You only need to pass through places like Stockton, Bakersfield, San Bernardino, Santa Maria, Fresno and Redding and several parts of Oakland to realise that the California dream only hit select parts of the state. Anyway, I doubt that any of these places are anyone's first choice (Oakland excepted, because there are some parts of the city that are livable and others are up and coming. Sacramento is the seat of government and is rapidly become first choice for Bay Area inhabitants pushed out due to cost of living and housing prices are rising fast in that part of the state. That said, CA is the best bet for same sex couples, alongside parts of Washington and Oregon.

Good point. SMF is not the busiest airport but I think domestic flights are rather frequent. On this point I give Sacramento a win. It's far preferable to flying from SFO or LAX (both totally chaotic IMO.)