If only the rest of America resembled California politically.

[jcmaine72]

I'm tired of Republicans and the hatred, divisiveness and bigotry they spread. They're of such little consequence in California that there isn't even a single statewide elected official who is a Republican. If every other state could make a similar boast this country would be a paradise.

What good is a two party system if all one party does is champion hate and predatory capitalism? At least POC, women, LBGT, immigrants and the poor have some semblance of a fighting chance in California without any ReThugs in power to dehumanize them.

[Sophia4]

1. Happy that I live in California among liberals (even though the cost of living

is very high here -- probably because people like living in a liberal state).

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

2. Would love to retire in Cali, though the cost of living is a factor.

[demosincebirth]

3. Not too bad in the rural counties in the north or in the central valley

[BigmanPigman]

5. I just got a Christmas card from an old art school friend.

This was the second in a week. The card was actually a lengthy letter telling me that I am "delusional for having opinions based on lies created by the media and political entities who only want to destroy" the prez. She lives in rural Northern CA while I live in urban So CA. HUGE difference! We both attended the same art school in NYC so you would thing she would be a liberal. NOPE! She is as crazy as the moron. And she receives Medicaid too...hypocrite!

[demosincebirth]

16. You will find many Trump wackos in the Bay Area, too. You will see one or two every two months

or so driving a beat-up truck with a huge flag stuck in his rear bumper. The driver usually in, deathly, need of dental insurance.

[ansible]

4. California is not a paradise

Being dominated completely by democrats has its own set of problems. And the level of economic inequality here is horrible.

[MFM008]

9. So Mississippi is better?

I'm proud to live on our left coast.
As for Democrats having our own
problems we see that every day even here in DU.
People fussing about Warren or Sanders ..HRC and being to liberal and not liberal enough and the bone heads that think there is no difference between parties.....

[Hekate]

11. I tend to agree, ansble, with some caveats. Democrats are human beings, and make human mistakes...

California, furthermore, is not "all Democrats" politically. Not by any means.

[VOX]

12. *Being dominated completely by democrats has its own set of problems* ???

Do tell, what in hell would Republicans bring to the table? They HATE everything about California.

Republicans used to run the state. Nixon won California in his loss to JFK in 1960. For decades, the Los Angeles Times endorsed Republican candidates. We’ve had Republican rule here, but we don’t like it.

The economic inequality problem in California is reflective of the strongest industries in the state: entertainment, tech and biotech. If you live here, you most likely work directly in one of those fields, or in support of one. And they tend to pay high wages.

Property values are insane as well. My parents’ modest, three-bedroom post-war wood-frame-and-stucco house on Mar Vista Hill (adjacent to Santa Monica) cost $11,000 in 1947. It was sold in 2003 for $670,000. That same property is now valued at $1,600,000. That’s not a typo. The demand for housing far exceeds the available inventory.

[appalachiablue]

14. Nixon, and Reagan as I well remember when he came to DC, quite an era.

Glad CA has changed much since then.

[Raine]

19. True

I was born here and lived here all my life. It's not a paradise and has plenty of problems, they're different problems then the one's red states have but still hard to deal with especially when one side refuses to offer any input at all.

[duforsure]

6. Remembered hearing this

It might have been from Sweden or somewhere, just can't recall, but someone asked them do they like paying such a high tax rate, and he said yes, no one goes hungry, or homeless, and we have health care for all, and education thru college provided for everyone, and great roads and a great system for everyone. That does sound great.

[secondwind]

8. Relocating to Santa Rosa in 2018 😍☺️

[jcmaine72]

10. I'm envious. Enjoy living in one of the few states remaining in America where some

semblance of sanity and decency still reign.

[VOX]

13. Nice area! Youll love it.

[Caliman73]

18. California is a decent place to live. Very diverse though.

I am sure you are aware that there were quite a large number of wildfires that went through Sonoma County. Santa Rosa lost 5% of its housing stock.

[roamer65]

15. Get ready, as goes CA so goes the nation.

After November 2018, a lot more of the country is gonna resemble CA politically.

CA, OR, WA will become deep, deep blue along with NY and New England. Many of the old Rust Belt states will see their legislatures flip to Dem along with governorships. It’s going to be a rough road for the Pedo Party down South...a lot of 50-50 races.

I can feel it in my bones, the blue tsunami is coming.

[Caliman73]

17. We are doing pretty well.

We still have our problems though. Republicans are a political minority in the state but thanks to shenanigans in the late 70's, even a minority can create a fair share of problems. One of the issues that continues to plague the state is part of the legacy of Proposition 13. It was passed as a way to limit the State's ability to raise property taxes arbitrarily (which was actually a problem that was pricing seniors out of the market) but also gave businesses an exemption (I.E. Disneyland still pays taxes at a way lower rate than the actual assessment value on their holdings). The real doozy in Prop 13 was the requirement for a super majority to pass any State tax initiatives. So even as the Democratic Party controls both Houses of the State Legislature, we only have super majority in one chamber so Republicans can block budget bills.

We are having massive problems getting our high speed rail system going as well, through a combination of environmental laws (which are good), Law suits (some of which are ridiculous), and general Republican dickishness, the project has been mired in problems.

But, still, it is expensive as all get out living here, but we are spared some of the more ridiculous crap that other states go through.