Thanks for clarifying your reasoning. I would agree that the landscapes and climate along the west coast are fabulous for tourist destinations and nice to have

Thanks for clarifying your reasoning. I would agree that the landscapes and climate along the west coast are fabulous for tourist destinations and nice to have otherwise, but they don't seem to be as strong of metrics for daily quality of life, at least from speaking to my family members who have lived in multiple areas that you mentioned. There are a lot of resort towns (including in CA, among other states/countries) that excel at these but are otherwise poor areas to live in. Then again, some of the family I was referring to are moving back to the west coast, so I completely understand that we can value different things.