goldenstate31

Hi
As the thread suggests,
I have lost count the amount of times I have seen posters, saying along the lines of..........Its not very friendly in California, (being more precise) I would say people have mentioned Orange County and surrounding areas.
Great! We are considering a move there next year but Im starting to get a little concerned.
Is it the Brits who are unfriendly or the Americans?

Poppy girl

I live in Norcal but have accounts in Socal and visit Orange County, Long Beach area quite a bit, and I do joke about the yanks but to be honest they are just as friendly there as anywhere on the west coast, the problem with the Socal folk and PLEASE this is a generalization, BUT they tend to think their Poop don't stink ...when in affect Norcal is way way the nicer of the 2 areas...California north and south is like 2 different states.

Mummy in the foothills

I'm in the North too, I think people are more genuine here, but I live pretty rural and most people here have ranches and small holdings and are pretty much into animals and earthy stuff.
Definitely it's like two different states.

Poppy girl

I think you are dead right about the genuine thats for sure much more grounded.

goldenstate31

Mummy in the foothills, would you mind if I asked you whereabouts 'up north' you live?
Only there's something a little unsettling, when people are repeatedly saying that their not very friendly in socal!
Especially as we are thinking of moving there! But then again, we only really have a handful of CLOSE friends in the UK, who we meet for curries and stuff like that,
But do you mean on a daily basis, like hello to your neighbours?
Thanks again

Poppy girl

I don't that we live that far apart, but we have never met, I seem to recall you might be quite close to me Modesto/Escalon.

Mummy in the foothills

Yes, up in the hills Calaveras county.

Sally Redux

Where are you considering moving to? It's very fake where I am but it probably varies by area.

SagenOnion

SoCal is as synthetic as most of the tits.

Spent 20 years there before moving East and back to some depth of character.

Socal Local

I'm in Socal (as you could probably guess from my username!) and have been here about 4.5 years. It did take time to make friends at the start but I think that would have been true moving anywhere new, especially as hubby and I both work for the same company in a very small office, so that wasn't really a way to meet people.

To be honest we were very lazy about it to start off with as we were having so much fun acting like tourists every weekend and we also had a lot of visitors. It was only when we went back after about a year and saw our old friends that I realised how badly I missed them and also that kind of social life. When we got back I joined meetup and a running group and ended up making some really good friends through both.

I haven't found people to be unfriendly here at all - the main difference is that people seem to be a bit more flaky and I've been surprised a few times by that.

londonjakey

I've been here from London almost 20 years. I'd say the people are very friendly. They are kind of flakey and often not very sincere. OC and Riverside? Forget about it. A sh**hole by anyone's standards, but hey they never asked me to come! I live in San Diego and it's a fine place if a little soulless, (is that a word?) CA has been very good to me but I really miss the green of the UK. Who would believe you can get enough sunshine and palm trees! I drive 200 miles in any direction and all I see is rocks and dust. But it's cheap and yes, it's friendly.

Ben0

I have lived in SoCal for the past 20 months. I am in Temecula, its over the mountain from OC.......
Its a combination of two things I think.
1. You work hard here. Really really hard. Its expected. Its the norm. Everyone does it. By the time you get home, you are pretty stuffed and dont really feel like being all chummy with your mates.
2. Because of 1, you dont have time to make friends.

As I said, in 20 months my wife has 1 friend and I have zero.
My kids have 1-2 each. Tops.

It might be better if we had time and money for a club or some such, but we dont, so it is what it is.

Thats my take on it..... and yeah, I totally agree with what the others have said, they seem to be a bit flakey down here. Interestingly it was that exact reason why my wifes girlfriend (an American, but from the center part) had trouble making friends for a year before she met my wife.

Ozzidoc

Jeez - another one. Where have all these Sandy Paygo peeps been hiding????

londonjakey

Er...What?

Ozzidoc

Yet another Brit in San Diego is what I meant. The place is full of them