People in coastal Carlsbad didn’t strike me as terribly phony — first time I was in SD (since childhood) was in 2009, and I visited a friend who was staying in an apartment complex within shouting distance of the beach. Rent was cheap, under a grand a month for a 1 bedroom, you could hear train’s klaxons whenever you opened the bedroom window, and most of the other residents of the complex were either normal middle-class people or student/surfer types. Didn’t seem pretentious to me at all.

As to my view of CA, I’d strongly PREFER to live somewhere near the beach, ideally within walking distance. Even if I have to pay a bit more for it, sacrifice space, or maybe rent vs buying. Being able to walk over for a swim or sit in a cafe with view of the water would make the other compromises in CA worth it to me.