You have to remember that CD stores are a dying business. Places like Wherehouse, Sam Goody, etc. have all disappeared. IF people buy CDs, they go to Best Buy. So you're not going to find a music store on every corner in Northern California, but you will find more music stores than most anywhere else. When I was up there in February, I hit up two Rasputin's and spent over $300 combined at both stores. As far as finding rare music, it just depends on how hard you look and how stupid some people are for selling valuable rarities to a music store for a couple of bucks.