Living in California can be a blast! It’s the Golden State for a reason. Unfortunately, people living outside of California can make misconceptions about the state pretty easily. Here are the top twelve misconceptions about life in California!
California stretches for hundreds of miles across the west coast, so the beach is synonymous with the state at this point. But, one misconception about California that people believe is that everyone goes to the beach and knows how to surf. Not true!
Not all of California is a beach resort that caters to everyone’s tropical getaway fantasy. Some beaches are clean, some are contaminated. Some people like the beach, others hate it. Not everyone likes the beach!
It’s become a popular notion to view Californian slang as a vestige of a bygone era. Frozen in time, a misconception about California holds that people living there still cling onto old slang. Because we’re so close to the beach, we’re always catching some “gnarly” waves, dude! Every extreme stunt is always preceded by a “cowabunga!” that our friends will agree was “radical!”
Nowadays, Californians are more inclined to be “shook” or “woke” than to ever call anything “tubular!”
Apparently, we don’t get rain in California according to other states! This may have, in part, been fueled by the extremely long drought session the state experienced for nearly the entire 2010’s decade. But, it’s certainly not like we never experience rain!
While it doesn’t get too cold, rainy days are still very common weather occurrences in the winter and spring seasons. We don’t get it as often as other locales though, nor does it rain especially hard. But our persistent sunny and warm weather conveys to others a different reality.
Bordering Mexico makes California a crossroads between the United States and Mexico. Southern California, in particular, holds a large Latino demographic. People living outside of California have made generally unfounded conclusions that claim is “overrun” with immigrants. Again, nope!
While California is a popular destination for immigrants from Mexico, the state does not consider it an epidemic, nor does it find itself overflooded with current migrant residents.
Yes, the majority of California is liberal and, yes, residents in this state are generally more lax when it comes to smoking recreation. But, smoking can still be seen as taboo depending on the areas and demographics you visit.
Smoking as a common past time that might have been big in California decades back, but in today’s socio-political climate, access to weed and vaping have risen to be just as commonplace in other states.
A common misconception is that we all live in big, breezy houses; that we shop every day; that we make bank every month! Listen, wealth and the perception of success are not things that are easy to come by, even in California. Demographics shift according to the area, so no one community is going to be the perfect example of Californian economics.
A lot of big names, big talent, and big attractions do make themselves at home in this state. California is suitable for many creative and entertaining enterprises, given its climate. It’s unfortunate that California isn’t as filled to the brim with attractions as one may think.
Aside from the big cities like Los Angeles and San Diego, big-ticket attractions like Disneyland or Seaworld just aren’t plentiful outside of these areas.
Conventional attractiveness is something we as a society are still learning to displace. It doesn’t help that people outside of California view the state as filled with walking, talking supermodels on every street corner.
Given that California is the entertainment capital of the world, it’s easy to see how people can think Californians are supermodels just waiting to be primed up by the Hollywood elites.
It’s true, California is a vastly liberal state. Now what isn’t true is that there are no conservative ideologies around. To everyone else, California is a super liberal state that leaves no room or comfort to right-wing, Republican politics. California is just like everywhere else. Lots of people are going to have different opinions and most of them won’t click together.
Just because California is home to Hollywood and is considered the entertainment capital of the world, folks outside the state think Los Angeles is right outside our backyard, or that it’s a convenient 2-hour long drive.
The reality is, while you can be creative and you can have the talent, it’s just a very competitive scene that doesn’t guarantee support for a lot of people, especially those of low-income backgrounds.
The idea that everyone goes to Hollywood and that it’s a beautiful area to visit is, unfortunately, a crushing myth. Hollywood has become more of a tourist trap in recent years following its global reputation.
Nobody just goes to Hollywood to live the life of a starlet, to eat fancy cuisine, or to enjoy the majesty of the entertainment capital of the world. Hollywood is far too expensive and overrated for out-of-towners to seriously consider a lasting stay.
California is really lucky to not have to deal with as many natural disasters as other states. Our only major concern is usually focused on large earthquakes. California is known for many of these gigantic shake-ups, the San Andreas Fault becoming popular movie fodder. This has led people to believe earthquakes happen at the drop of a hat here, and very frequently, too.
But, realistically, most earthquakes aren’t high magnitude events. Many are quaint shiftings that feel as though they are passing by, unharming those around them.
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