I moved from LA in June of last year as well. This is a great summary.

One thing to note on costs of owning a car in CT versus CA is the ‘car tax’. You essentially owe property tax on your vehicle, with the rate depending on what town you live at. The town will bill you by mail, but on a new-ish car it could be up to $2k/year. It’s offset a bit by the fact that registration is significant cheaper and valid for 3 years at a time here.