Lots of us like to live in California. Our weather may be boring, but we never have to shovel it!
In order to become a nonresident of California, you have to move somewhere else with the intention of staying there for a long or indefinite period of time. (That's true of most other states as well.) I can't tell you how many client's I've counseled over the years who wanted to move to Nevada and sell the stock in their California business. Some of them changed their minds when they realized that they had to REALLY move to Nevada -- just buying a house, registering to vote and getting a driver's license in Nevada wouldn't do it. You have to actually go there and stay there.
However, here we were talking about nonresidents of California who have CA source income, either from working in California or from California property. Terminating your residency won't get you out of California's (or any other state's) tax if you still have income from California sources.
Katie in San Diego