Malibu coast, yesterday
The weather, compared to the extremes seen elsewhere in the Country, is generally pretty decent to downright beautiful year round.
Natural resources - the State is blessed with ready access to the sea via multiple ports for commercial fishing, oil, minerals, etc.
Farming, viable year round, creates excess food supply for export.
Tourism, for the beautiful weather, great natural wonders and vistas. It happens to be a decent jumping off point for airline trips to the west, cruises...
Industry - including the TV and film industry as well as silicon valley, shipping from Asia, military bases...
So Californians are blessed with all these gifts and things just come easy to them. So they think everyone everywhere has things that good. They develop a rather cavalier attitude about things "So what's a little XYZ in the grand scheme of things?" Not realizing that elsewhere that little bit of extra cost, or reduced performance, or more regulation, or more government etc. is often the difference between make or break, or thriving vs just surviving. Yet Californians see themselves as "leaders" for the Nation, believing everyone should follow their example. Heck, even some States like Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, etc. try to out California California.
That's their main problem: they've had it too good for too long and now the consequences of their ill-conceived and unsustainable policies are coming home to roost.
Malibu coast, yesterday
With the condition that California has put itself into regarding debt, infrastructure and tax burden, along with the tens of thousands of indigents in coastal cities...the next really big earthquake will cause it all to implode into chaos that will make the garbage dumps of Manila look like a five star resort.
They are on borrowed time, not just borrowed money. The next big one turns those cities into a Hell on Earth that they have no means to recover from. Let’s see what those property values and paper wealth look like then.