One-Horse Beach Town

I've had a decent run so far in SC. Ends have been made to meet, noisy neighbors have been hushed, verbs have been used in the passive voice. That said, I was reminded this morning of why I can't stand this town sometimes:

• SC is creepier than it should be. Here's what I mean: take a big town/small city of 50-something thousand, factor in the location on the central coast of California, add the university, check against the cost of living, and you get a "creepy scumbag" factor of about, say, 50/100. Imagine your surprise upon moving here and finding out that it's much closer to, say, 75/100.
  
• Socal hipsters. The hipsters I knew before moving to California were skinny, pretentious, and harmless. They liked obscure bands and they were never quite sure if they were being ironic or not. There are lots of that kind of hipster here as well, but they're outnumbered. My homie J provided the key insight a few weeks back when I was trying to figure out the creepier-than-it-should-be factor: California hipsters have being tough as part of their persona. The guys all have the little well-trimmed goatee, the big black sunglasses, the backwards hat, the "I just got out of prison, seriously, I mean it, ignore my nametag" persona. The women are low-rent Paris Hilton clones. This is a version of hipster I am not okay with, because it involves always wondering if one of these boneheads is going to throw a bottle at me from his truck.
• I am so tired of the cost of living. Yes, I know it's bad everywhere, as the economy collapses around our ears, but it's insane here.
• Our main water supply is a muddy creek. People who live in or have lived in Eugene: the SC water supply comes from the San Lorenzo "river," which is almost exactly as big and clean as the Amazon Slough. Supposedly, we also have a few tiny creeks that run down from the "mountains," but that's not saying much.
• Sometimes the bus is late.

I know a lot of my bias comes from living downtown. Like anywhere, downtown is the epicenter of sketchy jerk-offs in SC, and I'm reminded when I visit people who live in other neighborhoods that there are lots of quiet, pleasant spots elsewhere in town. That said, the ambient hostility I feel every time I step outside of the apartment building never fails to put me in a right foul mood, and I'm more than a little sick of it.

But it's not all bad, right?! Here are some things I like about SC:

• Otters.
• The bay in general...it's really, amazingly postcard-pretty.
• I like the boardwalk and the arcade and the wharf. They're ridiculous, but they're kind of great, too.
• There are lots of nice places to go hiking within an hour up or down highway 1.
• I'm very fond of my crazy left-wing think tank of a university.
• The busses are usually on time and they're surprisingly clean.

I'm probably just grumpy because I'm trying to reduce my caffeine intake before I leave for France.