California was beautiful when I grew up there.
It changed.
I left.
We had families going through our trash every trash day.
My family is from cold, rust-belt midwest. My uncle (now dead) stayed in SoCal after his discharge in WWII, and married a local girl. Her dad grew oranges just near Huntington Beach and owned land around there and further north towards Seal Beach. Mom visited them regularly in the 1950s and early 60s (before her own family got too large). Mom thought it was paradise on earth, and had us all back home believing the same.