The question to ask, if everything is as great as you guys are telling us, why is more than half running for their lives? California, you tell us, is an economic and cultural success, a utopia. Except more than half want out, why?
First off, you're the only one calling California a "utopia." This is what is known as a "strawman." California isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, and no one I know claims that it is.
The reason why people want to leave California is because it is such a success.

Think back to basic economics. What happens when there is a limited resource (great weather, plentiful jobs, developed infrastructure) which everybody wants? The price of the resource goes up. And--surprise!--as you mentioned yourself, this is the primary reason people want to leave.
It costs to live in a place that doesn't have crippling snowstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes, lack of jobs, crummy universities, and such. Real estate prices go sky-high. Natural resources like water become strained. These are what you expect from success.
And you have to deal with congested freeways, the ever-increasing wildfires (especially if you try to get away from the overcrowded cities), and the occasional killer earthquake.

But no one has a good plan on mitigating those problems. (Raking the "forests" won't help.

)
And having so many people with so much money, along with moderate weather, means that homeless can survive easier here than elsewhere. So, yeah, we have a homeless problem, too. But how would you suggest we solve that? I'm sure, if Texas is willing, that California will happily send our homeless to you! We'll even pay their way.

I myself get mad that finding a better home will cost over half a million dollars. That I have to go three miles out of my way to avoid traffic getting to work (something you can't even do in L.A.). And that we have tent encampments around our downtown, and beggars at every other corner.
OTOH, I also get mad at this cold snap we've been dealing with lately. Temperatures at night have been between 30-55 degree F for over a month now! My hands start getting cold when I walk the dog in the morning! And my heating bill has been like $90/month to keep the house warm! It's miserable!

I would love to have a California with reasonable housing prices and cost of living. I would love a California where the freeways aren't congested during rush hour, or all-day and most of the weekend. I would love a California where we don't have a homeless crisis. But these are all the price of success. We may be able to mitigate them, but we'll never solve them.
I expect that you'll start seeing these problems pretty soon in Texas, too, Crunch.
