If you accept a life spent indoors in air-conditioned spaces you weren't taking advantage of what you were paying for in California.
I lived in the SF bay area for over a decade, and when employed by the tech industry and spending all my free time outdoors it was very worthwhile.
But whenever I stopped working in the lucrative positions there, the math stopped making sense, even spending all my time outside.
I'm still in California, but a much cheaper part: Joshua Tree. Bought a sizable property in cash, my cost of living is very low and I can still access all the excellent California produce and the coast is only a ~2 hour drive away.
People tend to only talk about the most expensive pockets of CA as if it's representative for the entire state. There's a lot of more rural parts of CA that are very affordable, still beautiful, and not even that far from the ocean.
Do you really need to be explained all the reasons California is a desirable vacation destination for the entire world?
Living there without spending your time outside is missing the entire point.
Many people live there just for the tech industry, and simultaneously complain about the high cost of living. Well, if you spend all your time at the keyboard indoors, you should shift to remote work and leave the state. Because you're paying to live in the funnest place in the nation, don't blame the state for not taking advantage of it.