North’s Attitude Divides by Longitude, Not Latitude

The images come quickly, and suggest a spirited competition between preferred ways of living.

“I live on the coast.”

Sunsets and surfer shops. Greenhouses and tomato fields. Morning traffic backing up in Encinitas and not clearing up until the Interstate 5-805 split. Lagoons and hillside condos shouldering out weathered beach cottages. June gloom, and the sun not burning through until midday--the kind of a day to go inland, to the Wild Animal Park.

“I live inland.”

Night stars and agricultural supply houses. Horse corrals and avocado groves. Morning traffic backing up in Rancho Bernardo and not clearing up until the Interstate 15-163 split. The dry lake bed of Hodges, Lawrence Welk’s time shares and North County Fair. Seas of tract homes and sprawling ranch houses. Hot, dry summer days that drive people inside--or to the coast.

But the distinctions go far beyond those superficial images of life on the coast versus life inland.

Although North County may be the sum of its parts, the residents of its two main geographic components--coastal and inland--hold their own sets of perceived problems, issues, values and lifestyles, a Times Poll shows.

Who’s to say why the coast attracts more Democrats, fewer families, people who are more interested in their health.

For Jan Breazile, living along the coast “is like being on vacation. We’re happier. I don’t think we’re as miserable from the heat and the turmoil of living inland.”

Breazile, a legal secretary, moved to Oceanside five years ago from Oregon, ending her search for sunshine.

“I think people on the coast have a different outlook. We’re probably not as energetic. I think people inland work harder. But we have more of a blithe spirit.”

Why is it that the inland regions are more interested in the health of their marriages, more deeply rooted in their communities and more concerned about where their kids go to school?

Barbara Hammond has lived in a rural area north of Escondido for 10 years, preferring the inland climate to the coast’s. But the difference goes beyond that, she says. “The inland people, I think, are more retired, more traditional. I associate the coast with younger people who are more active and who want to go to nightclubs--something we don’t have around here.”

Consider the differences.

Is inland North County more Main Street--a friendlier, hunker-down kind of a place? Residents of Rancho Bernardo and San Marcos, Escondido and Poway and the other inland communities say they feel more rooted to their communities than their counterparts on the coast.

Gold diggers might do better on the coast, though, because more than four out of 10 wage-earners make more than $40,000 a year; inland, only about a third of the residents make that kind of money.

But, if you get married and have kids, you might want to move inland so the kids will have more playmates. Among the inland residents of North County, nearly four out of 10 are married . . . with children; on the coast, three out of 10 have children. Or, would you rather have your kid on a surfboard or on horseback?

Along the coast, there are more Democrats than Republicans; inland, there are more Republicans than Democrats.

“Inland people are a little more typical ‘suburban’ in how they chose to live. They want a home, have a family and send them to good schools--and be more critical of them,” said I.A. Lewis, who directed the Times Poll.

“Coastal residents, though, are more of an upscale, yuppie, condo kind of people,” he said.

That image attracts Escondido Mayor Doris Thurston, who is cashing in on 30 years of life in the inland city to move to Cardiff.

“I don’t want to sound snobbish,” she says, “but I’ve found the coastal area to be upscale economically, intellectually, academically, culturally and in environmental concerns. It’s much more of a yuppie community. Some people might not see that as an asset, but I see it as vitality.”

Thurston, 60, had steeped herself in the community, served on a host of civic and cultural bodies, and, for the past eight years, has been on the City Council, including the past two years as mayor.

Although she says she will miss Escondido, where she finds that residents display altruism and a work ethic, she says too many of them are too cynical and critical. And she acknowledges frustration with what she sees as the city’s failure to cope with growth and its perpetual attempts to catch up on street repair and civic work. Escondido’s image bothers her, she says; the first thing one sees driving into town from California 78 is a cement plant.

Cardiff in particular, and coastal living in general, “is more laid back,” she says. “It’s a much more casual place to live. And culture is much more accessible on the coast.”

The differences between inland and coastal residents go beyond image.

Although both groups say the biggest problem facing San Diego County as a whole is drugs, coastal residents cite growth as the second biggest problem. Maybe because everyone jams their beaches in August. Inland residents say the second biggest issue is affordable housing.

Coastal residents are more wishy-washy than inland residents. As in: Should the environment be protected--even if it means the loss of jobs and increased government spending, or should the economy be allowed to expand, even if it means the loss of natural resources? Only 6% of the inland residents couldn’t make up their mind on that question (more than half say the environment should be protected at any cost), while 17% of the coastal residents said, “Beats me.” Coastal residents also are more likely to say that they don’t pay attention to politics.

Now, figure this out. Coastal residents are more likely to have a lot of confidence in their schools than have inland residents. Yet, more inland residents specifically sought out their communities because of their schools than did their coastal counterparts. (Coastal residents were more likely to be drawn to their community because it was close to work.)

And, even though the median income along the coast is higher, it’s the inland residents who are more likely to say that North County is more affluent than South County.

The two groups even disagree to a degree on what they want out of life.

Two-thirds of the coastal residents say “being healthy” is what they want most, while just over half of the inland residents place good health as a personal goal.

Moreover, coastal residents say the second most important thing in life is to be helpful to others. Being happily married ranks third on their priority list. Inlanders, on the other hand, want to be happily married before they start helping others.

Coastal residents are more likely to say they live within a half-mile of a migrant workers campsite--yet, more inland residents believe there’s been an increase in the influx of illegal aliens in their communities.

The two regions even disagree on what effect immigrants have had on the county. Along the coast, people say they’re a strain on social services more than anything else; inland, people say they are an inexpensive source of labor more than anything else.

Although about the same number of coastal and inland residents favor some public school classes being taught in Spanish, nearly half of the inland residents definitely oppose the idea, contrasted with a third of the coastal residents.

Probably because of their proximity to I-5, coastal residents travel to Orange and Los Angeles counties more often than inland residents.

And, of course, they disagree on the hub of North County. Residents of both areas are most likely to say there is no hub; but, after that, inland residents nominate Escondido, and coastal residents name Carlsbad.

But they almost agreed on the biggest problem facing North County. Coastal residents said first traffic, then growth; inland residents said growth, then traffic.

Either way it’s cut, they don’t like congestion.

COAST VS. INLAND

Coastal Median household income: $40,673 Average Age: 53.9 years Rooted in community: 69% Married couples: 61% Democrates: 33%

Inland Median household income: $36,440 Average Age: 55.1 years Rooted in community: 79% Married couples: 69% Democrates: 20%

A DIFFERENCE OF GEOGRAPHY AND OPINION

Residents of inland North County are more likely to have picked their community for its schools, but their counterparts on the North County coast are more likely to find educational nirvana. Coastal residents tend more to place top priority on health; inland residents are more likely to say a happy marriage is the most important thing in life.

Coastal Inland A lot of confidence in schools 39% 31% Chose community for schools 2% 11% Chose community because near 24% 16% job Want most to be healthy 65% 55% Want happy marriage most 8% 16% Quality of life in county 21% 16% improved Live within half-mile of 34% 23% migrant-worker campsite Homeowners 65% 59% Entirely satisfied with 29% 23% community Think North County is more 11% 16% affluent

Source: Los Angeles Times Poll