I've lived in Dallas my whole life. I spent 3 years in CA for a great job opportunity. Eventually I moved back, compelled by housing and family issues.

- Housing in CA is an absolute bloodsport. It is very difficult to find a reasonable place to live and if renting, difficult to keep.
- The taxes are indeed nightmarish. I made the mistake of bringing a car into the state I purchased 11 months prior and almost had to pay $5500 in "use tax" for the privilege. I was able to get this waived but it was close.
- Crime is substantially worse in CA. I was warned never to leave electronics in my car and I witnessed a live robbery at a Comcast store getting a cablemodem set up.

All that being said...my 3 years there were the best of my life. I miss the weather, the people, the political climate and the substantially better job opportunities.

I consider my time in CA a net win, but I wish I'd gotten out there sooner in life (when living in a tiny apartment wouldn't bother me.)

I know what you mean and living in Texas I am well aware of the CA scare tactics.

I really liked living in CA, I just got into the state too late in life to strap on a $1.5M mortgage for 30 years.

Absolutely true. CA is paradise and the jobs are substantially better. The housing is the real bummer though. Pay 10x what it’s worth everywhere else.

I left a 2004 1940sq ft house that I bought new for 155k.
I rented a 1958 1722sq ft house until the owner decided to sell and offered it to me for 1.5M. I declined.

So for me it was around 10x more for a smaller and much less nice house.

When you start looking at 1.5M homes in Texas, the numbers change and you're probably looking at 4x for a comparable CA home.

Put another way, look at those homes you referenced for 1.5M - mansions, with pools and lots of land, etc.

1.5M in Silicon Valley is a barely passable house. Definitely nothing fancy.

Fair enough. The Bay Area is my CA frame of reference which is for sure batshit crazy.
I wish it wasn't so, I loved living there despite the lower standard of (house) living.