The NorCal Versus SoCal Rivalry

NorCal

The relationship between Northern California and Southern California is like a sibling rivalry. But clearly everyone knows NorCal is better.

Southern California commonly thinks it is a significantly better place than NorCal only because there are more movies filmed there. However, as a lifetime NorCal girl, I adamantly disagree.

The rivalry goes back to the end of the 19th century when the city of Los Angeles began to grow too big for it’s water supply. This meant that water was funneled from NorCal and the Colorado river. Northern Californians have resented their lower half ever since.

I love to listen to the reasons SoCal residents think their half of the state is better. One of the top reasons listed is almost always the beaches. Maybe they do have a handful of nice beaches, but NorCal does too.

Not to mention, we have Yosemite National Park, Lassen National Park and Redwood National Forest. If you still aren’t sold on the fact that NorCal has more natural beauty, I have two words for you: Lake Tahoe. Meanwhile a majority of Southern California is desert, so have fun feeling like you are in an oven if you want to live there.

Not only is the geography and the scenery better, but the people are more down to earth. SoCal has too many rich, snobby celebrities and people who do little more than tan and go to the beach. And as soon as you cross into the south side of the 35th parallel it’s like people forget how to wash their hair. And the bro population down south is a lot more prominent.

Not to mention that when California was Mexican territory, the government would have to bribe people to live there. Nobody wanted to live in a desert wasteland in the middle of nowhere. Thus, L.A. became a refuge for criminals and outcasts.

NorCal on the other hand was settled in 1849 when the Gold Rush brought people West. Not only did NorCal have the prosperous resources, but it also had the prosperous minerals.

San Francisco has always been the place to be. Its location on the bay made it accessible to trade routes from all over the world. The city has welcomed a huge number of immigrants over the years and has been home to a diverse community and the Golden Gate bridge. The only other American symbol signifying the American promise land as well as the Golden Gate is the Statue of Liberty.

The Bay Area has served as the creative inspiration for many authors, poets and other intellectuals. It was home to movements such as the San Francisco Renaissance and the free speech movement.

SoCal may be able to lay claim to Hollywood, but it can also claim the 1992 Rodney King riots. Los Angeles is also the 10th most segregated city in the U.S. as of the 2010 census. How nice.

And if we are going to talk about Los Angeles, we have to talk about the smog. As an asthmatic, my lungs suffer just thinking about that city. We also can’t forget about the traffic. Even native SoCal residents have to admit we have them beat in that aspect.

SoCal may have Hollywood, but NorCal has the capital city. The capital may have changed locations five times, but none of those locations was in the south. We govern SoCal. We also have the Bay Area. The Bay Area — which is too expansive to be narrowed to a city — has a vast amount of resources and also harbors the Silicon Valley. Do I need to reiterate the importance of the Silicon Valley to American technological development? I don’t think so.

We also have more sports teams. We have the Raiders, the 49ers, the Giants, the A’s, the Warriors and the Kings. So what if most of these teams suck most of the time, what is great is the variety.

And the fans are loyal. SoCal may have the Los Angeles Lakers and the LA Dodgers, but they also have the San Diego Chargers so lets not get too cocky.

If NorCal didn’t supply all of SoCal’s water, most of Southern California would be desolate and barren. So NorCal is the land of fresh air, fresh water, food, trees, cool people and the best weed in the nation. I don’t know how it gets any better. Oh, that’s right, it doesn’t.

Feliz Moreno is a sophomore English major and editor of the Opinion section.

SoCal

Southern California or Northern California? Is this even a question? Clearly SoCal is much more awesome than its northern counterpart.

First, it must be made clear we are not saying that northern California is a bad place in any way. Most SoCal kids that go to school here at Santa Clara clearly like it enough to leave their home to spend four years up here.

What we are trying to say is that having lived in both areas, we are much more qualified to describe the much more “awesome” nature of SoCal over NorCal. 

It would stand to reason that the better location would attract a larger amount of residents. SoCal’s population according to the US Census Bureau is 23,418,460, while only 14,874,227 people reside in the north. In this argument we are using the 35’46 N parallel line, which defines a border marking the transition between the locations commonly referred to SoCal and NorCal. 

Despite the much higher cost of living in SoCal, people choose to remain in the area. Why is this? The economic size of the two regions, when looking at the mean household income for the allotted counties above and below the 35th parallel, shows that the average SoCal income is about $49,000 compared to NorCal’s $47,000.