I have lived in California all my 83 years.
Yes, things are really tough now for ordinary folks. Many people working here in the city of Los Angeles have to commute for hours because renting even a half-way decent apartment in the city proper is beyond the means of many people.
In my opinion, the saddest thing has been the deterioration of San Francisco. It was once such a nice and pleasant and clean and charming city (cable cars, hilltop hotels, nice zoo, exotic Chinatown, etc.). Today it is, well, you know.
If you can afford to live in one of the nicer areas of California, it is still a wonderful place for at least one reason: the sunshine, especially here in So(uthern)Cal(ifornia). I do not understand how people in other states can tolerate snow, heavy rains, tornadoes, hurricanes, oppressive heat, etc.
The liberals here have done a lot of good things. And bad things. Hopefully, California someday can find its way back to the middle of the road.