When did Socal overtake Norcal as the more populous region of California?

[Karpatsky]

I can't seem to find solid information on this - I found some maps that suggest it was the 1940s, but I couldn't be sure.

[jimrtex]

I can't seem to find solid information on this - I found some maps that suggest it was the 1940s, but I couldn't be sure.

Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790 to 1990

See link to Excel file for counties in Part III at bottom of page.

[Karpatsky]

I can't seem to find solid information on this - I found some maps that suggest it was the 1940s, but I couldn't be sure.

Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790 to 1990

See link to Excel file for counties in Part III at bottom of page.

Thanks! For those wondering, the answer is the 1930 census.

[HillGoose]

I'd guess WWII yeah

[Very Legal & Very Cool]

That would depend on what you consider to be SoCal and NorCal, which many people seem to disagree on.

[jimrtex]

That would depend on what you consider to be SoCal and NorCal, which many people seem to disagree on.

A modern definition would include everything south of Los Angeles and San Bernardino. Whether Santa Barbara was included would depend on if there was a Central Coast Region.

But are Bakersfield and Death Valley in Northern California?

[Mr. Smith]

That would depend on what you consider to be SoCal and NorCal, which many people seem to disagree on.

A modern definition would include everything south of Los Angeles and San Bernardino. Whether Santa Barbara was included would depend on if there was a Central Coast Region.

But are Bakersfield and Death Valley in Northern California?

....No, just no.

And the answer is WWII when Hollywood started to really take off. Between that and San Francisco running out of room to grow...

[jimrtex]

That would depend on what you consider to be SoCal and NorCal, which many people seem to disagree on.

A modern definition would include everything south of Los Angeles and San Bernardino. Whether Santa Barbara was included would depend on if there was a Central Coast Region.

But are Bakersfield and Death Valley in Northern California?

....No, just no.

And the answer is WWII when Hollywood started to really take off. Between that and San Francisco running out of room to grow...

What about Fresno, Modesto, San Jose, San Mateo, Colma?

The most prominent physical separation between North and South is San Francisco Bay.

[Oryxslayer]

Guys...








Where NorCal/SoCal begins ends culturally, demographically, and geographically is a matter of opinion and relative to ones geography. It is a question that will never be answered unless California is cut into multiple pieces.

However, you guys are not measuring culture, urban metropolises, or opinion. You are measuring pop. With that in mind, it is best to just use the straight line from SLO and San Bernadino for consistency, even though it might not be the best for other measures.

[Karpatsky]

I used this (expanded) definition:

[jimrtex]

I like this definition. Chess players in Bakersfield would likely prefer to drive to LA or Anaheim for events.

Little League places Bakersfield in the North, and Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, Ventura in the south. This might be for reasons of competitive balance. California sends two teams to the West Regional.

[muon2]

Guys...

I liked this map so much I decided to read the whole article. It took a little digging, but here is the story from KCHO.

I found two other maps in the story worth adding to the debate. This is from a Chico State geography professor who would quiz students, and find the average of their responses.



Another instructor in the same department had this map of the Central Valley based on respondents from Merced and Redding from the map posted by Oryxslayer.



What I found interesting was that both groups on this map put Kern in the same region Merced - the Central Valley. Yet even many of the Merced respondents in Oryxslayer's map would split Kern from Merced and put Kern in SoCal.