When people claim it's too expensive to live and do business in California, I think some miss the influence of the geography. Yes the tax in CA is higher than

When people claim it's too expensive to live and do business in California, I think some miss the influence of the geography. Yes the tax in CA is higher than other states but not THAT high. CA state tax is not 100% or 200% higher than most states. But housing is. The point of moving to CA for most people is to live on or near the coast, I think... Thus most centers of commerce in CA is relatively close to the beach, like SF or LA or San Diego. What this does is it almost immediately cuts the the available land for housing by HALF. In midwest of US (including Texas), you put a dot and draw 30 mile circle around it. All of that land is available for housing. In coastal regions like coastal California, put a dot near coast and draw a 30 mile circle around it. You get HALF of a circle available for housing. No wonder house price in coastal CA is easily double of equivalent in Texas and other cities. Tax in CA is not that bad. But the geography is bad for making affordable housing available, and that's not the fault of the politicians or Democrats or etc.