I came here from Washington, D.C. The folks there and in the surrounding MD and VA burbs (especially Montgomery and Arlington counties) are very nerdy and supposedly cultured – lets just say they all seem to vacation in Tuscany! Well I got sick of “those people” (as I called them) whose highest values seem to be Art, Eating Well, Travel, Expertise, and Health. Anyway, although I can’t define “culture”… in excessive doses it definitely got on my nerves after 25 years (I had grown up here). Nevertheless, I would have stayed in D.C. despite having grown to despise those people except for the fact that there are no BEACHES there – all those years away from SoCal I was California dreaming, more specifically dreaming of surf.
So assuming I could tolerate the wet weather up there (Seattle or Portland) and the supposedly more refined people, how does the surf compare? Anyone know?
Back to culture – IMHO people who engage in extensive international travel thinking they are expanding their cultural horizons but without learning the rudiments of the languages spoken in the countries they go to are really just monied rubes.
Side thought – average education level attained might serve as a practical measure of “culture” in the sense that anything learned in school from the ABCs to elite science and humanistic studies is for the most part what constitutes culture. I just spent some time looking for some tables that could accurately place San Diego relative to other metropolitian areas. I’m sure the information is out there I just couldn’t easily find it. So I will hazard a few guesses. San Diego is more “cultured” (educated) than Bakersfield and the Inland Empire. In fact it might be more cultured than any place between here and Washington D.C. where I guess that the suburban counties mentioned would rank considerably higher than here. Likewise, Long Island and parts of New England may be more highly cultured (using the education as a surrogate for culture). Compared to Oregon and Washington – I wouldn’t have a clue.
