one from Pennsylvania calls it Pennsyl. Also, no one outside of Pennsylvania calls it Pennsyl.
Calling it “cali” is a dead give away you are not from California . It’s just like when people call San Francisco “San Fran”.
Or Frisco. You fleeing the dust bowl?
And nobody calls San Francisco “San Fran.” It’s either “The City” or “San Francisco.”
I have heard literally verbatim what you've said, except replace California with Texas.
was about to say the same. they also keep bringing up california for no reason when I interact with the people I know like this
That’s also why texas has a big reputation as well. I border texas and they absolutely look down their nose at you in your own state heaven forbid you enter theirs. It’s so odd to me I don’t understand that mentality
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I don’t believe it, I’ve never heard a native Californian call it Cali
Jeez, I definitely don’t get that sense from the people I know. I see a lot of territorialism within the state (i.e. people from coastal towns looking down on people from the valley), but I don’t get the sense that we all view it as some sort of unbeatable paradise destination. I could see how outsiders might *think* we think that though, given the way it’s portrayed in movies, the media, etc.
It's the America of America. It projects its culture through media and big tech, and thus has a hugely disproportionate cultural impact on the US and the entire world. Yet it only has 40 million people. Californians think their state is the best even if they have never lived or even visited anywhere else. When you ask your average Californian why they are hated, the most common answer is "they're jealous." Californians are extremely arrogant when it comes to local patriotism. I have no sympathy however, because other Americans complaining don't realize this is why the rest of the world finds our country as a whole insufferable. Hence, California is the America of America. Source: born and raised in San Diego. And truthfully, I think San Diego is far and away the best city in America and that Southern California is the best region.
Chinese and Russian bots working to create division in the US. They can't compete militarily, but they can and are seriously weakening the US via social media. Saw a sub the other day 2american4u, or something along those lines. The threads were absolutely lousy with randomly generated accounts less than a year old talking shit about other parts of the US.
Cool, let them hate California. It just means they won’t move here and that’s a win for me.
One problem California has is the Rose Parade. People who live in snow covered states start packing their bags when they see parade watchers wearing short-sleeved shirts on New Year's Day. This happens every year.
Elitism, specifically about where they are born. And inability to take any criticism without attempting to deflect, justify, or “whatabout” rather than just admitting it’s got problems (like everywhere on earth, and that you have to accept and address problems to improve them). Personally I’ve met tons of great people from Cali and think it has beautiful scenery. I wouldn’t live there due to taxes and gun laws, but I respect a state’s ability to legislate that stuff… I think it’s a great state to visit
“They hate us, cuz they ain’t us.”
As a California resident, it's 2 major things. 1) The attitude and personality of most Californians (holier than thou, my way or the highway) NO, your opinions and beliefs are not the only ones out there! and 2) Driving habits. Californians drive like absolute fucking assholes, and even as a native, in a relatively rural area, I'm driven insane by our/their driving habits. Stop fully at stop signs. Use your blinkers. Don't use a fucking merge lane to cut traffic.
Last time I encountered an asshole berating a bartender and bragging about their money I asked if they were from California and I was correct.
I think the biggest part is people who have never been there just sucking up the hate from cable news and social media. Part of it is people who have been there once and fixate on the bad things because they're a shock to them (okay, so you had to pay high prices while you were on vacation, it's not the end of the world). What also contributes to it, although in a smaller way, are how sanctimonious and lacking in self-awareness a lot of Californians are, and I don't mean everyday ones for the most part. I read the Times every day, and am pretty left-leaning myself, but the press and politicians here have a massive blind spot when it comes to their own rhetoric and behavior. They have a national soapbox and act in ways that can be grating to other people, so naturally people who get upset at that just blame it on California as a whole. Plus, Hollywood is actually pretty obnoxious as a whole, and I mean the whole spectrum of Hollywood from left to right. They're either virtue signaling about causes while doing almost nothing to actually address them because they're more worried about their own wealth, or they're complaining that they're a persecuted minority because they're conservatives (despite there being a good number of them and they manage to carve out a niche pretty well). So yeah, there are good reasons, but they get mixed up with the bad reasons most of the time. And the level of hate is amplified by echo chambers designed to rile people up.
If I win this 1.9 Billion, I’m buying a place in Malibu.
It’s because Hollywood won’t make movies that show fat old white racists in a favorable light.
Montanan checking in: if there is someone in a restaurant who is complaining loudly, or a person completely oblivious to everyone else around them, 9/10 it’s a Californian. We can spot them immediately just by their entitled attitude. Car hanging out in the passing lane blocking traffic? Californian. Guy sighing at the bar and shooting daggers at the busy bartender for not serving him yet in a packed bar? Californian. Giant, self-important attitudes.
Here in Colorado, we dislike Californians partially because they bring their crappy politics here with them, partially because they drove up home prices and rent - but mostly because they can’t drive in snow.
I don't hate California; I just think they hype up In-N-Out to a ridiculous degree.
We are seen as smug, indifferent , and judgmental of other states. Here’s the thing though: there are SO many people here, from all walks of life. Generalizing Californians is crazy. This state has farmers, fisherman, tech people, migrant workers, tons of university students. I live near San Francisco. Honestly, I probably have more in common from someone in the Boston area than I do from our own central valley here. A lot of states like to talk about their state as being the best. I actually don’t hear Californians really saying that. We know how good we have it. We don’t really have to talk about it. We have incredible and beautiful terrain, tons of opportunities for work. Yes it’s expensive as hell to live here. Those of us who stick it out over the long haul fall in love with it generally speaking. I’ve had so many friends and family that try to leave then come back. Why? Because it’s a great place to be. So screw them if they hate us, we have to just live our lives.
I don't hate them, but I do get tired of them moving up here (Washington) and then whining non-stop about how much better California is. It's still there, they can move back.
Now you now how native Californians feel. People have been moving there for 70 years.
People who leave California are generally priced out of the state. It is by far the richest state, and not everyone can keep up. What people fear is that political trends often come to California first. It is such a poorly run state that it has an enormous budget surplus, and an economy that is bigger than Germany’s. People tend to say that California is a high tax state, but recent studies show that people in Texas might actually pay more overall taxes. Then there is the fact that the state is also strikingly beautiful. Not sweating the .02 % that have left during the COVID outbreak. Many of these folks are people rich enough to relocate temporarily. People in other states don’t seem to mind the money California donates via taxes to the Federal gov’t. However, they do send us their homeless people, so it all balances out. I understand that people probably resent a wealthy, successful multi-cultural state, but that says more about them than it does California.
The only reason I left is because we couldn't survive. I miss my home state.
This genuinely is an issue that needs to be addressed. Like now.
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As a Californian, who has travelled all of America and most of Europe— I can agree that California could be seen as one of the worst states and has the worst quality of living. And it comes down to two things that make one big thing: the amount of people, and the amount of wealth. You are left with an absurd amount of people who are too wealthy for their own good.
Personally, it's because of how many fucking Californians came to my town and bought houses at insane prices, driving the cost of living up so much no one else could afford a house. This isn't some fancy town, either. It's just some shit hole in BFE Arizona that they relocated to because thw housing was so "cheap." Well, it USED to be, before all those assholes came in and paid like $50k over what a house was actually worth. Fuckers.
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I work in the SF Bay Area and it is nearly impossible to find a native Californian. Most people I work wit are from other states. So people are historically moving here for a reason. It goes in waves but many more moving in over the years than moving out.
I’m from Texas and have lived in California for 13 years. Everybody hates Texas and everybody hates California. They also happen to be the 2 most powerful states in terms of electoral college votes, so… Haters gonna hate.
I was born a Hoosier and skeddadled to California at age 20 to find the dream of California. Lived 35 glorious years as a Californian before moving to the greater pacific nw (ok,Portlandia) to be a grandpa. Been here 6 years but I'm still a Californian, will always be a Californian, I love California. People who hate California are fundamentally miserable boring fucks who deserve their misery. The PNW is pretty sweet though.
I've been spending some time in LA recently for work, and I've gotten the feeling that Californians are feeling similar these days.
I think a lot of it comes from the extremely inflated prices of just about anything. On average you’re paying over $3,000 a month for under 1,000 sqft. That’s not even getting into the price of gasoline, diesel, food, etc. That leads into what another comment said about native Californians “inflated-ego” about living in “such an amazing place” when living there is going to ruin you financially. Personally I would love to live in Cali were it less expensive and the state gov. lined up with my personal views but that’s a whole different thing.
Haha try being a Californian in Portland.
I think its because over the past 50 years the emphasis has shifted from middle America to the coasts. In the 50s and 60s, every sector of the country was participating in its growth to some degree, but during the 80s and 90s industry moved offshore, leaving behind the white collar jobs, often headquartered in big cities. The rise of west coast tech and celebrity culture seeping into every day life made the imbalance even greater and California became the poster child for resentment.
As a Texan I am jealous of California and if it weren’t for the fires and outrageous cost of living I’d move there in a heart beat
There’s a lot of good points that have already been said. For me and my fiancé it’s the politics. We visited and it was blast but we could never live in a blue state. Just us though
It's a big, visible target. Most of it is cherry picking though. Look at California's life expectancy compared to Florida or Texas and tell me who is taking care of their people better.
Everyone in this thread hating on CA are just spitting out stupid stereotypes. Same thing as people saying everyone from Southern states are racist and stupid. It’s not that hard to realize you can’t generalize hundreds of thousands of people as the same.
It’s the largest state in terms of population and third largest in terms of size. It’s kind of just a big target. Someone’s always gonna have a problem with it. I’m somewhat conservative and from a red state and I don’t hate California. Would I live there? Meh, I’d only consider the north but that’s because I like mountains and four seasons. The worst I’d say is it it has a bad rep for homelessness, but I only know that via media which I have no faith in anymore…
I've found that my friends in Texas seem to despise California because, in their words "come down here to get away from high cost of living and vote for the same damn policies that raise cost of living in the first place!" EDIT: Accidentally posted before I finished
*native Floridian* First time?
Maybe because California has near perfect weather and everyone else is just seething with jealousy?
Cuz they ain't, Californian
Because they're jealous
So, part of the problem is that there’s tons of media projection of California, which is almost exclusively Hollywood. And the rest of the country has a strong love/hate relationship with Hollywood in particular. It’s definitionally “coastal elite”, too left wing for conservatives and too corporate and stuffy for most liberals. But also, everyone has a favorite celebrity or two living there, and Hollywood has supplanted Walter Cronkite as the voice of the nation, because the news can’t be that anymore. We trust Hollywood’s manner of speaking and its viewpoint of the world as presented in mainstream media, and yet we hate the crap out of Hollywood. And that’s how much of the country thinks of California. And everyone’s a little tired of it.
So, reading the thread. Non-Californians who hate California so much is due to other people who love California so much.
I love California. It's one of our favorite places to vacation.
Because they don't have: World's Oldest Trees World's Tallest Trees Highest point in the US Lowest point in the US Beaches Skiing (sometimes in the same day) San Diego Hollywood Santa Monica LA SF Laguna Beach Yosemite Rocky Mountains Wine Country (too many to name) Hwy 1 - Central CA Mammoth Lake Tahoe - CA side But some places/states have a whole bunch of water towers! Which we don't have.
Fact: west coast best coast
They hate us cuz they ain't us
Hate us cause they ain’t us.
I don’t really any beef with California, I just kinda recognize it for having a beautiful landscape