[pct-l] OR-CA--totally off topic but here it is.

[Marion Davison]

I have lived in SoCal my entire life (50+ yrs) but I like to do road 
trips so I have visited 35 states. I have seen variations of the "Don't 
Californicate...." bumper sticker in several western states.  I think 
what they are talking about are the same things that bother me about 
living here.
A.  California castles.  I refer to these areas as "Castlevania," 
emphasis on the vain part, as in vanity.  I refer to places where a 
pristine wild hillside is invaded by a castle-style home built on top, 
in an otherwise very isolated area.  Many of these can be seen from the 
15 freeway as one drives south from Temecula to San Diego.  They are 
ubiquitous throughout the state.
B.  Disneyfication.  I refer to the tendency to build oversize 
commercial buildings (retail, restaurants, etc) to look like they belong 
in a theme park, with outsize buildings, garish colors and decor, and no 
local flavor whatsoever.  They seem to be dropped at random in every 
community.
C.  Big-ass houses.  We now have tract homes on tiny lots that are three 
stories tall.  This is just a place to keep an overabundance of stuff. 
Who needs that much stuff?  How much energy is required to keep the 
first floor of a three story home warm?  Heat rises!
D.  Freeways.  I learned in college in an urban planning session in the 
80's, if you build it, they will come.  If you widen the road and make 
traffic flow better, more people will use the road and it will soon 
become unusable again.
E.  General coldness.  Californians have perfected the art of living a 
private life in an overpopulated state.  In general, Californians don't 
look strangers in the eye, don't smile at strangers, and don't greet 
them.  Whenever I travel to another state and encounter people who look 
you in the eye, smile, and say hello, I am overwhelmed with warm 
feelings for that place and get the general impression that "I love to 
visit ______ because people are so friendly there".
I can see why people don't want these things to happen to their state.
I had three very good friends who moved from Oregon to my community in 
SoCal.  All of them were very intelligent and thoughtful people who 
thought before they spoke.  Also they spoke much more slowly that my 
native SoCal friends.  All of them moved back to Oregon and I miss them. 
  I can't blame them, they probably were lonely and homesick the whole 
time they were here.
Marion