Christmas in Los Angeles (Santa Clarita, Paradise: houses, neighborhoods, live)

[MDborn]

This question is mainly for people that moved to LA from the Midwest or the North East, but anyone can answer it really. Does Christmas in Southern California in general feel like a "traditional Christmas"? For example, the Christmas music all around, people putting up Christmas lights in their yards, ect... Thanks in advance guys/girls.

[00molavi]

If you ask my kids, without going to NYC and Rockefeller center, Christmas doesn't feel like it in here.

But its not that bad or at least you get used to it. The decorations are there, it gets a bit cold and rainy. Last year we had a smudge of snow in Santa Clarita, so there you go.

You can try to go to the Staples/Nokia center area and there are lights and last year they put in an ice rink-not sure if this is a yearly event. Also look online for local newspapers and the list of the best decorated houses. Some really go overboard. Last year in Castaic, there was a house with 70,000 lights and they also were broadcasting music for the lights on an FM station.

[SalParadise]

Originally Posted by MDborn

This question is mainly for people that moved to LA from the Midwest or the North East, but anyone can answer it really. Does Christmas in Southern California in general feel like a "traditional Christmas"? For example, the Christmas music all around, people putting up Christmas lights in their yards, ect... Thanks in advance guys/girls.

There is no written law that Xmas must be spent in cold and snow to be a traditional Xmas.

Try going to Syndey, Australia where they spend every Xmas in their peak warm season. Or places like Rio De Janeiro where it is warm all year but Xmas is celebrated widely.

[MDborn]

I never said there had to be snow, I just meant the things people usually do, like put up Christmas lights and tree's and stuff like that.

[hockfan86]

Its true there doesn't have to be snow, but this question was directed at people from the midwest or the northeast. I grew up in Minneapolis, MN and lived there for 24 years. I have never seen a Christmas with sunshine, I might never as I will be back with my family in MN for the holidays.

When you are raised one way and come to expect certain things and certain times, being in a new area where these traditions and expectations may or may not come to fruition its odd and takes a bit to get used to.

I remember when I first moved out here last January I felt overwhelmingly out of touch with reality due to the combination of warm weather in January and time of sunset. You see in the midwest we associate long days (sun sets as late as 10pm in the summer in Minnesota and North Dakota) with warm weather and short days with cold weather. When I got here and it was 75 degrees and sunny in January, yet it still was dark at 5pm, it messed with my head.

Anyway the point of this novel is that there is nothing "WRONG" with differences in culture, environment, etc... but just because it isn't wrong doesn't mean with won't take some getting used to. My two cents.

[Fontucky]

I spent 3 xmases in a row in a cold snowy place. It was weird.

[mllex]

Christmas music IS all around. Certain radio stations started playing them the day after Halloween! Stores also have been playing Christmas jingles.

As for lights, people in SoCal definitely put them up. Certain neighborhoods of the suburbia are known for their fancy displays of holiday light shows. Many cities have Christmas light decorating contests. As Christmas gets closer, local TV stations will begin to show nightly Christmas decorations throughout the area.

Trees...yup. During the season, vendors often use empty lots to sell their Christmas trees, although this year there doesn't seem to be as many vendors around. The economy, perhaps?

With all that said, for many folks I know from the NE or the Midwest, a Christmas is just not Christmas unless it's cold and snowy. After having lived in the NE for almost a decade, even I feel a little something is missing from Christmas when it's not cold and snowy out!

[Bunjee]

Originally Posted by SalParadise

There is no written law that Xmas must be spent in cold and snow to be a traditional Xmas.

Try going to Syndey, Australia where they spend every Xmas in their peak warm season. Or places like Rio De Janeiro where it is warm all year but Xmas is celebrated widely.

Yeah, and Jerusalem isn't Christmas-y enough because it doesn't look like a snowy Bavarian village.

We can't get away from how Christmas has been marketed to us, so that tinge of nostalgia, or envy, for a certain specific ambiance is normal. But the lights are nice. It's still the holiday season. You're still with family and friends, I hope.

It still gets cold enough to wear warmer clothes. If you're walking around in shorts and a t-shirt at 8PM--or jumping into the ocean (hilarious)--well...good for you!

[Charles]

[EscapeCalifornia]

Assuming that was actually in California, I wonder how many laws and regulations that violated? Did they have a permit from the Coastal Commission? Was an environmental impact study performed? What about a public exhibition permit? Surely there's a permit required for the electrical. Was a licensed, bonded electrician used? What about planting of a non-native, likely invasive, species?