Immigrating to the United States has been a part of my life for nearly 30 years, living on the East Coast while visiting friends and family for tourism and vacations. My two children have gone through elementary, middle, and high school on the East Coast. However, after working for a while, they both moved to the West Coast for graduate studies and ended up staying there, unwilling to return to the East Coast, which ultimately led us to move there as well. This situation reflects the deeply rooted mindset of relying on the elderly. In our home country, relatives may be scattered across various places, and it is not necessary to live in the same city as one's children. Many first-generation immigrants face the challenge of being alone abroad, and living close to their children often becomes a reluctant choice when it comes time to retire.
Once we moved there, it felt somewhat similar to the experience of crossing the Pacific Ocean to a foreign land, and it took some time to adapt to the cultural differences between the two coasts that I had heard about for years.
The first and most obvious difference is that the West Coast has a large number of place names derived from Spanish. From state names to county names, and even down to streets and neighborhoods, many are unfamiliar Spanish terms. For example, any name starting with "el," "al," "los," or "las" is certainly a Spanish place name, as these are definite articles in Spanish. Additionally, place names prefixed with a capitalized "San" instead of the English "Saint" are named in honor of saints among Spanish missionaries. The closer these place names are to Mexico, the more prevalent they become, gradually decreasing as one moves north. California has the most, with San Diego, San Francisco, and Los Angeles being among the most famous, along with many others like El Camino and The Embarcadero, where Fisherman’s Wharf is located, to name just a few.
The differences in place names reflect historical evolution. The East Coast developed primarily through British immigration, while the early settlers of the West Coast were treasure-seeking Spaniards, later becoming part of Mexico after its independence from Spain, thus preserving many Spanish cultural traditions. In Europe, Spain and Portugal have significant linguistic and cultural differences from other regions of the continent, particularly England, due to the Pyrenees Mountains. Therefore, after this land became part of the United States, the Spanish-speaking culture remained deeply rooted here.
Because of this, there is a certain distance from the mainstream culture of the United States, which is primarily based on British and continental European influences. The West Coast is more inclusive, and people from other parts of the world find it relatively easier to integrate into local life. A minority group may even become the main players in local affairs within a community or county. For instance, the number of Chinese Americans in California involved in politics significantly exceeds that in other areas, with former U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke starting his career in Seattle and Washington State.
The ethnic relations here have their unique aspects compared to the East Coast and other regions, where minority groups share common interests but can also experience conflicts. Take the implementation of affirmative action as an example; on the West Coast, particularly in California, Asian Americans face conflicts with Hispanic communities due to unique cultural traditions, leading to significant pressure to limit the proportion of Asian students in state universities.
Overall, the cultural atmosphere on the West Coast is more attractive to new immigrants. Not only has the modern concept of "political correctness" gradually formed since the civil rights movement, but even in terms of clothing and attire, there are clear distinctions between people on the East and West Coasts. When Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with Wall Street investors dressed in a hoodie, it sparked not only media headlines and online frenzy but also reflected a deeper divergence in how people on the two coasts perceive life and success. One side tends to associate more with family history and personal qualifications as social status factors, while the other emphasizes individuality, whether acknowledged or not, "I am who I am."
This applies to successful individuals of all sizes, while more ordinary people tend to reverse this trend. Young people on the East Coast are more willing to venture out into the world and live independently, whereas on the West Coast, particularly among Latino and Asian new immigrants, the phenomenon of banding together for support is more common, although this does not exclude the influence of immigration history.
Relatedly, the pace of life differs between the East and West Coasts. In major cities like New York and Boston, unless one is a tourist, people walk noticeably faster than on the West Coast. Even San Francisco, which many polls consider closest to East Coast cities, exhibits this trend. This comparison does not entirely apply to areas like Silicon Valley, but companies there place greater emphasis on employee work-life balance and leisure, viewing it as part of attracting talent and fostering innovative thinking.
These differences are also reflected in various newspapers and publications on both coasts. The website "Live Science" once conducted a survey and found that the Boston Globe devotes significantly more coverage to history, tradition, and community than the West, while the San Francisco Chronicle focuses more on technological development, applied innovation, and trendy figures.
More directly related to people's lives, the state income tax, sales tax, property tax, and other taxes collected across the West Coast are significantly higher than in other regions of the United States. For example, the property tax I pay annually for my home is double what I used to pay in the suburbs of Washington.
With higher local taxes, state and county governments also invest more in social security, allowing vulnerable groups and low-income populations to receive better relief and care. In other words, the governments across the West Coast tend to manage more affairs, leading to higher government expenditures, which has drawn public attention. For instance, government employee salaries in California are quite high; in 2012, there were 104 public servants in the state earning more than President Obama, and in the San Francisco Bay Area, four county or city leaders or fire chiefs earned over $400,000 annually.
Not only government officials but also ordinary employees enjoy good salaries. Many departments offer generous overtime pay, with some employees earning more in overtime than their base salary. Even for contracted physical labor, the compensation is quite good. The worker we hired for renovations, named Jose, works for a company that sometimes takes on jobs from county and city governments, paying them $48 per hour.