Back in the stone ages aka early 2000s, little kid used to go to a competitive swimming camp in Tempe. The swimming pool was owned by the camp. And yup, they advertised that the pool had a cooling system to keep the water temperature at comfortable for workouts level!
Just looked it up. The camp was sold and bulldozed down. Replaced by housing developments.
But even from the center of the state you can get to the ocean in an hour or so. I can’t afford an oceanside community, but living somewhere I can do a day trip to the ocean every couple of weeks sounds appealing.
I think we have concluded that there is some sort of downside to living almost anywhere. Maybe except San Diego. 
I like living in Virginia for the most part, but as I age I am realizing my needs are changing. I do not need the big house I am in, but I am afraid to sell in as I’m not sure I could find what I’d like for housing at a similar price point. I’d like to live somewhere I could utilize public transportation more. I want to stay close to my daughter as well. Ideally I’d like to move closer to Charlottesville or Richmond.
Downside is cost of living, primarily housing and energy.
I live in an area with 4 seasons ( which i love) including long, cold , snowy winters ( which I don’t necessarily hate but get tired of).
I don’t snowbird and am not interested in doing so, but I do break up the winter with a few trips each year. I usually spend time at my sister’s in SoCal and then a few more trips. This past winter the others were Sarasota ( visited friends, it’s lovely there in February) and a yoga retreat in Mexico in early March. Just having a few weeks where I can get out and enjoy warmer weather makes it so much better for me.
This winter I am already planning to visit my sister. Not sure where else I will go. I have friends in Arizona and South Carolina who have asked me to visit as have cousins in Houston.
I’m also in Virginia (DC suburbs) - so many people we know are talking about moving to the Charlottesville area. Sure, some are UVA alums and just love the area, but many are wanting to move there because of the four season climate, access to so many community services, vibe of the college town, and stellar health care. IIRC, it consistently gets rated very very highly as a retirement destination.
Personally, I’d love something like Rehoboth Beach in DE. I grew up going there, that’s where we did summer vacations with my kids, and I just love the ability to walk on the main street, go to the book store or the coffee shop in the morning, walk on the beach, catch a show at the bandstand on summer Friday nights. These days, though, it’s just too expensive. So what I need to find is something like that that somehow isn’t as popular, that also has reasonably short drives (an hour or less) to an airport.
I lived in NoVA for decades and agree that Charlottesville is lovely. Only downside ( we have extended family there) is that it’s 2 hours from a major airport. That might not be an issue for some people but it would be for me. OTOH the drive to /from Dulles is pretty easy.
Although I’d never want to own two homes, I’m not opposed to the idea of some winter spending a month or two renting in a warmer climate. Assuming there are pickleball opportunities We play a lot outdoors in Colorado all year long, but there are short winter stretches where we have to go to indoor courts or wait for the warmth/sunshine to return.
Sausalito for me. 
San Diego has the potential for earthquakes, including The Big One.
I am not as concerned with having a major airport close by. There also seem to be more flights available from C’ville now. I am used to the white-knuckle drive to Dulles which is 2+ hours from where we are now. A big plus in C’ville is Amtrak. I’ve taken the train many times to see D (she’s in DC) and to go to NYC. If we do end up moving, I’m sure we’ll end up in a rental initially as the stars would really need to align!
I have a friend who retired to the Myrtle Beach area, and he loves it.
We’re pretty happy in Honolulu, but it is a bit of travel to get anywhere out of state. We manage pretty well. Prices ARE high, but we only need warm clothing for travel and a light wrap for the air-conditioning. No snow ever and no heaters.
I love Sausalito, but it’s very hilly, even treacherous in some areas with huge staircases.
And there are various micro climates, the “Banana Belt” being one of the best. And there’s the hundreds of floating homes in various states of disrepair.
But it is gorgeous!
On the weather front - just got back from a long weekend in Charleston, SC in the ‘could we live here’ tour.
Whew - definitely not (for me!). So, so humid and hot. Growing up in PA and still living in the northeast - I’m not unfamiliar with hot muggy summers (and thought I could deal) but this was a whole 'nother level! 7 AM morning walk was sauna-like in the extreme.
As @gpo613 noted above - the compensatory air conditioning when it’s so hot can make it bone-chilling. So I’d go from dripping in sweat to wearing sweatshirts & guzzling hot chocolate inside 
Good to explore and figure this stuff out, lol.
@choatiemom and @sushiritto, we lived on a houseboat in Sausalito for 3 three month winters. The boat was very nice and it was a lot of fun. ShawSon was a grad student at Stanford at the time and we had birthday parties on our boat for his friends. I believe we were considered to be the coolest parents in the universe.
ShawD later moved out to CA and both kids and I tried to persuade ShawWife to move to Sausalito or Mill Valley. I found a fantastic house in Sausalito – great view. But we could not get her to consider it.
@Jolynne_Smyth, Charleston is incredibly warm in the summer. It has a nice vibe, but you would want to spend a few months with @ChoatieMom in Maine.
Well. I’ve been having fun with AI. Over yesterday and today, Gemini and I wrote a couple of AI agents for ShawWife. She has a spreadsheet that lists all (probably almost all) of her artwork. It has a tab that shows the location in the house or studio.It has a tab that shows which ones are sold (and sometimes to whom) and for how much and another tab for unsold pieces and what the price should be (usually but not always – need to work on this). My first agent went to each piece and if it did not include a hyperlink to an image, searched her files (after I moved them all to Google Drive) and created a hyperlink and added it to the spreadsheet. The second is for when she gets a request about a piece from a gallery, art dealer or collector. It tells her whether the piece has sold (and price), its dimensions, medium, price (if one has been set) and location if unsold.
This is fun.
After reading through this thread recently I think I will become a vagabond and roam the country staying with folks on this thread during the best parts of the seasons for everyone’s location.
I have the same situation—live in MA where we have long, snowy, and cold winters. I don’t want to be a snowbird, but I like to plan getaways to warmer places. I have friends in Fort Lauderdale and Naples and nephews in Taos and Scottsdale and I’ve taken advantage of their invitations to visit. I’ve also gone on yoga retreats in the winter to Tulum, Panama, and Costa Rica, which were really enjoyable.
