One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Tragic Kingdom No More? Are Angelenos Growing Fond of The OC?
Come on, Angelenos: You know you've got a derogatory nickname for Orange County in your arsenal. So how often do you get to use it? If your answer is: "Less than I used to" then your sentiments are perhaps in line with the author of a recently published article in Orange Coast magazine that claims that L.A. residents are softening up when it comes to their next-door neighbor county.
The article cites a few (controversial) reasons why the OC has the advantage over the L.A. from the perspective of the writer's friend, a coming-around-to-the OC Angeleno: F
or one thing, it’s now the one place in Southern California where you can attend a baseball game without a police escort. Plus, Orange County has great public television—something L.A. can’t say since KCET Channel 28 stopped carrying PBS programs and sold its studio to Scientologists.
Still, some tensions hold true: OC is politically conservative (and their leader just a tiny bit racist?), while L.A. is liberal. Mind you, Orange County isn't the most conservative county anymore, so maybe things truly are a-changing.
Now, if you're a sex offender, the OC's parks aren't for you to play in. The freeways still clog up and keep what seems in reach geographically a painful commute away.
Ultimately, the author's theory is that we cling to our preconceptions, even about our own turf. But if we call ourselves out, we might be able to look beyond our own noses and learn to love our neighbors.
Even if our neighbors live in Orange County.
Sponsored message
So are you buying what the Orange Coast author is selling?
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
