I dunno, but Gary Condit’s is remarkably bad.
To answer the OP, based on this thread: Through a thick haze of scantily informed stereotypes, apparently.
Is this still a GQ at this point? Was it ever?
My two bits: much of SoCal’s “healthy living” is a bleed-out from the Hollywood vibe. You make sure you look good because your physical condition is your workplace uniform – your physique is now half of your resume.
I live and work in Hollywood, perhaps THE most image conscious place to be. Since moving out here from New Jersey (via Boston), I’ve been EXTREMELY influenced by the culture of beauty and good looks to the point that I have altered my eating habits (for the better) and now exercise regularly. Since moving out here I’ve lost about 20-25 lbs and have toned up considerably – all because I see nothing but “beautiful people” everywhere I look.
Well, except Denny’s last night.
650.00!!! You’re complaining about 650.? I’m at twice that.
Now if I could bring this back to the OP…
I moved here and from my experience people are more health oriented in general. I see it when I travel and visit my home state. I have lived in NY, CO, TX and AZ and now CA. I don’t feel it’s paradise, but it’s pleasent.
People who don’t live here do have a prejudice against it. I did before I got here. It’s just a lifestyle, nothing more.
I’ve lived in California for the better part of four decades and I’ve been to about 45 of the states. The only other state I’d consider living full time is Hawaii, but I’d probably get bored pretty quick.
It is illegal to smoke in a public building, office, restaurant or bar. It’s hell on smokers, but heaven for the rest of us. Been that way for about 10 years.
It is very crowded now, and this is not pleasant. Prices in major metropolitan areas are very high.
World’s fifth largest economy.
I wish they all could be California girls, but we sure do have some nice ones.
Wide variety of flora, fauna (home of bigfoot) and varying geology.
Usually pleasant people. Land of weirdo politicians like Jerry Brown and Gary Condit, both of whom I want out of my political party, so far only Jerry has obliged.
To respond to the topic question:
Most of us wish they’d fall into the sea.
I seem to get “checked out” by the ladies a lot more often in California than here in Washington. I conclude that Californians are smarter and have better taste. 
I once went to California, when I was two. I’m fifteen, nearly sixteen now. I’ve still not healed from that trip…
I personally view California as a state of extremes - extreme liberals seem to coexist with extreme conservatives. California’s an extreme state, a state on the edge of it’s seat. I view the northern bit as much less populated than the south, with mountains and trees (like Oregon and Washington… mmm, trees…), and the remainder as a large city.
All in all, California is probably our most diverse state. I’d live there, if I had a very well-paying job there with reasonable security.
Violet gave it a heck of a try with a real, live cite. But yeah, this is more an IMHO thing.
U.S.. I guess they are, technically..Would you be terribly upset if I used this as a sig? 
Oh, and the link Violet gave ranks Minnesota #2. That’s kinda cool.
A few years ago I was out jogging with a friend when a CNN crew stopped us and asked what we thought about Phen-Fen. It was new to the market then. In my surprise I blurted, “I’ve never heard of it.” My friend explained to me that it was a new diet drug. The reporter lost interest in us.
We paused for a moment while the journalists prowled the strand in search of other slender young women to interview. It was the oddest thing to watch. Why question thin people about a diet pill? Then I recalled the impression the rest of the country has about Venice Beach.
Those Californians will do anything for beauty. They’re made of silicone. They’re getting steroids and colonic therapy in between liposuction appointments.
Did these people think my friend and I were abusing prescription drugs?
Grrr.
I was a graduate student and she was a sales manager. We rarely even wore makeup.
Re: the OP, it’s easier to keep up a workout schedule if you can go outdoors in December in shorts. A fashion buyer once told me that the average women’s clothing size is two sizes smaller on the east and west coast than in the middle of the country. Different eating habits. I also seem to recall that California has a lower smoking rate than the nation as a whole. Maybe that’s because there’s no local tobacco industry.
Well, as been said, it does depend on where you live. Cities near the coast seem to have fitter and healthier people because it’s usually milder in climate and there’s more to do (the urban centers are almost all on the coast).
In the LA area, winters typically dont drop further than 32 - 30 F in the early hours of the morning and only for an hour or so. Even where I live the coldest time is early morning. Typical daily highs in winter can be in the 70’s. Go inland into the central valley or up in the mountains and your perspective may change (i am native, but have hardly been further east in the state than the immediate coast, so i cant really comment). In the smaller towns along Salinas, things are quite a bit different, with many people being farm workers or rural types.
I dont really notice a large amount of obese people where I live. Most seem to be average or fit. I see a lot of fit people because of my University, and also we have a lot of tourists, a rec-trail along Monterey, and lots of parks and beaches. So, all the activity loving people tend to come out and you see them all over the place. It’s unheard of that anyone would even think to light up in a restaurant. Even in bars it is illegal (i think it was freyr who responded with surprise that it was illegal to smoke in bars, in a PM).
Personally, just going to the LA area was enough to make me insanely jealous and start to improve my eating habits and to exercize. Also, there’s enough fit people around here that i’m also compelled to improve myself.
Speaking for the San Francisco Bay Area, the diversity is astounding. I hope this place is a blueprint for the future of America.
Hey Doob,
Where are you going to school?
I’m guessing CSU Monterey Bay? Which sounds like a cool place to go to college…
BlackKnight: Sure, you betcha. Go ahead.
It seems that all the loonies I grew up with wandered westward… to California like zombies.
LA is a beacon light for a certain quality of person.
I don’t love/envy California nearly as much as those in California think I do.
Same with New York City, though we’re not supposed to talk about that right now.
I disagree.
We New Yorkers know that this is a difficult place in which to live (weekend errands like shopping and mailing a package and dropping by the office to pick something up, etc., can take up the entire SATURDAY, what with cabs and subways and traffic and everything, whereas out there in America they’d take only an hour or two).
But we take pride in meeting adversity in our lives, and consider everyone else to be soft. And, as Dave Barry once said, there is OPERA here.
California? You mean San Francisco? That cute little toy city? And I understand that there’s another town further south, but the less said about THAT place the better. There’s must be more of the state outside the cities, but why bother with stuff outside cities? Those people are “just wasting time in pickup trucks.” (Ed Koch, 1981)
Lightly.