NY, on the other hand, is hopeless. The rural areas are bleeding population while the city grows. Plus, there are no real "conservative" districts in NY, whereas California has (rather large) pockets of conservatism. Add to the fact that most NY Republicans are anti-gun and you see why I have divided feelings about returning to my home state.
you are right on....and you do know your stuff...I've lived in Calif most of my life though I've been to 40 other states...and though SF and LA are political cesspools, the whole of Calif is not that bad at all except for the housing prices....I live in Contra Costa and have a great life and only earn about 70k/yr.....and not much of this crap effects me....though I will say that I have no children and bringing up kids here is a much tougher nut....hell....I went to public schools here thru the mid 70s and got a great education.......NO MORE though....