Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2024 April 24

= April 24 =

NorCal or SoCal?
Question: Are any of these cities NorCal or SoCal? San Jose

Morgan Hill

Aptos

Redwood City

Crescent City

Watsonville Follow-up question: Where/what divides California into two? TWOrantula TM (enter the web) 04:44, 24 April 2024 (UTC)


 * See SoCal and NorCal. 41.23.55.195 (talk) 06:27, 24 April 2024 (UTC)


 * Few people seem to be able to agree on where the dividing line between Northern and Southern California lies, or if it exists at all.
 * From Does this curious spot mark the dividing line between Northern and Southern California? Alansplodge (talk) 11:04, 24 April 2024 (UTC)
 * What about East California? DuncanHill (talk) 18:25, 24 April 2024 (UTC)
 * The coastal elites have a one-dimensional view of California, in the sense that they really only consider moving along one axis, which is called North/South but is really more Northwest/Southeast. That said, there is indeed an Eastern California, and it's lovely, particularly along Highway 395. --Trovatore (talk) 20:10, 24 April 2024 (UTC)
 * In reality, there's no such thing as "coastal elites". The term was, ironically enough, invented by conservative elites to divide and conquer voting districts.  Although the term has been around for a while and has a long political history, Rush Limbaugh was primarily responsible for popularizing the term to the public.  And as with most things traced to Limbaugh, it is mostly fictional. Viriditas (talk) 02:42, 26 April 2024 (UTC)
 * While I think you and I have sharply different politics, still, in this case I was using the term a bit tongue-in-cheek. --Trovatore (talk) 22:00, 26 April 2024 (UTC)
 * I knew you were. Just wanted to point out the obvious.  I can still hear Limbaugh's booming voice yelling about "coastal elites" into his EIB microphone, circa 1993. Viriditas (talk) 22:17, 26 April 2024 (UTC)
 * As a direct response, I would consider all of those cities to be NorCal, with the possible exception of Watsonville, which is arguably Central Coast. --Trovatore (talk) 20:11, 24 April 2024 (UTC)
 * I agree with this. Accepting that the boundary between Northern California and Southern California is fuzzy, there is no possible definition that would put any of the first five in Southern California. Crescent City is only 20 miles south of the California-Oregon border, so is definitely NorCal. San Jose and Redwood City are part of the San Francisco Bay Area, which is also definitely NorCal. Depending on your definition, Morgan Hill is also part of the Bay Area or very close to it. Watsonville is the only one that is arguable, but if I had to choose between NorCal and SoCal, I'd call it NorCal. CodeTalker (talk) 18:07, 26 April 2024 (UTC)
 * I have lived in Northern California for 52 years and readily agree that there is no clear boundary line between Northern California and Southern California. But Watsonville is in Santa Cruz County, universally considered to be part of Northern California. Watsonville is only 55 miles from San Jose, the biggest city in Northern California. Cullen328 (talk) 18:29, 26 April 2024 (UTC)
 * If Herb Caen was still around, he would have a snappy answer for this conundrum. For me personally, you know you're over the Northern border and into central territory when you start seeing the "I miss Reagan" and "Hunting is not a crime" stickers on pickup trucks. Viriditas (talk) 20:16, 26 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Let's put it this way &mdash; if you insist on dividing the whole state into Northern and Southern with no Central, then sure, Watsonville is Northern, no doubt. But if you include the Central Coast and Central Valley as separate regions, then I think Watsonville is Central Coast, whereas Santa Cruz might still be Northern. --Trovatore (talk) 21:54, 26 April 2024 (UTC)
 * I used to get all my strawberries from Watsonville, and at one time, I think all of the commercial strawberries in NoCal were from Watsonville (that changed a long time ago, most are from Mexico now, thanks NAFTA). I personally always thought of Monterey Bay as the border of the central coast, with Watsonville having its roots in the northern part of the state for various historical reasons. Viriditas (talk) 22:25, 26 April 2024 (UTC)
 * It's a close call. On reflection I think I agree.  If I wanted to cut out a "Central California" that conflated the coast with the Central Valley, I'd probably draw its northern border from Monterey to Mammoth Lakes, and its southern border from, oh I don't know, Santa Maria to Ridgecrest or something.
 * If I'm forced into a two-region model, I'd draw a line from San Luis Obispo to, maybe, Bishop. --Trovatore (talk) 00:05, 27 April 2024 (UTC)