Well, a reader has suggested a good place to find some answers to the question of what makes Walnut Creek Walnut Creek. It's dictionary, specifically, the online Urban Dictionary. This is a very useful resource for anyone in 2010, especially if you want to understand what your kids are talking about or you want to attempt to sound cool in front of your kids. (Good luck with that!)
Urban Dictionary is the place where you can find answers to such pressing questions as how to spell "beyotch," and what is "Grand Theft Impairment" (The 4-hour period of time that you cannot drive or function in society due to playing Grand Theft Auto.)
Anyway, it is, like Wikipedia, reader written and edited, so you have to accept that some bias and personal opinion will seep into the definitions. And, the demographics of contributors appear to skew younger. But here is how the authoritative Urban Dictionary contributors define Walnut Creek, California. There are 11 entries. I thought No. 5 was particularly insightful. Some excerpts (with spelling retained):
1. It's getting bigger and better. has a lot of stupid people. but the number of cool kids is catching up. : - )
2. Hella cool city in NorCal.
3. Population is filled with rich preps, wanna-be-ghettos, pretty girls, or really good skateboarders. All the kids know how to have fun, including parties every night, alcohol for illegal age, joy riding, and tagging walls. Corey Duffel (pro skateboarder) is from w.c.
4. The local high school is predominantly inhabited by:
(but not limited to)
--Rich kids who have adopted the Southern California surfer look and lifestyle, while still maintaining a prep sensibility. I.e. toting a longboard everywhere you go, wearing a parka, and flip flops, whilst inhaling a scalding starbucks frappuccino.
--Ghetto imitating white kids (most likely also rich)
--These fellows are a puzzling breed, while these lads are probably your former best friends from Walnut Creek Intermediate, the same ones who used to wear ac/dc shirts and had skater cuts. Somewhere along the transitory line between 8th grade and freshman beginning, they discovered Mac dre and keak da sneak, and all was lost. Now they spend their time getting hyphy on the weekends and before 1st period. While still trying to figure out why everyone stares in bewilderment at the length of their t-shirts.
Everyone else: Now apparently walnut creek has fostered itself a fresh crop of 'scenesters' 'hipsters' and the like.
--Whether these be confused children who gage their ears, and listen to 3oh!3 and norma jean. Or the guy who can't get over syd barrett, looks like lou reed, wears porkpie hats and rolls his own cigarettes, and has an affinity for all things vintage. There are reported sightings of both of these types throughout the charming township of Walnut Creek.
5. Walnut Creek is a city in the Bay Area with an amazing downtown, good schools, and fun things to do if you know the right people. While the downtown is famous for its high end stores like Betsey Johnson, it also has cool underground thrift stores.
6. Well, can't include this one, because it's a little risque--with references, for example, to teen sexual activities--for my supposedly family-friendly blog.
7. A pretty boring city filled with sluts and wanna-be ghetto people. at least it's close to fun places like oakland. lots of drugs in most of the schools here.
8. A s---- sack town that's full of police and dumb blonde socal people. The socal immigration started around the same time as the remodeling of the downtown area, which was a few years back (around '00). Before then, walnut creek was just a small quiet town. At that time, walnut creek also became a magnet for wiggers, thugs, brodys, beaners, and just about [anyone] around the bay area who could afford a BART pass. Basically there are no "locals" in walnut creek anymore.
9. An almost all white, small town with little to do but sample music at Barnes and Nobles.
10. Can't include this one either because of racist terms.
11. Nothing ever happens here and the local hang out is the small downtown area. None of the couples under 18 ever have sex because they are all to stupid and cowardly to do so.
