the whole economy got closed up California led the US in job growth (or rather, job restoration) this spring, and many sectors of its economy survived COVID19

the whole economy got closed up California led the US in job growth (or rather, job restoration) this spring, and many sectors of its economy survived COVID19 unscathed. (https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-06-02/la-fi-california-economy-recovery-ucla-forecast-june-2021 https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-06-02/la-fi-cali...) there's a massive drought Drought has been part of CA's climate history for centuries. Rents have been insane for years in most cities Objectively false, unless by "most cities" you mean exclusively the major metropolitan areas like LA, SF, and San Diego. CA has hundreds of cities with affordable rents, some of which are even located within the LA, SF, and San Diego metropolitan areas. Huge homeless and drugs problem in LA, San Francisco. Yes, with the caveat that more than 50% of the homeless in LA and SF are not locals. They're out-of-staters that either came to LA/SF or were shipped here by their home states to avoid housing them. (Texas especially is notorious for this; former governor Rick Perry publicly bragged that Texas' homeless solution was to buy them tickets to Santa Monica.) For what? Amazing weather. Amazing beaches, and mountains, and deserts, and forests. Amazing food. Amazing people. Amazing culture. One of the world's biggest economies (as a sovereign nation, California's economy would rank ahead of India, a country of more than a billion people, Germany, the economic engine of the EU, and the UK, the former financial center of the world).