Where have you gone Maureen McCormick?

[trinacriabob]

Maureen McCormick was Marcia Brady, for you younger members who may not know.

In the 70s and 80s, that look was an LA mainstay, practically a dime a dozen. Nowadays, in LA, you don't see anybody like that. So where are they? The same is true in Portland. In the last 10 years, WASPY pissy little Portland (I hate Northwesterners) doesn't look as white and pissy as it did 10 years ago.

I know where the Maureen McCormicks are. In Chico and places like that, which is where I happen to be today en route to Sacramento. The third tier tiny cities of the West are where those people apparently now reside, unless they live in the spendy neighborhoods of the urban areas they didn't leave (Bellevue WA, Lake Oswego OR, the foothill suburbs of Sacto and Orange or Ventura Counties instead of Los Angeles County proper).

What are the major demographic shifts taking place in your area? Where have Greg and Marcia moved to?

Edited August 10, 2007 by trinacriabob

[Oracle of Delphi]

Maureen McCormick was Marcia Brady, for you younger members who may not know.

In the 70s and 80s, that look was an LA mainstay, practically a dime a dozen. Nowadays, in LA, you don't see anybody like that. So where are they? The same is true in Portland. In the last 10 years, WASPY pissy little Portland (I hate Northwesterns) doesn't look as white and pissy as it did 10 years ago.

I know where the Maureen McCormicks are. In Chico and places like that, which is where I happen to be today en route to Sacramento. The third tier tiny cities of the West are where those people apparently now reside, unless they live in the spendy neighborhoods of the urban areas they didn't leave (Bellevue WA, Lake Oswego OR, the foothill suburbs of Sacto and Orange or Ventura Counties instead of Los Angeles County proper).

What are the major demographic shifts taking place in your area? Where have Greg and Marcia moved to?

Oddly, I just watched a reality weight loss show that Maureen McCormick (Marcia, Marcia, Marcia Brady) was on, and also won. She lost the most weight. The other odd thing is that Barry Williams (Greg Brady), married a girl from Newark, Delaware a few years back. They got divorced not long after their child was born. I know for a fact (I have a friend who works in Family Court here) that he is not supposed to have unsupervised visits with the child, now why do you think that is?

Edited August 10, 2007 by Pontiac Custom-S

[Robert Hall]

Lots of California transplants here... lots of transplanted Midwesterners like myself. Lots of immigrants--Hispanics, Asians. My county (Denver county) recently became more than 50% minority..

[ZL-1]

I have a distant memory of a show called 'Brady Bunch'. Was Marcia some kind of stereotypical American mom?

Edited August 10, 2007 by ZL-1

[Robert Hall]

Carol was the Mom, Marcia was the oldest daughter.

I vaguely remember watching it as a kid in the mid '70s...a white bread San Fernando Valley family...seemed like of a '60s style show that carried over into the '70s. It had the unusual twist in that the kids were step siblings--the wife was a widow w/ 3 girls and the hubby was a widower w/ 3 boys or something like that.

I remember the hilarious Brady Bunch movies from the '90s with Gary Cole.

Edited August 10, 2007 by moltar

[Cory Wolfe]

I watched many Brady reruns. Marcia, Jan, Cindy, Greg, Peter, and Bobby.. Oh what a sixsome!

[ZL-1]

Carol was the Mom, Marcia was the oldest daughter.

Oh, thanks. Like I said, I only have a faint memory of that show.

I vaguely remember watching it as a kid in the mid '70s...a white bread San Fernando Valley family...seemed like of a '60s style show that carried over into the '70s. It had the unusual twist in that the kids were step siblings--the wife was a widow w/ 3 girls and the hubby was a widower w/ 3 boys or something like that.

So, aside from that twist it was stereotypical. In that sense of the living-in-the-suburbs-'traditional'-caucasian-couple.

Maybe things are more mixed up nowadays... or maybe that TV show just perpetuated that family stereotype as the All-American family. I may be stereotyping myself as well, but I wouldn't think African, Asian or Latino families had any relevant airtime during the '70s. At least not the same amount of airtime thay have nowadays.

Edited August 10, 2007 by ZL-1

[CARBIZ]

Well, not too stereotypical, because the main theme was single mom with 3 daughters and single dad with 3 sons coming together under one roof. Along with other 'trend-setting' shows like That Girl (Marlo Thomas as a single career girl with no husband living on her own - GASP!) and 'Julia' (about a black nurse), The Bratty Bunch was testing the boundaries.

However, the 'lily-white' version of middle-America does look a little silly today. I nearly blew a gasket laughing when it was discovered that the father in the show was gay in real life - now THAT really blew down some barriers!

But, to frankly answer the question: Toronto looks nothing like it did when I was 14 and growing up. The Marcia Brady's are all fleeing the city, frankly. Drive to the 'satellite' cities, like Oakville, Pickering, Barrie or even further to Cambridge or Kitchener and the ethnic mix is shockingly different. Brampton, where I lived for about 2 years (late '70s) is now about 30% Sikh/Hindu/Muslim and escalating. The area where my parents grew up (Rexdale, in northwestern Toronto) is now 60% south-Asian and black West Indian. I drove through there recently and had to pull my car over because I was overcome with shock at the complete neighborhood change where my childhood memories were. The worst crime in the city is now up in that area. Forget about downtown - I wouldn't walk through most parts of Rexdale at night! I was giving my partner a tour of the city and he was, frankly, dismayed when I showed him my grandparents old neighborhood.

[pow]

From close to when I was born to now, our city demographics haven't really changed much...

1990 Census

Population: 41,659

White: 72.40%

Black: 1.71%

Asian: 20.66%

Pacific-Islander: 0.18%

Amer-Indian: 0.05%

Other: 1.15%

Hispanic: 5.07%

Population over age 64: 12.0%

Population under age 18: 21.3%

Median income: $87,525

2000 Census

Population: 41,145

White: 63.14%

Black: 1.98%

Asian: 25.95%

Pacific-Islander: 0.10%

Amer-Indian: 0.15%

Other: 1.21%

Hispanic: 5.68%

2+ races: 3.39%

Population over age 64: 18.7%

Population under age 18: 23.0%

Median income: $105,586

2007 Estimate

Population: 43,092

Maureen McCormick was Marcia Brady, for you younger members who may not know.

In the 70s and 80s, that look was an LA mainstay, practically a dime a dozen. Nowadays, in LA, you don't see anybody like that. So where are they? The same is true in Portland. In the last 10 years, WASPY pissy little Portland (I hate Northwesterners) doesn't look as white and pissy as it did 10 years ago.

I know where the Maureen McCormicks are. In Chico and places like that, which is where I happen to be today en route to Sacramento. The third tier tiny cities of the West are where those people apparently now reside, unless they live in the spendy neighborhoods of the urban areas they didn't leave (Bellevue WA, Lake Oswego OR, the foothill suburbs of Sacto and Orange or Ventura Counties instead of Los Angeles County proper).

What are the major demographic shifts taking place in your area? Where have Greg and Marcia moved to?

Last time I checked, we're still in Los Angeles County proper (Rancho Palos Verdes), and we still have tons of Greg and Marcias. There are lots in West LA and the Beach Cities, too (in that they're white - SaMo, Malibu, Westwood, Hermosa, Manhattan, etc) and the San Gabriel Valley as well (in that they're suburbs - Pasadena, San Marino, Diamond Bar, etc.) I guess it depends on your definition of Maureen McCormickland: if you want white, suburb, and affordable, then you're right, there aren't any in LA county.

Edit: Lots of Greg and Marcias in Torrance, too.

Edited August 11, 2007 by empowah

[mustang84]

My hometown I grew up in is 98.5% white, so I didn't get exposed to a lot of diversity as a kid. When I was in school, I could count on one hand how many fellow classmates weren't of a European descent.

Iowa's biggest growth of non-European ethnicities has been Hispanic. In a city like Des Moines, you can find about 70% Caucasian, ~15% Hispanic, ~10% African American, and the rest a mix of descents. Small Iowa towns with a large manufacturing base (meatpacking and food service especially) have seen a lot of growth due to Hispanic immigrants.

It's sad to see all the gated communities springing up around the country. West Des Moines is littered with them. And even if they aren't the kind where you have to have a security clearance to pass, you still feel like you aren't supposed to be driving through them. But I think this is where a lot of the upper middle-class Maureens are going. You can see the shift in a lot of the inner suburbs..."Maureen" types moving out for the gated homes as minority groups move in.

Downtown is so much more vibrant of a place to live. I either want to live in / close to downtown or in an old neighborhood with brick homes and mature trees when I graduate. These homoginized cookie-cutter outer 'burbs aren't really my thing.

Edited August 11, 2007 by mustang84

[Oracle of Delphi]

Hey I live in a gated community and I love it.

Move to Hockessin Camino, drive a Saab and be a Snob!

Hockessin, Delaware Link: http://www.city-data.com/city/Hockessin-Delaware.html

[trinacriabob]

Hey I live in a gated community and I love it.

You need to take a picture of THE GATE and post it!

Wait, on second thought, it might make it easier for ocnblu to find you!