Somewhere along the line my comments have become totally misunderstood into the perception that I was California-bashing or proclaiming Florida to be better. What I said was that Palo Alto is one of the richest places in America, mostly due to the IT revolution, and a lot of those newly wealthy people who own Ferraris (Palo Alto is FNA's biggest market, I once read somewhere - haven't confirmed this so pls don't jump down my throat if it's not true) are willing to pay top dollar to get the best.
In Miami there are plenty of very wealthy exotic car owners who have high quality automotive services that don't charge double the national average. Summary: you pay what the market will bear and no one is saying that one state is better that the other, though some states cost more to live in than others.

 

Well put.

 

it's the same reason why a dinky 400 sq ft apartment in San Francisco cost $3k/month!