I find most people that talk shit on California have never even been there. The state is absolutely huge, which is hard to understand from people who are from small states and hear from their small local news cycle every day. Living on the east coast, I think a lot of the local bumpkins here think the entire state looks like Los Angeles. As for air quality- I live in "Amish paradise" which is billed as a vacation destination (ha) for NJ and NJ folks due to the "quaint" countryside and whatnot. We consistently have some of the worst air quality in the nation, and those quaint folks contribute significantly to the pollution in the Chesapeake bay. We were tied for 8th worst out of 227 metro areas across the nation the last time I saw an air quality ranking. I go weeks at a time not being able to breathe right. I would love to live with the air quality of some of the places I have visited in CA.

From what the locals were telling me, you couldn't see Mt. Baldy from Ontario airport most days, which is hard to imagine.

Prices have gone up pretty much everywhere...that is what happens when money is "cheap".