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October 13, 2011 | 4 Comments

Orange County is NOT the Los Angeles Area

Living in Orange County is awesome. The weather is beautiful pretty much 11 months out of the year, and those 30 days of bad weather are scattered throughout fall and winter. We’re the home of Disneyland, Surf City USA, some of the most beautiful and beautifully preserved missions and the Pageant of the Masters. If none of that revs your engine, we have some of the best shopping California has to offer between South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island, not to mention the world class Pacific Symphony and Pacific Chorale and a some of the most exciting sports events in the US. For the hipsters, we have incredible coffee shops that roast their own beans, tons of overpriced vintage boutiques, the Bluth family, and more raw & vegan eateries than you can shake a stick at. For the anti-hipster, we’re famous for our outrageous (and OG) Real Housewives as well as The OC (though I’d argue that Orange County with Jack Black and Colin Hanks was here first and I’d much rather be known for that). We’re a foodie’s wonderland, a health-nut’s heaven, a family’s entertainment mecca. Orange County has something for everyone and it is at its core many, many things.

What Orange County is not, however, is Los Angeles. Los Angeles is a land of its own. Los Angeles lies within the bounds of, oh, hey, whaddya know, Los Angeles County. Yes, we have a lot in common. We both have our slums, we have our upper class meccas. We’re both home to the top 1% as well as the rest of the 99%. But so is New York. So is Dallas. So are Atlanta, Miami and DC. But we’re not at all the same.

Now technicially (according to Wikipedia), Orange County is a part of the “Greater Los Angeles Area” and “Los Angeles Metropolitan Area.” I understand these, but when well reputed news sources say that an event in Seal Beach was in the “Los Angeles Area,” I think it’s reasonable to find the writer(s) misguided. When reporting a geographic trend? Totally. OC/LA/Riverside/San Bernardino are absolutely a geographic region to lump together. But when reporting a local event, specificity is part and parcel of accuracy. People know where Orange County, California is, even if they don’t know that Disneyland lives there.

And that’s another thing. Orange County doesn’t get credit for all we have to offer. Poor little Anaheim – if you asked anyone that isn’t from or in some way connected to California what is special about Anaheim, they might know about the Angels (whom Los Angeles decided to claim as their own despite having the Dodgers) and the Ducks. Disneyland? Oh, I thought that was in LA. NOPE. We have our own identity, but it’s like having an overachiever older sibling go through school before you and getting all the same teachers. You get compared and tested, and ultimately, you’re either known as the younger sibling or you both lose your individual identities and you’re the Smith kids.

So please, the next time you write about your visit to the US Open of Surf or the Sawdust Festival or that great bakery in Costa Mesa, give some love to the coolest county on the West Coast.

P.S. We don’t actually call ourselves “The OC.” It’s just kind of an embarrassing running joke.

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Comments

  1. Angels Fan says:
    October 13, 2011 at 12:14 pm

    All very true, except for the part about the Angels. Technically, Anaheim “claimed” the Angels in 1965. The Angels have been a Los Angeles team LONGER than they have been an Anaheim team, and LONGER than the “Brooklyn” Dodgers have been a Los Angeles team. The Angels were based and founded in Los Angeles in 1892, and only moved to Anaheim in 1965, marking a 73 year run as a Los Angeles based team. So technically Los Angeles created the Angels, while “claiming” the Dodgers as their own in 1957. It doesn’t matter who claimed who in the long run, because they are currently an Anaheim / Orange County team without a doubt, and one of the best, if not the best California based team. However, as for the current branding of the team, you can’t blame Los Angeles for that since they are no longer our team. The blame for that falls much closer to home.

    Reply
  2. Jason says:
    March 20, 2013 at 2:53 pm

    Ya ya ya, thats what everyone in orange county seems to think. Coming from an outsiders perspective orange county is by all means LA. Orange county would be a big piece of garbage if it weren’t for LA. I never even knew of orange county growing up just a few hours north in SLO, and made frequent trips to visit family in LA county or go to disneyland. When I moved down here I learned how many OC residents are so anal about being associated with LA. Many people commute from OC to LA everyday for work, wouldn’t that be enough to consider OC a giant suburb of LA? Basically what I’m saying is I love living in orange county, although I hate the cookie cutter neighborhoods, conservatism, and annoying people that get all uppity about issues like this. To prove my point though the main reason I do enjoy living here is because I’m still close to LA (about an hour from downtown) but I don’t have to deal with as much pollution, congestion, and crime. 

    Reply
    • Jack Michaels says:
      June 9, 2014 at 3:04 pm

      So move to LA then clown. Orange County is its own region with its own identity apart from liberal garbage mecca Los Angeles CA…

      Reply
  3. Jeremy says:
    November 24, 2014 at 10:38 pm

    I grew up in Buena Park, and moved to Kansas when I was 17 (yep, the culture shock was definitely there at first, but KS is a great state and definitely more forward thinking-and yet, still maintainsa great degree of common sense-than people think). People always asked me,(and still sometimes ask)

    “so, You’re from L.A. huh?”

    NO!!!!!!!

    Just like Long Islanders have a seperate identity from the NYC, and just like people from Napa, Solano, and Oakland don’t like being called “San Franciscans”, people from O.C. are different. When much of LA looked like crap, Orange County was nicer, and while the p.c. bullcrap was trendy in LA-for the most part, OC resisted. While I think OC has gone to crap now (with the exception of parts of south county), LA is still worse. I don’t fricken care how much LA looks down on OC.the fact is, Angelinos are still moving there IN DROVES.

    Sure, much of OC has gotten run down (and is starting to look like LA), sure the whiney bleading-heart liberals have been invading, sure no one there is legal anymore, it’s still WAY better than LA. And as far as the It crap of calling it “THE O.C.”, I agree that It’s stupid. It makes people from OC look stuck up.And the “LOS ANGELES Angels of Anaheim”.. still a slap-in-the-face to the fans.

    While I’d never move back to CA (the whole state sucks balls now), I’d still take OC over LA.

    P.S. To all you idiots that keep coming to the midwest from CA..STAY THERE!! We moved here to get away from you jerks; Especially the left-wing douchebags that want to “turn the state blue.” We’ve all seen what your “progressive thinking” has done to CA (which is why that POS Ramirez was allowed to die in prison, of natural cases, before being executed like he should have been).

    K,…I’m done.

    Reply

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