These Things Are Becoming Extinct in Orange County--And We Couldn't Be Happier!
It's true: Orange County is in the midst of a seismic shift that's fundamentally changing who we are. It's not John Wayne's OC anymore; it ain't even that of Gwen Stefani or even Thrice. A decade recovering from the Great Recession—during which technology upturned economies, more gabachos moved away than migrated here, beloved restaurants closed shop, cities started building up, and the Crystal Cathedral and TBN empires crumbled (even if their godawful buildings remain standing)—has left a landscape that even long-timers don't recognize anymore. Irvine Meadows is gone, Pierce Street Annex is getting revamped, and downtown SanTana has no more Mexican beer bars—UGH. . . .
The march of time, I guess. But one of the wonderful things about all this Sturm und Drang is that things that used to plague Orange County are also becoming extinct—hooray! The following are people, businesses, stereotypes and ideas that held us down for too long, influenced us negatively and are now going the way of Sears, letting Orange County become a better place.
THE OC GOP
Republicans will always rule Orange County on the local level—eternally centrist leadership for the Democratic Party of Orange County guarantees that. But the days when the nation's Republicans looked to OC for guidance were already on the wane before nearly every local party leader, major activist or elected official refused to publicly support President-elect Donald Trump. Now, old-school OC conservatism is déclassé nationally, Hillary Clinton became the first Democrat to win a presidential election in Orange County since FDR, and California Democrats have a super-majority in Sacramento gracias to North County wins by Josh Newman (state Senate) and Sharon Quirk-Silva (state Assembly). Telling of this weakened GOP was election night: Local Republicans had four parties, the better for opposing sides to not speak with one another. Party while you can, Trumpbros, because somewhere, Tom Fuentes is rolling in his closeted grave.
ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
We're talking about the old, nasty fishwrap, the one that once employed Dana Rohrabacher as an editorial writer and thought having Frank Mickadeit write a daily column was media innovation. OC's paper of record is healthier than it has been for years now that its owner is the Digital First Media (DFM) chain. DFM has mostly righted the Register's finances, gotten rid of its kookier editorial stances, launched a redesign, and hired as editor a decent guy in longtime writer Todd Harmonson. But it's those very moves that are alienating the paper's longtime troglodytic readers, who are dying off by the thousands yearly and aren't getting replaced. Instead of launching an internal youth movement, the Register's young reporters have jumped ship to Buzzfeed, PR, or even its sister paper, the Riverside Press-Enterprise, seeing no hope in a Register career. The paper's upcoming move to Anaheim after 110-plus years in Santa Ana is the last nail in the proverbial coffin to a former media empire that for far too long pushed its version of Orange County—dull, wingnut and safe—to the world. Here's to hoping the Reg leaves its past in its Grand Avenue offices and spits on R.C. Hoiles' grave for good measure.
Read more: http://www.ocweekly.com/news/these-things-are-becoming-extinct-in-orange-countyand-we-couldnt-be-happier-7811129
