In other words greed... Often what makes prices go up is lack of competition... When there is more competition prices always goes down while quality goes up...

It is also much lower than prices in many Redstates for the same amount of fast food of the same type where wages are far less than half as much, rents and taxes are lower, and regulation is lax... Apparently the humor here went over your head.

@Lizard_of_Ahaz Humour - not everybody gets it and sometimes it's just not funny to everybody.

@Surfpirate The joke is that in Econ 100 and 101 classes they teach that less competition allows you to raise prices and cut costs like quality of goods while more competition forces you to do the opposite... If competition is so low as to make quality of goods and price irrelevant you can also cut pay and reduce employees until your customer service is so bad anywhere else you would be out of business within a year.
Walmart has used a strategy of price cutting in areas of the Deep South until many places they have driven other stores including grocery stores out of business even though they take huge losses until competition is eliminated. After that happens they jack their prices up until food is so expensive people can barely afford to feed their families and have to drive as far as 60 miles to get to one of their stores because everyone else is gone.
California hasn't met that fate only because many people here hate Walmart. The other day I paid the regular price for a gallon of whole milk of 2.99 and 73% hamburger is running that per pound right now. If I find pork ribs on sale they run 1.79 to 1.99 a pound to buy a rack and grade AA large eggs are often .99 a dozen.. Yet even so here in California the wages in these stores is at least 15.00 an hour. I know people in Arizona who pay 5.00 to 8.00 a gallon for whole milk and much more for a 2 bedroom apt than my house payment is PITI each month.
So where is it really cheaper to live?...