I lived in California for 10 years, 1978 to 1988. Half that was in the LA Southbay area, where I got my pilot's license at Torrance. In 1983 I escaped to the Central Coast with an assignment to Vandenberg AFB, the best place to live on the whole West Coast. I had great success at a great job there and loved it. I made the mistake of going to the Pentagon in 1988 and finally escaped to Florida in 1993. I've made a few trips to CA since I left and have seen it go downhill. My last trip was in August 2001 and went to Torrance, Westlake Village, Lompoc, Buellton, Ridgecrest, and Diamond Bar, and thus got thoroghly overcaliforned. Travel on the freeways amounted to a continuous stunt driving demonstration and there was ALWAYS a wreck that brought you to a literally screeching halt.
I did not like the desert. But it was a whole hellava lot better before the gangs from the SF Valley moved in there seeking lower real estate prices and turned it into a place where arguments at a Sunday afternoon pick-up basketball game were settled by AK-47.