Yes, the article is a little nasty, but you are off on so many points:
1) The only real thing lacking out here is a lot of seriously good Italian food. However, the Italian food that's in SoCal tends to actually be made by real Italians from Italy, not some 4th generation goomba with a NYC attitude. Other than that, SoCal has arguable the best selection of food outside of San Francisco. Plus, there are more supermarkets in Southern California than anywhere else. Whole Foods. Bristol Farms. Gelsons. And cool little Co-Ops with organic produce from local farmers. Wegmans is nice, but it's like a beautiful girl from a small town who moves to LA...once she's there, she's just another girl...and Wegman's is just another supermarket albeit a very nice one.
2) I have met plenty of interesting people in SoCal, and rarely run into the flakey types....they're here of course, but so are a bunch of people from the East Coast and Midwest who prefer the weather and the lifestyle.
3) Anywhere near the beach, it's not dirty and dusty...that includes downtown San Diego and the Gas Lamp district. And weather is subjective...it doesn't mean people are wusses...happens to everyone that lives here long enough. In my mind, the real wusses are the ones who would rather be a big fish in a small pond (stay in a small town and never grow) then take a dip in the ocean where all the really big fish are (the challenge of a big city).