I live in southern Orange County CA. The economy has recovered locally. Hyundai and Kia have recently invested in US headquarters in Fountain Valley and Irvine. Mazda headquarters is in Irvine. Ford and Chrysler have satellite campuses. Toyota is maintaining their Newport Beach design center (Calty).
We do have issues. Drought is major issue right now. Economy has not recovered equally well in all locations. Some cities have old infrastructure which needs upgrading. Air pollution has been greatly improved due to regulation, and will continue to improve.
As far as I can tell population has not decreased significantly.
http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=kf7tgg1uo9ude_&met_y=population&hl=en&dl=en&idim=state:06000:48000Regulation is a direct consequence of population density. Population density has its benefits and curses. It probably is best that most of the population is densely packed in places like CA. and not spread out equally over the entire USA. It allows a more libertarian vibe in places like Montana and Wyoming. Wide open spaces and minimal intrusion.
California has been a fantastic home for me.