In California's north ancient redwoods tower, while mist-shrouded coastal cliffs give drivers on Big Sur reason to meditate. Yosemite, made famous by conservationist John Muir and photographer Ansel Adams, is one of the state's 9 national parks. while Central California is intellectually and physically rich, providing to the world tech tools and fruits and veggies from Silicon Valley and the Central Valley, respectively; tech giants Google, Apple, and Facebook all thrive in California. Southern California is the place where surf culture rules, where yoga took root in America in the '70's, and, in Hollywood, where stars stud the city and command the silver screen.

The largest cities in California. which has a population of over 36 million, are Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose. Apartments for rent in these areas are in high demand, but for good reason, with California's near-perfect weather and laid-back vibe. Finding apartments you can afford can be a challenge if you look in Beverly Hills or Malibu, but living in apartments in somewhere a bit more manageable such as San Francisco you can share a zip code with a company like Twitter or a person like personal finance guru and Indian American Ramit Sethi .

The list of California-born Americans includes Amy Tan, author of "The Joy Luck Club"; Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks; and Maxine Hong Kingston, influential Asian American and feminist writer and author of "Woman Warrior." More than half of Californians identify as of Latino descent, while the San Francisco and San Diego areas have large populations of Asian Americans.

Choose from the San Francisco 49ers, the San Diego Chargers, or the Oakland Raiders for football, or the L.A. Lakers and the Sacramento Kings for basketball. Baseball fans can root for the Dodgers, the Angels, or the Padres in SoCal, or pick between the Oakland Athletics or the San Francisco Giants. If you prefer peace and quiet, you're in luck: seek out apartments closer to Napa and Sonoma Valleys, home of world-class wineries. Finally, aspiring students hunting apartments take note: California boasts nearly five times the national average per state of number of public postsecondary educational institutions; top colleges include Cal Tech, Pomona College, Stanford, Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, UCLA, and UC Berkeley.