The GP is largely correct though. There are tons of incredibly beautiful small coastal towns in California - Crescent City, Fort Bragg, Gualala, the whole Point Reyes region from Bodega Bay to Stinson Beach, Pacifica, Half Moon Bay, Pescadero, Watsonville/Moss Landing, the Carmel/Monterey area, Morro Bay, Santa Barbara, etc. Cliffs or not, there are real settlements there, and they're gorgeous, even prettier than Santa Cruz. What they don't have is easy proximity to the jobs and tech wealth in the Bay Area.
When it comes to CA real estate it's all relative. You can get a 3BR with ocean views in Morro Bay for about $775K these days, while an equivalent property in Santa Cruz is about $1M. You can also get roughly equivalent (2BR) places in Santa Cruz for about $750-$800K, but they're in the flats, without much of a view.
What I don't understand is why people who aren't tied down to a metro area would buy in CA instead of elsewhere on the Pacific Coast. Equivalent places in Astoria, OR go for $300K. Weather and politics, I guess: you can also get places like that in Crescent City for $300K or even less, but the fog is a lot heavier than the Central CA coastline, it's colder, and the politics are a lot more red-state.
I'd guess that many, maybe even most, people are tied down to a metro area.
Job, social circles, family... after you've been in a place for a few years, many people find it hard to leave.
I think about my own situation. I'm happy at my job, but I could feasibly go remote and still work for the same company. I don't have any family in the area (they're all on the east coast). But my social circles are here. I do have good friends who live elsewhere (somewhat scattered, though), but the thought of "starting over" in that regard just sounds like a hill I don't feel like climbing.
I'm not exactly the type of person you're talking about, because I do want to live in a city. But when I look at Seattle, Portland, LA, San Diego, Honolulu, Austin, Chicago, Boston, NYC, DC... while I could see myself living in some of those places, the thought of actually making that leap gives me pause. I'm nearing 40, and I'm not sure I have the appetite to rebuild the relationships I've been building in the bay area over the last 16 years.
