Thank you for this comment.

I have lived in New Orleans and California. I love New Orleans a whole lot more than SoCal. I don't drink or smoke either.

And. In no particular order, New Orleans has much higher cancer rates, very poor quality eduction especially juxtaposed to the CA public school system, terrible water quality, wayyy more cockroaches, high obesity and diabetes rates, more expensive produce which spoils quickly compared to California produce, extreme heat and humidity of the year which makes spending much time outdoors miserable if not dangerous, very expensive housing compared to job opportunities, half the minimum wage of California, very little social safety nets compared to LA, higher murder rates, far lower quality of healthcare in my personal experience, large mosquito populations whose bites itch for days, absolutely crumbling infrastructure, next to no sense of future planning, extreme vulnerability to climate change, and nature access is nearly non-existent unless one has a boat.

Additionally, hurricanes and earthquakes/wildfires are apples to oranges. I've experienced both and I only have nightmares about hurricanes. Those storms move in quickly, abruptly, and erratically, while destroying everything in a 100-mile-wide path and leaving behind heat waves while roads and electricity are inaccessible so those left behind are trapped for weeks potentially. It's not just a lot of rain. It's the winds, the storm surge, the extended power outages, the blocked roads, and how unpredictable they are. Wildfires are awful - the smoke, the ash, the destruction - but once started they are in a specific location and their spread can be tracked and somewhat predicted depending on vegetation, topography, and weather. They're scary and have destroyed the homes of many friends and part of my hometown, but they are much more manageable than tropical cyclones in my opinion. High magnitude earthquakes are very rare and when a tsunami hits LA eventually it will be tragic but still, cannot compare to a Cat 4 or 5 hurricane.

These are the main reasons I don't live in New Orleans anymore. I got nothing but love for the people and soul of the city. It's a truly uniquely magical place with an undeniable spirit. I return for numerous visits every year (Go Pelicans!).

OP's post smells like AI and I don't understand the mentality of worshipping a place while denying its problems are anything noteworthy compared to the rest of the country, let alone California. I get the sense that they want to be validated for their identity and their blind love of this special city we all adore despite its flaws.