I wish you well, but it sounds a bit like generalizing some SF-specific problems to the whole CA. I live in a boring suburb in the East Bay, where commute is horrible, but there's zero human feces on pavement, no homeless tents, and my high school kids have no problem taking a walk (or bike ride) around town at 11 pm.

Of course, suburb being suburb, it's not good for the environment (you have to drive to get anywhere), and it's boring as hell. YMMV.