I’d argue there is a difference between what side of the political spectrum California is on and whether or not they are good at governing. You mention that we don’t have good public transit but California is famous for massively expensive infrastructure projects. It seems it’s less of a ideological issue and more of a competency one.

SF spends more on homelessness than any other municipality, but still has rampant homelessness.

SF’s muni is one of the worst in the country in terms of reliability and speed but we have a muni budget that is equal to London per capita.

Most complaints in California isn’t on its ideology, but rather its incompetence at executing its ideology