Why do people get stuck in a particular place and a way of life?

Reason vs. Rationalization

It feels like I've lived many lives already, with very few similarities between them. Some of them seem so far away I can hardly remember the details. Along the way, I've met people who seemed rooted in places and communities, not necessarily loving it, yet judgmental of other places and people they've never seen or met.

Living on the Central Coast of California, I often hear people say, "We live in paradise," only to listen to them a few sentences later complain that everything is too expensive, people are rude, the local bureaucracy sucks, the neighbor is building a house obscuring the view, roads have too many potholes, people don't pick up their dog poop, the homeless make a huge mess in the middle of town, local supermarkets carry inferior produce, this is not a place for foodies, the night life leaves much to be desired, parking got too expensive, trying to build a house requires too many expensive permits and too much time, water bills break the bank, trash prices tripled, the fog makes people depressed, not enough rain, too much rain, the fires got right  up to the edge of town last year, we flooded the year before, we could use a better police department, local politics annoy everyone, too many tourists on weekends, unaffordable rents and homes, too many bad drivers, bad cell phone reception, trash on the beaches, too many birds living in the trees and pooping on the cars parked underneath, healthcare is worse than in a third world country with people dying while waiting for an appointment to see a doctor, on and on. Basically, I wonder what exactly makes this place a paradise.

"It's the climate," they say. We don't have to shovel snow because this is a Mediterranean climate. That's the same as the Provance Region of France, Tuscany in Italy, the Aegean Coast of Turkey, Parts of the Chilian coast, and Southwestern Australia, to name a few. Personally, I think that every one of these places beats the Central Coast of California in beauty, a laidback lifestyle, farm-to-table fresh food, and outdoor activities at a fraction of the cost, minus the homeless. OK, maybe not all of them are great for surfing, but there's actually much better surfing in other parts of the world if you're into this kind of thing. There are places with better hiking, better food, more diverse communities, more interesting arts and culture opportunities, and so on. The bottom line is that there are better places to live, and many of them if one bothers to look around.

Knowing that I wonder why people get stuck in particular places and their way of life. I got stuck here for over 20 years. But back then, this place wasn't the same place. Things changed. People changed. I changed.