The culture is different partly because of the lower population density. But I'll share a story.
The first week I moved in I tried to make small talk with a passing neighbor. It backfired. She quickly turned the conversation to how she is a proud gun owner and how she recently pointed it at someone who was on her porch. I am naive so I just thought, weird-story, but she was really saying is "let your Latino buddies know not to rob this place" (and her story prob wasn't true). The next random interaction was to complain about another Latino nearby. Perhaps she believes that we all know each other and if she told me I could do something about it.
When I lived in the Bay Area I could jog around Lake Merritt before dawn and it was safe because of all the other joggers. But I'm the only jogger here. Running when it's still dark out is probably a great way to get shot by a nervous neighbor. In all fairness I have been mugged at gun point in the Bay Area but that somehow bothered me less than having a neighbor imply I don't belong in the home I just bought.
Granted that is one neighbor, but again if you read the former description of myself is it any surprise that I might not fit culturally with a small Western city.
The first week I moved in I tried to make small talk with a passing neighbor. It backfired. She quickly turned the conversation to how she is a proud gun owner and how she recently pointed it at someone who was on her porch. I am naive so I just thought, weird-story, but she was really saying is "let your Latino buddies know not to rob this place" (and her story prob wasn't true). The next random interaction was to complain about another Latino nearby. Perhaps she believes that we all know each other and if she told me I could do something about it.
When I lived in the Bay Area I could jog around Lake Merritt before dawn and it was safe because of all the other joggers. But I'm the only jogger here. Running when it's still dark out is probably a great way to get shot by a nervous neighbor. In all fairness I have been mugged at gun point in the Bay Area but that somehow bothered me less than having a neighbor imply I don't belong in the home I just bought.
Granted that is one neighbor, but again if you read the former description of myself is it any surprise that I might not fit culturally with a small Western city.