Regional Attitudes

This week I had dinner with a real estate executive. As it happens, he graduated a year ahead of me from the same snooty, suburban Boston college as I. We both remembered how the place looked down its nose at California (with the possible exception of San Francisco).

These attitudes had been around for awhile. Addison DeWitt (George Sanders) in "All about Eve:"

San Francisco. An oasis of civilization in the California desert. Tell me, do you share my high opinion of San Francisco?"

Alvie Singer (Woody Allen) in "Annie Hall:"

In Beverly Hills ... they don’t throw their garbage away. They make it into television shows

So I am now curious as to whether these attitudes remain as strong as ever, or whether they have attenuated over the years. As I am writing this from my back deck, next to my kumquat tree, on a glorious, sunny, warm, slightly breezy day in mid-November, I suppose I really shouldn't care.