Western states bitter about "Californication"

Western States' Natives Bitter About Growing 'Californication'
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By ANGIE WAGNER The Associated Press

Published: Mar 31, 2007

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LAS VEGAS - It's dead inside Favorites bar this afternoon, where the
propped-open door spills a bit of light onto the ancient Elvis pinball
machine and the grumpy man puffing on a cigarette in front of the
video poker machine.

There's no food here, unless you count the vending machine against the
green wall. Owner Ray Medrano had to make a choice: Close the kitchen
or ban smoking. His customers love their smokes more than food, so the
kitchen lost.

For Medrano, there's only one despicable group of people to blame for
Nevada passing a smoking ban in restaurants and bars that serve food:
Californians.

"California has a negative influence on our society," he said,
glancing around as cigarette smoke fills the stuffy place. "They
should keep their world in their world."

It's a popular refrain in the West. Californians infect the rest of
the region with their politics and questionable driving, and they make
housing prices soar.

Sure, it's been 30 years since Oregonians first slapped "Don't
Californicate Oregon" bumper stickers on their cars, but, like the
song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Californication" is alive and
well.
'Then These People Came'

"I think it's just such a common desire to say things were really calm
and great here and then these people came in," said Patty Limerick,
history professor and faculty director of the University of Colorado's
Center of the American West.

Since 1991, the number of Californians moving out topped the number of
people moving into the state. The top five states Californians moved
to in 2000 through 2005 were Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Washington and
Oregon, said William Frey, population expert at the Brookings
Institution.
'We Did It This Way'

Many Californians want what eludes them in their state - open space,
clean air and not so much traffic. So they sell their houses for a
chunk of change, move somewhere else in the West, buy a bigger house
and start driving up the housing prices, much to the dismay of locals.

Sherrie Watson has lived in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, since she was 16 and
is fed up with Californians.

"They complain how cold it is. And they just moved here because it is
cheaper and to 'get away,' but then they keep saying things like, 'We
did it in California this way, so why don't you change?'

"They came here because they liked it the way it was when they
visited, but then they want to change it. I don't get it," she said.

Picking on Californians almost has become a sport.

Montanan Tom Heatherington runs a Web site called www.montana-sucks.comthat
sells T-shirts and bumper stickers that say: "Montana sucks. Now go
home and tell all your friends."

The products aren't specifically aimed at Californians, but let's just
say the point is taken.

"Most people just have this state of mind about Californians being,
how shall I say it - different than everybody else," Heatherington
said.

For many Westerners, California is seen as a state of excess and an
example of how things shouldn't be done. (

Combine that with the frontier West, where residents aren't so
interested in a lot of government control, and therein lies the
problem.

Yes, Californians drive up housing costs, and some can be blamed for
falling prices because investors snapped up cheap houses, then wanted
to sell, creating too much inventory.
A California Attitude

"Home prices go up, and we all blame Californians," said Jay Butler,
director of Realty Studies at Arizona State University Polytechnic.
"They are sort of like the West Coast version of the New Yorkers. They
have the attitude."

Nevada previously had one of the nation's least restrictive smoking
laws. Now there's no smoking in restaurants, bars that serve food or
around slot machines in grocery stores or gas stations.

Connie Feulner is a bartender at Jake's Bar in Las Vegas. When
customers get to talking about the smoking ban, she keeps mum. Don't
tell the customers, but she used to live in California.

"Damn Californians," she said, repeating a familiar complaint. "All
their fault, all the time."

Make credence recognised that on 30 Mar 2007 08:58:57 -0700, "PJ
O'Donovan" has scripted:

Western States' Natives Bitter About Growing 'Californication'
Skip directly to the full story.

This guy now spends his time changing email addresses to get his
message through. Gotta love that right wing integrity.
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
--

On Mar 30, 8:58 am, "PJ O'Donovan" wrote:
Western States' Natives Bitter About Growing 'Californication'
Skip directly to the full story.

By ANGIE WAGNER The Associated Press

Published: Mar 31, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT
More from this channel:

Search for more information:

TBO.com Site Search | Tribune archive from 1990

LAS VEGAS - It's dead inside Favorites bar this afternoon, where the
propped-open door spills a bit of light onto the ancient Elvis pinball
machine and the grumpy man puffing on a cigarette in front of the
video poker machine.

There's no food here, unless you count the vending machine against the
green wall. Owner Ray Medrano had to make a choice: Close the kitchen
or ban smoking. His customers love their smokes more than food, so the
kitchen lost.

For Medrano, there's only one despicable group of people to blame for
Nevada passing a smoking ban in restaurants and bars that serve food:
Californians.

"California has a negative influence on our society," he said,
glancing around as cigarette smoke fills the stuffy place. "They
should keep their world in their world."

It's a popular refrain in the West. Californians infect the rest of
the region with their politics and questionable driving, and they make
housing prices soar.

Sure, it's been 30 years since Oregonians first slapped "Don't
Californicate Oregon" bumper stickers on their cars, but, like the
song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Californication" is alive and
well.
'Then These People Came'

"I think it's just such a common desire to say things were really calm
and great here and then these people came in," said Patty Limerick,
history professor and faculty director of the University of Colorado's
Center of the American West.

Since 1991, the number of Californians moving out topped the number of
people moving into the state. The top five states Californians moved
to in 2000 through 2005 were Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Washington and
Oregon, said William Frey, population expert at the Brookings
Institution.
'We Did It This Way'

Many Californians want what eludes them in their state - open space,
clean air and not so much traffic. So they sell their houses for a
chunk of change, move somewhere else in the West, buy a bigger house
and start driving up the housing prices, much to the dismay of locals.

Sherrie Watson has lived in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, since she was 16 and
is fed up with Californians.

"They complain how cold it is. And they just moved here because it is
cheaper and to 'get away,' but then they keep saying things like, 'We
did it in California this way, so why don't you change?'

"They came here because they liked it the way it was when they
visited, but then they want to change it. I don't get it," she said.


If the author and OP thinks this is a trait unique to California's
they haven't met many people from other states/countries! Everyone
who moves to a new place does this sort of thing.

I live in California (the San Francisco Bay Area) and work with people
from all over the US and the world. They all at some point talk about
how great their hometown and/or county is compared to California or
the US. One of my neighbors is from New York and another one near by
if from England. The both can't shut up about how great their
hometowns are and how Californians should do this or that.
Funny thing is that MANY people here in CA are from somewhere else.
In my department of 21 there are exactly four native Californias.



Picking on Californians almost has become a sport.

Montanan Tom Heatherington runs a Web site calledwww.montana-sucks.comthat
sells T-shirts and bumper stickers that say: "Montana sucks. Now go
home and tell all your friends."

The products aren't specifically aimed at Californians, but let's just
say the point is taken.

"Most people just have this state of mind about Californians being,
how shall I say it - different than everybody else," Heatherington
said.

For many Westerners, California is seen as a state of excess and an
example of how things shouldn't be done. (

Combine that with the frontier West, where residents aren't so
interested in a lot of government control, and therein lies the
problem.

Yes, Californians drive up housing costs, and some can be blamed for
falling prices because investors snapped up cheap houses, then wanted
to sell, creating too much inventory.
A California Attitude

"Home prices go up, and we all blame Californians," said Jay Butler,
director of Realty Studies at Arizona State University Polytechnic.
"They are sort of like the West Coast version of the New Yorkers. They
have the attitude."

Nevada previously had one of the nation's least restrictive smoking
laws. Now there's no smoking in restaurants, bars that serve food or
around slot machines in grocery stores or gas stations.

Connie Feulner is a bartender at Jake's Bar in Las Vegas. When
customers get to talking about the smoking ban, she keeps mum. Don't
tell the customers, but she used to live in California.

"Damn Californians," she said, repeating a familiar complaint. "All
their fault, all the time."

On 2 Apr 2007 12:04:46 -0700, "ls" wrote:

Keep California Brown, Go back toArizona, Nevada, Texas, Washington
and Oregon.