California -- good place to live if you have been here long term and own your home.
California -- not so good if you are young married unless you have good jobs and have been able to buy your first home. Our young marrieds are a large emigration group. (Leaving for Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and Texas.)
Yes, the one year out-of-state plan can work, but use is required. We did use the 2004 90 day plan (over 120 days and 18 states) and it was fine. I also note that with the amount of taxes we have paid to the state of CA in the past three decades, I consider myself to be a very patriotic person. :B Using the 2004 method to save sales taxes (in a legal manner) was a modest total amount by comparison.