Who said Newark was very special? I've only visited LA a couple of times but I loved the fact that parts are close to the ocean and parts are close to mountains, it's a big sprawl just like Houston sans the high humidity with a better climate. There's a lot more open space close by. The same pretty much goes for Silicon Valley. If you're not an outdoors person this stuff really doesn't matter.
I agree that Houston's humidity is a minus and that LA's weather and beaches are lovely but during my stay there (albeit brief) I did not see much to write home about. Their traffic is just as bad if not worse, their housing is over-priced and in many cases half baked, the people are not lovable, their streets are dangerous etc. On NYC, I think it is more reputation rather than reality. What many NYorkers call "the great life" down there do not interest me. I have a lot of friend who have moved from to Houston and Atlanta and their complaints include 'un-live-ability', conjestion, filt, the weather, etc. Yeah Houston may not be as great as Vancouver but most US cities are not better off.
I would move to LA. It's nice. There are hills, you are close to nice beaches, the weather is perfect. Just don't go downtown, you won't come out alive.
