Simply put, yes there is a hatred of Californians in America.
I am a Native Oregonian, which basically means that I consider California to be an enemy state. Though, throughout the nation there are varying reasons for the vitriol directed at California. The more politically conservative portions of the nation despise California for a perceived political liberalism, notwithstanding the fact that many conservative leaders like Ronald Regan were from the state. Though, it is true that many more progressive elements do make the state their home.
In the more politically liberal northeast, Californians are seen as superficial, less educated and less refined, effectively just trying but failing to live up to the standards of the northeast. Whether or not this is true I have no idea, as I've never actually been to New York or New England.
As for those in the other Pacific Sates, our dislike of California is much more well-founded in reality and real events. For example: ever since the mid-eighties, with the deregulation of cross-state real estate purchases and general lowering of property taxes, the more wealthy real estate firms specializing in San Andreas property began their march northward into northern California and eventually Oregon and Washington. Housing prices and Commercial Leases began to rise dramatically, even before the relative boom of the 1990s, and many of these real property firms began funding local state-wide Ballot Measures to lower property taxes at the cost of State-Run education and Health Care. Google "Oregon Measure 5" to see what I mean.
In addition, many of the long-held Environmental Laws passed in the 50s and 60s under (Republican) Governors Tom McCall and Mark Hatfield were eroded away by both Republican and Democratic governors partly due to pressure and funding from Californian mining, land development, and manufacturing firms. This has made the defining river in Oregon, the Willamette, a veritable cesspool that is no longer safe to swim or bathe in during most of the year. Not only this, but many formerly locally owned businesses which were ethically and responsibly owned have been bought out by Californian investment firms and companies. G.I. Joe's -no relation to the toy- began as a Military Surplus outlet in the 1950s but evolved into a locally owned and run sporting goods and clothes chain. All of their employees were unionized and received health care if employed 35 hours per week or more. The chain was sold to a Californian investment firm in the early 2000s, and within 4 years declared bankruptcy amid rumors of executive fleecing of the company's funds. Thousands of employees were laid off.
These tragedies occur on the personal level as well. Back in the late 90s, my uncle owned a house out in Sandy, Oregon on the Sandy river. Six different families in total owned adjoining property, but in practice, the land was held in common, with everyone able to use it as they saw fit. There were no fences. Out in the country like that, people tend to be close to their neighbors, so close in fact, they stated a game of naming their cats. One got a cat and named it "Brandy" for the color of its fur, leading another to name his cat "Boozer" as a friendly joke. My uncle -not to be outdone- name the next cat he got "Alchy," as in "an alcoholic." Eventually one person moved away to a retirement home and sold his property to a Dentist from California. This dentist claimed to be fleeing the callous and erratic life of southern California, but as soon as he moved in, he installed a chain-link fence around his property. . . This, of course, was actually illegal in the area for good reason, but being so far out into the country the fence was built before anyone could say anything. The reason these fences are illegal there is because of the local deer population, which have no concept of our property, and will almost always attempt to jump fences rather than go around to get to the river. It only took a week for my uncle to find the first yearling to impale itself and die on the fence, and when he approached the dentist over the issue, all the dentist said was: "Stupid deer," and drove off. I spent an afternoon with him one summer pulling deer corpses off the fence and burning them. The dentist may have been trying to flee California, but instead he just brought California with him.
So, yeah. California is not a vague concept to its neighbors, we cannot see it in the glitz and glamor that Hollywood likes to show. It is important to note that Northern Californians may actually have the worst of us all though. Smaller cities in the north of the state are often forgotten in state-wide politics, especially when it comes to education and environmental legislation. Large Universities like UCLA and Cal Tech get a lot of funding, while smaller and community-sized colleges in the northern part of the state are lacking. Most residents are forced to go all the way south to San Fransisco or Sacramento to go to college, northward to Ashland, Oregon or even Carson City, Nevada. Also, environmental legislation is almost always aimed at the southern portion of the state, which has an ecosystem that differs greatly from the mostly forested north.
Overall, I am barely able to tolerate California's existence. At the very least, I think the state should break into two separate parts, allowing the north to manage its own affairs properly. If it was not for the interstate commerce clause of the US constitution, most trade between Oregon and California would have been highly regulated years ago in an effort to stop inflation of real property values and capital flight. Yes, much of my opinion is formed subjectively, but much of it is formed objectively as well, as the Californian economic impact on Oregon has been largely negative.
