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Traffic- I'm gonna say California probably has worse traffic overall
Restaurants/Food and Shopping- Both are great, probably best in the US, but NY takes this solely because of NYC
Career Opportunities- tie.
ML Sports- I'm a NY fan, so I prefer NY, but that's my bias. California has more cities with ML sports
Scenery- Upstate NY is pretty, but California is probably one of the most beautiful places in the world
Cleanliness- I think both states are pretty clean outside the big cities
Entertainment- tossup
Singles Scene- tossup
Cost of living- overall probably NY, outside of NYC and LI
Crime- depends where you are
Location within the United States- Depends. I personally like California's location better for the scenery, climate, and proximity to Mexico and Vegas
Residents- I'm ignoring this one lol
Which is your personal Paradise?- I live in NYC and I love it. I'm a city person and no other city in the US would be good enough for me. But I also love Warm weather + beaches, and I love to surf. I'm grateful to have beaches and good surf spots in NY, but California has it better in that category. And I hate winter, but I put up with it for NYC. I wouldn't for anywhere else.
Also, the only reason I love NY is because of NYC. I don't really care too much for the rest of the state TBH. A lot of these categories I gave to NY only because of NYC. I think that's the only thing that makes this a competitive comparison. Outside of NYC, the rest of the state could not compete against CA. But one thing I think NY State does better than CA is nightlife. Nightlife is also very important to me, and CA last call is way too early.
So I prefer NY just because of NYC. Excluding NYC, California wins easily. As far as OPs criteria goes, my vote goes to California
Downtown San Jose would be good for you for sure! All the urban trappings with good weather. Everything you want: concerts, live music, art, theaters, restaurants, clubs, transportation, museums, parks, Whole foods/Trader Joes and etc. in a 10 block area. Check out Cafe' Stritch, SP2 and Level 44, awesome scene!
I spent nearly a week in Manhattan and over a week in Los Angeles.
In Manhattan my hotel was in midtown, in Los Angeles it was in Anaheim.
In Manhattan I walked everywhere. In Los Angeles I had to take the freeway to get to the grocery store.
Love both cities but I wouldn't dismiss "living on top of eachother" as purely negative.
The best way I would describe Los Angeles is happening and wealthy hubs (i.e. Hollywood, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Downtown etc...) separated by freeways, and those areas in between the hubs are usually poor and unkept.
If you stayed in Anaheim, you weren't in Los Angeles. Anaheim isn't in Los Angeles County.
After the prez election, we now know polls are no good. Plus it's rigged. Plus you have to adjust based on time zone, altitude, electromagnetic field, & UV variations.
Coming from someone who lived in New York my entire life, but visited family annually in California (Newport Beach/LA)
Weather- California no contest. Unless you prefer sticky summers, frigid winters, and horrible allergy seasons. Fall in New York is perfect though.
Quality of life- Depends on how much money you have. Your money probably goes further overall in California though (except for upstate NY, but that part of the state isn't very desirable outside of Buffalo or Albany)
Traffic-New York takes the edge here. Obviously traffic is an issue when you cram 11 million people in a small metro area, but the public transportation helps a lot. LA and SD both have horrible horrible traffic and pretty crappy metro systems too in my opinion.
Restaurants/Food and Shopping-Tied on shopping. Food depending on culture (NY has amazing Italian, Cuban and Street food, while CA has great mexican, chinese, and korean bbq!)
Career Opportunities- Depending on the field. Finance/Business NY takes the lead, Tech opportunities or acting CA has the lead. Careers are abundant in both states though.
ML Sports- New York
Scenery- California by far imo. NYC does have a great skyline, parts of the outer boroughs, central park, Long Island, and upstate are pretty, but nothing compares to the mountains, palm trees, and dramatic cliffs and redwoods in California. To me California is by far the most geographically diverse state, making it one of the most beautiful.
Cleanliness- Probably California
Entertainment-Tie. Both states are very diverse in this field
Singles Scene-Tie. However it is hard for young single people to afford living in NYC (being specific to NYC because what single person would want to move to middle-of-nowhere upstate or suburban LI), therefore driving a lot of young people out. The nightlife is great in both states though.
Cost of living-California takes a slight edge here. NY property taxes are the main killer, but rent, housing prices and car insurance costs are also out of control. Sadly New York is losing a lot of its population to states like FL, AZ, TX and surprisingly CA due to the high cost of living here. However, parts of CA, especially on the coast, are very expensive too.
Crime- Depends. Southampton on Long Island is obviously going to be safer than South Central LA, same with Brownsville Brooklyn vs Malibu. Probably a tie though.
Location within the United States-New York (access to Europe, DC, FL, Canada, etc.) However CA has better access to Hawaii, Mexico and Texas.
Residents- New York. I've always loved the attitudes of my fellow New Yorkers (not taking ****, being blunt, pride in our city)
Anything else you'd like to add- In general, both are great places to live. I've lived in New York my whole live and I consider it to be a great place to raise a family/grow up, but living here on a small paycheck will be HELL.
Which is your personal Paradise? Honestly neither, because high costs of living driving me up the wall and traffic arent my definition of paradise, but it's worth it in NY when you come home to a great slice of Long Island pizza and some Ralphs Italian Ices Also I love Long Island beaches during the summer, and Jones Beach concerts.
Overall, both are great states. But since New York is my home state, I guess it has my vote
New York City has tons of that these days. In fact, New York City has at least three Chinatowns.
While I think that NY is an above average looking state, it isn't even in the same league as California for natural beauty because of the size and diversity of CA. Only Alaska can seriously compete in my opinion for beauty. I also don't think that NY can rely on the city alone to beat California, since Californian isn't just LA, it has San Diego, San Francisco etc. NYC might beat them individually but not as a whole.
Economically California is much bigger than NY although along with Texas they are on a completely different level. CA has a GDP of over 2.4 trillion to NY 1.4.
I think a closer comparison would be NY and TX. Knowing CD, I'm sure NY would win that poll, but I think that is a better comparison than California.
After the prez election, we now know polls are no good. Plus it's rigged. Plus you have to adjust based on time zone, altitude, electromagnetic field, & UV variations.
While I think that NY is an above average looking state, it isn't even in the same league as California for natural beauty because of the size and diversity of CA. Only Alaska can seriously compete in my opinion for beauty. I also don't think that NY can rely on the city alone to beat California, since Californian isn't just LA, it has San Diego, San Francisco etc. NYC might beat them individually but not as a whole.
Economically California is much bigger than NY although along with Texas they are on a completely different level. CA has a GDP of over 2.4 trillion to NY 1.4.
I think a closer comparison would be NY and TX. Knowing CD, I'm sure NY would win that poll, but I think that is a better comparison than California.
No state alone can rival California. It would make more sense for people to compare California to countries instead of other states. Being that it would have the 6th largest economy in the world if it were its own nation. & agreed about the CD comment. I was actually expecting more people to vote for NY knowing CD lol.. A lot of NY/Chi/Philly boosters.
But also something to point out is that NYS is kind of a "One Hit Wonder" so to speak because of NYC. What other city in NYS can compete with even California's 4th/5th/6th city let alone SF & SD. Buffalo? Albany? Considering of course LA & NYC mark eachother out. SF vs Buffalo? Lol don't think so. If you did a region comparison of the Northeast vs California; Maybe LA vs NYC? SF vs Boston/Philly? SD, San Jose, Oakland, Sac, etc. The fact that California alone can compare to the whole Northeast is just mind-boggling
No state alone can rival California. It would make more sense for people to compare California to countries instead of other states. Being that it would have the 6th largest economy in the world if it were its own nation. & agreed about the CD comment. I was actually expecting more people to vote for NY knowing CD lol.. A lot of NY/Chi/Philly boosters.
But also something to point out is that NYS is kind of a "One Hit Wonder" so to speak because of NYC. What other city in NYS can compete with even California's 4th/5th/6th city let alone SF & SD. Buffalo? Albany? Considering of course LA & NYC mark eachother out. SF vs Buffalo? Lol don't think so. If you did a region comparison of the Northeast vs California; Maybe LA vs NYC? SF vs Boston/Philly? SD, San Jose, Oakland, Sac, etc. The fact that California alone can compare to the whole Northeast is just mind-boggling
One could argue that NYC alone rivals every big city in California
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Also I love Long Island beaches during the summer, and Jones Beach concerts. 
Considering of course LA & NYC mark eachother out. SF vs Buffalo? Lol don't think so. If you did a region comparison of the Northeast vs California; Maybe LA vs NYC? SF vs Boston/Philly? SD, San Jose, Oakland, Sac, etc. The fact that California alone can compare to the whole Northeast is just mind-boggling 
