Although the wealth of some of the inhabitants appears to be stratospheric (e.g., sport team owners), most of Del Mar's housing stock was built in the 1970s or early 1980s and thus is not glitzy by 21st Century standards. Several of the better sort of NFL quarterbacks are said to live there. Many of the homes near the beach seem to be inhabited only part time by rich people who own multiple homes. (By the way, security systems are unobtrusive but omnipresent, so don't get any ideas.)
The key that determines Del Mar's sociological make-up is that there is a reef offshore that keeps the surf from getting terribly dangerous, so it's ideal for people looking for a safe beach for their young children or grandchildren. Dogs are free to run off leashes on the northern stretch of Del Mar's beach, just south of the lagoon that leads to the famous horserace track. So, it is about as genteel / respectable as Southern California gets. The Romneys have a house a few miles to the south in La Jolla, and they would fit in in Del Mar: a rich, grandchild-oriented, outdoorsy family.
The public can pay to park and use Del Mar beach, but the daytrippers tend to be people who are sympatico with the locals. So, what are two things you don't see much of on the beach at Del Mar?
1. Pit bulls (instead, lots of retrievers)
2. Tattoos
(By the way, security systems are unobtrusive but omnipresent, so don't get any ideas.)
ReplyDeleteLOL. Do you suspect your readers are into burglarizing homes or something?
Boring.
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen too many pitbulls on the beaches of New Jersey either.
ReplyDeleteSteve, how do you think that they keep the tatted crowd away? Do the police play a part? By the way thank you for this post, when i go to rent a place by the beach I will look more carefully at Del Mar
ReplyDeleteI think you mean "ubiquitous" rather than "omnipresent".
ReplyDelete"'(By the way, security systems are unobtrusive but omnipresent, so don't get any ideas.)'
ReplyDeleteLOL. Do you suspect your readers are into burglarizing homes or something?"
Steve apparently doesn't realize that some of us would no sooner go to any part of CA for any reason than we would take a midnight jaunt through, say, East St. Louis.
And one of the nicest thoroughbred racetacks in the world (summer only).
ReplyDeleteI get a sense that in the internet age, pitbulls are becoming or will become passe. Other than for dog fighting, the pitbull is not that useful or really that intimidating.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to research big, scary dogs that are going to protect your property and person, especially in this era of exposure to violent NAMs, you are going to come across several much larger and intimidating dogs that are bred for the purpose. Such dogs as the (Brazilian) Fila Brasileiro, the South African Boerboel are supposedly great in this regard. The fila is known for distrusting anyone but the immediate family. Do a google and google image search to get an idea of what these dogs are like, and look like.
There are also the various Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGD) such as the Caucasian Ovcharka, Kangal Shepherd and quite a few others, who can perform a similar task. The Caucasian Ovcharka will also supposedly not eat food but that provided by its master.
It seems that in most of the areas where these dogs were bred, danger from two legged critters is often much more likely compared to countries in Western Europe, and the law enforcement less evolved or reliable. As we continue to mindlessly import more violent and criminally prone (on average) third worlders into our countries, these breeds will increase in popularity.
That's because football players play in long sleeve shirts. Real men like MMA wrestlers perform nearly naked thus displaying all their manly tattoos.
ReplyDeleteAlbertosaurus
No tattoos and Pit bulls means:
ReplyDelete1. No blacks
2. No Mexicans
3. No Hipsters
are you checking out the golfing at Torrey Pines this weekend?
ReplyDeleteProle beach-goers stopped coming after one of them was found on the boardwalk unconscious, head shaved, "LOCALZ RULE" written in caviar on his chest.
ReplyDeleteIf golden retrievers ever become a fad for ghetto and barrio trash, they'd breed the dogs into face-eaters in like twenty years.
ReplyDeleteWhat's missing in Del Mar?
ReplyDeleteYoung people: median age 48.6, only 14% under 18
Poor people: median income 2009 126k, only 11% earning less than 30
NAMs: 94% white, 3% Asian, 4% Hispanic, 10 blacks (not 10%, ten people)
Non-college grads: only 21%
Immigrants: 11%, a decline from 14 in 2000
The answer to your question: nothing. Nothing is missing, it seems perfect.
ReplyDeleteSorry, Steve but I must disagree with you. The world's top experts say:
ReplyDelete'You'd catch 'em surfing at Del Mar (inside, outside, USA)...'
plus:
'... and Swami's
"San Onofre and...'
'All over La Jolla...'
A guy without Huarachi sandals can't know much about surf.
" I occasionally borrow from an extremely generous friend the cottage behind his house 75 yards off the sand in Del Mar in northern San Diego County. My wife recently pointed out to me two things that are much rarer on the Del Mar beach than most anywhere else in California."
ReplyDeleteTwo issues with your English syntax:
First, I'd be more pleasant and typical for you to say "the cottage of an extremely generous friend which is behind his beachside house." or something like.
Next: It would flow better if you wrote "pointed out two things" . The "to me" is understood.
Who are you? I mean it's obvious Steve's pithy, deceptively simple writing style has disappeared from this blog & that you fancy we believe the person writing these recent articles is still Steve Sailer.
Also, western countries have not decreed that all citizens with arrest records or even traumatic childhoods are lepers and probably won't anytime soon. White people like long-shots and underdogs as well as a certain level of unconventional behavior in their friends and neighbors. The Jews and their evil movie making machine have further accentuated this mentality over the past 60 years or so; so no dweebs are going to reverse this nearly universal personality trait without more charm, intelligence and time than you've got.
Go tsunami go!!!
ReplyDelete- broodrack
hiya Steve,
ReplyDeleteI think I saw you tanning 'lil Steve at Blacks Beach....
If you want pitbulls and tramp stamps, go to Pacific Beach....
Murphy's Iron Rule of Tatoos:
ReplyDelete1) The more tatoos you get, the trashier you are, and
2) The closer to your crotch they are, the sluttier you are.
There are no exceptions.
"1. Pit bulls (instead, lots of retrievers)
ReplyDelete2. Tattoos"
And the connection to navy submariners being a pool of untapped IQ may be...
(imo, probably wrong)
Once upon a time there were limited good slots for pure cognitive ability but a lot for a combination of some cognitive abilty and some physical abilty e.g. stonemason, blacksmith, electrician etc, which people competed for so you had a lot of mostly unused cognitive ability in those slots.
Along comes widespread education and the growth of whitecollar jobs and that pool of people separate out - with most over time moving over into whitecollar jobs but some staying put.
Why would some stay put? Because they are at the top of their housing ladder but then why didn't more stay put for that reason?
One of the invisible cultural dividing lines between blue and white collar is the attitude to violence. In bluecollar environments if two men get into an altercation they're expected to fight whereas in whitecollar environments they're expected *not* to fight. In the bluecollar environment you expect (and want) your boy to get into a few fistfights at school whereas in a whitecollar environment you mostly don't.
So i wonder if attitude to violence was the dividing line between the people from that original pool who became whitecollar and the ones who stayed put - hence the connection with the military.
"Do you suspect your readers are into burglarizing homes or something?"
ReplyDeleteI did that as a teenager (ashamed of it now) - not for the loot but for the adrenaline.
A lot of young male crime is caused by craving adrenaline.
Will CK be the first tatooed QB to win the Superbowl?
ReplyDelete[The following is a parody. Don’t take it seriously.]
ReplyDeleteThe real Steve Sailer would never have used so many parentheses. He never would have used the word "glitzy" either. I never had a single disagreement with any word or punctuation choice by the real Steve Sailer. The real Steve Sailer was a prose stylist of godlike skill, who rivaled even Waugh at his peak. He never made a single mistake or even a questionable decision. He was perfect in every way, and since you are not, you are clearly not him. I can say this with absolute certainty.
Sir, you are a blatant imposter with a nefarious agenda. That much is clear, but who are you? Marco Rubio? Whiskey? Lord Humungus? Jose Canseco? Malcolm Gladwell?
What do you want? Steve's enormous income? His harem of women? His glamorous lifestyle, including his legendary Honda Accord?
I don’t know what kind of scam you are trying to pull, but you aren't fooling me, buddy. I will get to the bottom of this incredible conspiracy, no matter what. I will expose this fraud for the whole world to see!
"Murphy's Iron Rule of Tatoos:
ReplyDelete1) The more tatoos you get, the trashier you are, and
2) The closer to your crotch they are, the sluttier you are. "
Worth repeating.
Will CK be the first tatooed QB to win the Superbowl?
ReplyDeleteThe answer is no. Humble Joe Flacco, who is playing QB better tan anyone on the world right now, will lead the Ravens to a convincing victory. CK will be exposed. But will go on go have a great career.
Super bow fun fact: every one of Kaepernick's tattoos tells a story.......a very stupid story.
Dan in DC
It was nice, until it became part of Mexico.
ReplyDeleteFYI: I've done an informal survey and have concluded that Californians are only truly liked on the West coast, in Utah, Nevada & Arizona. A few midwestern states liked CA money during the housing bubble though the people, not so much.
ReplyDeleteWhen probed further, most respondents admit they find Cals snooty know-it-alls with stratospherically weird ideas on just about every topic. Oddly enough they think of Oregonian & Wash Staters as high functioning hippies who are mostly harmless and likable.
Also, western countries have not decreed that all citizens with arrest records or even traumatic childhoods are lepers and probably won't anytime soon. White people like long-shots and underdogs as well as a certain level of unconventional behavior in their friends and neighbors.
ReplyDeleteI take that dweebin, the author of these sentiments, has extensive tattoos.
ReplyDeleteWhat's missing from Del Mar? Where the hell is the boardwalk!
On another note, my dear Anonymous 6:51, you wrote: "One of the invisible cultural dividing lines between blue and white collar is the attitude to violence. In bluecollar environments if two men get into an altercation they're expected to fight whereas in whitecollar environments they're expected 'not' to fight. In the bluecollar environment you expect (and want) your boy to get into a few fistfights at school whereas in a whitecollar environment you mostly don't."
I'd say the "cultural dividing line" is more accurately defined as white collar individuals expecting always to have blue collar individuals do the white collar individuals' fighting for them. That's power.
Oddly enough they think of Oregonian & Wash Staters as high functioning hippies who are mostly harmless and likable.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty much true. At least if they're from outside of Portland, in which case they're not so high-functioning.
Auntie
ReplyDeleteYeah but my point is related to affordable family formation and family size.
The advantage of staying put for those that did was they were at the *top* of their housing ladder as long as they were okay with a few fist-fights now and then.
Multiple iSteve themes in one go.
I don't know how you'd go about proving it but i wonder if on balance the stay-put segment had more kids on average. I know among my lot the average has been 3-4 kids per couple for the last 3-4 generations and at a reasonable living standard because our housing costs were low relative to our income.
It's changing now because the bluecollar population is being replaced from the ground up by people more inclined to knives and guns but it worked well for a time in reproductive terms.
"I'd say the "cultural dividing line" is more accurately defined as white collar individuals expecting always to have blue collar individuals do the white collar individuals' fighting for them. That's power."
ReplyDeleteI disagree. Even men who don't get into shoving matches have to understand bluffing. Overreacting to a less verbal male's sham aggression will cause you to loose face almost as much as losing a fistfight you've been drawn into.
I'm no dooood. I still posit that this blog is no longer run by the person formerly known as Steve Sailer.
ReplyDeleteAnd, Davenport, I'm not saying I do or don't have tattoos. The point is, you'll never know...
Beach community with lots of families, few minorities, gentle surf. Public beaches with nice middle-income people near houses owned by wealthy, part-time residents.
ReplyDeleteSounds like most of West Florida. Except I'm sure the houses are three times more expensive and you pay an extra 13% in state income tax.
Why the entirety of the Southern California wealthy hasn't abandoned there for here is beyond me.
Why the entirety of the Southern California wealthy hasn't abandoned there for here is beyond me.
ReplyDeleteThe two big "I"s of human behavior. Ignorance and inertia.
There's also the H word: humidty.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Del Mar. Housing costs are extremely expensive. And parking is limited at the beach and surrounding shopping areas. That limits the riff raff.
ReplyDeleteJustin said: Murphy's Iron Rule of Tatoos:
ReplyDelete1) The more tatoos you get, the trashier you are, and
2) The closer to your crotch they are, the sluttier you are.
Hunsdon wondered: George Schultz is a slut?
Auntie Analogue said: I'd say the "cultural dividing line" is more accurately defined as white collar individuals expecting always to have blue collar individuals do the white collar individuals' fighting for them. That's power.
ReplyDeleteHunsdon objected: Outsourcing your capacity for violence can have negative consequences in the long run. Ask the Byzantines how hiring those Turkish sipahis turned out. Ask the Romans about the Vandals.
Steve, I much appreciate your writings on California.
ReplyDelete"Why the entirety of the Southern California wealthy hasn't abandoned there for here is beyond me."
There are plenty of reasons. The weather is gorgeous. So is the landscape. It's a huge place with a ton of things to do outdoors.
Plus, one can go all day without seeing a liberal, African, Scots-Irish, or snooty East Coast-er.
The people are generally pleasant and polite. Many of the Whites are descended from solid Germanic stock from the Midwest and Northwest--as opposed to pinched Yankees from New England and the East Coast--and display the Midwestern virtues.
My experience with CEOs, entrepreneurs, and international investors, is that the wealthy are continuing to settle in CA. They keep coming.
I suspect a lot of the anti-California hostility on the Downmarket Right stems from simple envy.
Del Mar and Coronado are a remnant of days gone by in Southern Cal.
ReplyDelete"I suspect a lot of the anti-California hostility on the Downmarket Right stems from simple envy."
ReplyDeleteUmm, no.
I suspect its motivated by hatred of the Raiders.
ReplyDeleteThe closer to your crotch they are, the sluttier you are. "
ReplyDeleteIn '92 I did a hooker in Sacramento (ashamed of it now) who had a skull & crossbones tatoo over her pubic bone. Was afraid it might be some kind of omen, but I didn't catch anything.
Even men who don't get into shoving matches have to understand bluffing. Overreacting to a less verbal male's sham aggression ...
ReplyDeleteThis is a great point. I've found that replying, "I've been hit by bigger guys than you," works quite well.
I commented some days ago about the Merrick Parkway and the impression it made upon a 12 year old in 1960.
ReplyDeleteOthers gave their memories too, and I turned to the comment section of today's evocative piece about Del Mar with high hopes of the same. But almost nobody seems to have ever been there!
Well I was, and in the mid-1950s. Why? Because my uncle (brother of the glamorous aunt of Merrick Parkway fame) was in charge of publicity at that race course somebody mentioned in an earlier comment. He was maybe thirty, and owned a few of the horses himself.
I stayed there every summer for a few weeks. What did I do? I went to the beach: the sand was fine and hot under the feet, but best of all it was surrounded by brush into which I would daily plunge, to emerge minutes later with the days catch of insects: butterflies, caterpillars, ants both red and black (they fought to the death when pressed together by my eager young fingers) and, one glorious day, a real live tarantula.
And the point? Nobody worried about me or where I was. I was five, six, seven years old.
Why did we let that world get away from us?
And: seriously, how do we get it back?
The undesirables (tattoos and pitbulls) wind up at La Jolla Shores.
ReplyDelete1) Due to freeway locations, compared to Del Mar beaches La Jolla beaches are more easily accessible from undesirable neighborhoods.
2) Del Mar street parking is paid and sparse; La Jolla parking is free and plentiful.
3) La Jolla has equally expensive houses as Del Mar, so it is an equally impressive place to bring your tattooed girlfriend/inlaws/extended family.
Del Mar: much higher overall cost than La Jolla, equal payout.
I like Del Mar for it's kind married women.
ReplyDeleteThey made my years at UCSD very pleasant.
Tiny homes, trust fund babies, nice.