Yes, I know you were. That's why I wrote what I did.
Let's go deeper.
My example was British Columbia, a California-like geography that's even MORE liberal than California. And yet, it is a lovely and highly desirable place to live.
How about Detroit's sister city, Windsor, ON? Right across the river. Same climate, same natural resources. Run by liberals for 80 years, even more liberal than the ones running Detroit. Unions more powerful than the UAW could dream of being. What do we find there? The City of Roses, a lovely, peaceful place to raise a family.
One could go on and on.
If you think it's the liberalism that has ruined California, and Detroit, and Baltimore, and on and on and on, you have to explain contrary examples like Portland, OR, Portland, ME, Burlington, VT, Vancouver, BC, Windsor, ON, etc. etc - all absolutely dominated by liberals and unions (the other favorite explanation). Liberals alone can't ruin anything.