As a proudly born and raised Southern California native, specifically a Los Angeles chicana who is gladly and always willing to brag about how one of a kind Los Angeles is, I can confidently say SoCal is far superior than Northern California.
Am I crazy to be saying this as someone currently living in Northern California? Yes.
I do acknowledge that living in the Bay Area in Northern California is a unique experience in itself.
Northern California does have its own aspects of beauty in various categories that I do appreciate, but it will never amount to the level of esteem and love I hold for Southern California.
Los Angeles will always be my first love and forever home. All I can say is it just has a different energy!
The moment you get off the plane and exit the LAX airport you’re greeted by the chaotic atmosphere of crazy LA people and the smell of marijuana.
That might sound disgusting and scary to some people, but to me it smells and looks like home.
It’s an immediate signifier that from the moment I step foot onto my beautiful SoCal soil I'll never be bored for as long as I stay there.
What do people even do for fun in Northern California? There’s nothing here, and you have to drive 20-40 minutes to get from city to city.
Sure, you get to enjoy a scenic drive of mountain ranges and greenery, but in LA you drive for 10 minutes and you’re in a whole new city with different architecture and random hole-in-the-wall food spots or businesses.
I’ve been in the Bay Area for almost four years and have never found any place or activity that will captivate me in a profound way like SoCal has.
If my brain could create a mental map of all my best core memories and where they took place, mine would all span across Southern California.
Those memories would include my sister and I blasting music on the beach, and eating spicy chips while we sunbathe.
You can't even put your feet in the cold, gray oceans here in NorCal without freezing to death.
Other memories include weekday brunches or lunch dates at my favorite brunch spots in downtown, sipping on mimosas in the LA sun.
Getting on the small swan paddle boats in Echo Park lake or in Long Beach.
Museum days at The Broad and going on the Angel’s Flight railway, a historic landmark in LA that is a small orange cable car that goes up and down at a diagonal angle.
A weekly food market called Smorgasburg that takes place every Sunday in downtown Los Angeles that features a variety of food trucks and vendors.
Don't even get me started on the food, it's mouthwatering just to think about it.
You can literally drive from San Diego to Tijuana, Mexico to get the best tacos and LA is home to some of the craziest and best food spots in the world and it’s not just because of the food quality, but the environment and ambience.
The people of SoCal are intoxicatingly interesting. It’s like they get more sun and because of it they are super laid back and happy.
Unlike in Northern California everyone is so intense or uptight, people here are so focused on the hustle and work, when in LA people take time to themselves to enjoy and bask in the moment.
When I walk around in SoCal, this instant playlist of music goes off in my head, like in those really crappy movies when a character is walking confidently as a song plays in the background.
I walk around in my neighborhood thinking there’s a Bad Bunny song playing as I walk by and if you’ve ever been to LA - that’s how everyone walks there, with confidence.
Northern California people tend to dress and sometimes act very average, you could even say below average.
People in Southern California dress how they feel which is usually in a very eccentric or abstract way.
In SoCal, all my outfits are colorful and everyday I have a new look. I never feel overdressed or too extravagant.
I'm my most radiant self in LA, I glow.
Yes, maybe people (including me) in SoCal are rough around the edges, we won’t answer your stupid questions, we keep to ourselves most of the time, but you can't say we aren't fascinating once you actually get to know us.
I know in SoCal I never have to change my music taste to sad, gloomy songs because the sun will always shine.
The sky will put on its makeup at sunset with its seraphic blend of orange, lavender and pink hues to add to the blue.
I’d like to think those sunsets are a love letter Southern California writes every evening to the people who call it home.
