As much as I'd like to buy a house outside of California, I can't imagine living in cold weather constantly. I really need sunlight/warmth, and I can't help but feel like I would miss California's weather.
The thing that I like about California is that it’s warmer than the rest of the country in the winter and cooler in the summer, generally expressed by the locals as “if the temperature is below 60 or above 80, everyone complains.”
There are no other states that have mostly Mediterranean hot/warm summer climates (Csa/Csb) - Oregon being the exception if you enjoy a colder/wetter Csb than what you find in the Bay Area:
