I have lived in Texas, Florida, Colorado, Minnesota, Washington, Missouri, and Iowa. Had family in DC, Michigan, Kansas, Oregon, and Louisiana. Grew up in San Diego, went to college in Davis, based in the Navy near Fresno, and reside now east of Sacramento. My base is Detroit.

I went from Minnesota to here east of Sacramento and my taxes decreased. Why? Property taxes are 1% and will not go sky high because of a limit known as Prop 13.
You can find pretty reasonable values in the Sacramento area. San Francisco Bay area is very high. Los Angeles is a mixed bag but I despise the place. A giant parking lot. I like to get away and do it within 10 minutes. San Diego can be pricey in places but the weather is perfect year round. I mean it is the finest in the United States of America. Has it all for recreation. If money is no option, buy on Coronado and you can walk or bike to golf, sailing, beach, shopping, surfing, diving, whatever. My hometown. Across the street from the ocean.

Depends on the line of work you do and what your outdoor interests are. As an airline / retired military guy I have seen every state but Maine. California politics is absolutely horrible but geographically it has everything. Mountains, skiing, hiking, wine countries, coast (all kinds of coasts too) valley, desert. It has Sequoias, Death Valley, Sierra Nevada, Lake Tahoe, Lassen NP. Yosemite NP, Redwood NP, the list goes on and on and on. Hunting, fishing, flying, eating, sailing. Driving. Did I mention driving? Two lane coastal roads? Sonora Pass? Tioga Pass? I need to go to bed.

 

They are all relatively warmer than here, Syracuse got the most snow of any US city this year! haha

And California is expensive but wages for nurses are up to 2x higher than here so that makes up for it a bit. I guess when I said affordable I meant not like NYC where my girlfriend is from


And a picture of my car this winter for fun

 

Thanks for the in-depth post! California gets a point for me because they have safe staffing ratios for nurses which is a big deal. Only downside is being so far from family.

We plan to do a LOT of traveling in the next few years and might even do travel nursing so we'll probably check out all the places everyone is mentioning

 

I have a bunch of friends in health care here, both nurses and docs. Kaiser is huge as well as UC Davis. Sutter is another. Its such a big market I can't believe you would have a problem.

Lots of non stops to east coast. I do it all the time. Sometimes being on opposite coasts from family can be good as well as bad!

 

TAMPA! I moved here 11 years ago from Indiana and wouldn't think of moving away. There is a good mix of relaxation and partying here. A great place to get a little crazy, but also a great area to raise a family. Great beaches ~20 minutes away, great weather, and fancy dining, but not as douchey and stuck up as Miami. Oh, and the top is always down

 

You in Syracuse? I'm in Troy near Albany and we get HALF the snow you guys get. Get the hell away from the lakes. Even still, this winter was severe. Polar vortex really took a toll on the roads.

 

Yeah a lot of it is lake-effect snow. And you're right this winter really damaged the roads but no worries, they'll have it all fixed just in time for next winter

 

While driving through Portland I noticed there were definitely parts that wouldn't seem like a great place to live/raise a family, but the Beaverton area which is just to the SW, seemed much nicer. That is where I picked up my S2000 I'm sure there are parts of Portland that are much nicer than what I saw, though.

And if considering the Portland area, you might want to consider Washington State as well--in particular the greater Puget Sound area. The Cascades are close by, which always gives the opportunity for hiking (starting ~May at lower elevations, June, or July at higher elevations--early November) or skiing (late Nov./ early Dec.-mid April). I've lived here my entire life, and don't feel compelled to move out of the region anytime soon.

 

Albuquerque, NM.

Cheap. Has about 350 days of top down weather. Snow last 10 hours. We have lots of outdoor activities only a hour away.

(Watch out for the cops. They are a bit trigger happy)

 

While I personally would not mind living in Albuquerque. . . it's not terribly close to the ocean.