Only A Slightly Goofy Idea
Ah, ad campaigns. A few months back, I blogged on the new SF tourism campaign centered on the theme “Only In San Francisco.” The flip side of that, of course, would be that if it’s only in SF, it’s not anywhere else. Like, say, Los Angeles. Meet a new slant on the SF tourism campaign: notinla.com (which bounces you to onlyinsf.org). According to the caption from this SF Chron photo, the campaign is designed to play up the Nor/So rivalry while luring SoCal-ers North:
Full disclosure: I’m from Los Angeles. I’m fairly SoCal biased, frankly. Though I certainly enjoy by NorCal digs enough. One thing I don’t get, however, is the extent to which NorCal types seem hell bent on poking at those of us south of SLO. I can assure you that down there, we just didn’t spend that much time thinking about San Francisco. But whatever.
I will, however, continue to find these sorts of ads “hella”-amusing.
Well I’m coming off of 8 years in LA and so far I find San Francisco so much better on every single level. Hell, I even went to a park by my apartment here the other day and it didn’t smell like a toilet. It actually smelled like grass and trees! I don’t care where you go inside LA proper it basically smells like someone pissed on your shoes and you stepped in homeless crap. It’s disgusting. So I’m personally happy as hell to be part of the NoCal crowd now :-)
NorCal 4 Life!
:)
I’ve only been in SF two years but my take on it is that NorCal frowns on SoCal because the people there are stereotyped as being more superficial and fake (like plastic surgery and Hollywood), while NorCal usually gets associated with depth and real (like ‘being true to yourself and granola).
But being new here, I’m interested to know if someone can elaborate on this rivalry.
no, SF parks still smell like piss.
Yes. The parks do smell like that.
Now, about the superficiality comment. All I have to say about that is: There’s a Gap at the corner of Haight and Ashbury.
I think that’s all you need to know about the SF mentality. If LA is shallow and superficial, so is the Bay Area.
You’re right about that being one of the common critiques – but that comes from pissed off would-be actors and East Coast transplants who write the movies and shows the would-bes would-be on. Having grown up in SoCal, I have no idea what anyone is talking about – unless I spend too much time in various parts of the west side – which, again – is generally filled with transplants who feel they need to carry on attitude traditions they’ve seen in fictional works.
But don’t take my word for it. Spend a few Friday or Saturday nights in the Marina. Just a bit of proof that superficiality can exist anywhere.
I have always loved San Francisco and for the seven years I lived in LA, I contrived ways to move up here. But by the time I got around to it, I was actually pretty darn happy in LA.
Now I love the weather (Sorry, folks proclaiming LA superiority in this respect: I hate HOT HEAT.), I love my neighborhood, I love BART, I love hanging out with the pals I only used to see once or twice a year (Because it IS true that SoCal dwellers will venture up here often enough, but NoCal folks can’t be bothered to fly south.), I love the food and I love my new job. (Which, okay, is actually in the Santa Clara Valley, but whatev.)
But I also miss my LA friends, I miss my 10-minute commute on surface streets (I moved to San Francisco to drive 80 miles on a freeway every day. Who’d have guessed?), I miss my old neighborhood (Silver Lake), I miss the freaking Arclight Theater (!), and I miss the plethora of tasty sit-down Mexican joints.
Really, though, all of this just proves something I realized somewhere between Pittsburgh and London: Any city can be home, as long as you have friends and know where the good food is.
I have lived in both the Bay Area and Southern California, too. And while I find reasons to love both areas, I have to confess my amusement at one thing. There’s a layer of smog which hangs over the San Jose civic center nearly constantly. Mention it and out spew the denials….
I am an O.G. L.A. resident born and raised in the suburbs of East (I mean way east) of Los Angeles (think of Snoop Dogg’s diggs in the hills right next to Chino, and not that the O.C. crap), and I moved up to the Peninsula about 6 months ago. I am not sorry to say, I love it here!
The weather is great because you know what, we actually almost have more defined seasons, unlike LA where there are only varieties of smog levels. I remember not being able to have recess because of smog alerts, now how sad is that.
LA also lacks a downtown and a shopping atmosphere like Union Square – yeah, there’s 3rd Street, Old Town, Beverly Center, City Walk, and the Grove – but puh-lease…you don’t feel like your in an actual city, it’s more like a Vegas hotel. Downtown LA is also a joke – a ghost town on the weekends and packed with irrate drivers during the week. There’s even that lone Macy’s, so sad.
And if you wanna take public transportation, well good-luck buddy, cause it’ll be faster if you walk. But then nobody walks in LA, cause you will get run over! I know, I’ve commuted to UCLA from South of Wilshire (the world’s busiest intersection) on my bike, and I have been backed up into as I was crossing on the cross walk! What kinda shit is that!??!! Plus, you will look hella poor taking the bus or riding a bike!
Speaking of looking poor, well you better have a lot of money, look pretty or be skinny cause if you don’t you will be treated like dirt. Everyone there is mean and/or fake, even the bums! One time my bf was nice and bought a bum some bottled water cause that’s what he asked us when we were walking in to the store – when we came out he scoffed at us saying he didn’t want the water cause he only drank Evian! True story I swear!
So yeah like I hella love up here dudes and dudetttes – it’s hecka nice!