Californicate

[Laurence Horn]

At 8:57 AM -0800 3/22/02, FRITZ JUENGLING wrote:
>I find it difficult to believe that Colorado came up with this
>first.  Of course, we will never know exactly when "Don't
>Californicate ..." was invented, but it was alive and well in Oregon
>in the early 70's--probably goes back even further.  Oregon, being
>next door to CA,  was certainly one of the first stops for fleeing
>Californicators.

As I mentioned yesterday, I'd originally thought it was Oregon first,
but the evidence (not formally conclusive, I admit) is pointing me
toward Colorado instead.

>
>>>>  Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU> 03/22/02 08:23AM >>>
>At 8:08 AM -0800 3/22/02, James Smith wrote:
>>The first use of "californicate" I remember was during
>>the Colorado citizens campaign against the 1976 Winter
>>Olympics.  Denver had been awarded the 1976 Winter
>>Olympics, but a grassroots coalition helped pull the
>>plug.  The winter games were switched to Innsbruck
>>after CO passed a law making it illegal to pay for
>>events like the Olympics with state taxes. I believe
>>the law was passed in 1972, so "californicate" should
>>be in Denver newspapers from the early 70's.
>>
>
>Please explain the connection between the Oympic story and
>Californicating.  My understanding is that californicating involves
>large numbers of Californians moving into an area.  Were the
>Coloradans afraid that the Olympics would draw attention to CO and
>then CA'ians would move in?
>

I can't speak for Jim, but I assume the Olympics would have led to
overbuilding, overburdening the local resources (e.g on water) and
more generally increased sprawl.  (Over)building up, as opposed to
out, is sometimes referred to as Manhattanization.  I don't think
CaliforniaNS moving into an area is necessary--California moving into
an area will do it as well.

larry