Santa Clara, CA also has nearly perfect climate year round…with close enough proximity to snow if you are dying to see it, or ski. But it’s pricey too…like San Diego.
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From this list, a decent place at $500K or less, and somewhat warm -
Lake Worth, FL - near Palm Beach
Atlantic Beach Florida - you can live somewhere in Jax - or maybe find a small place in Ponte Vedra
Hallandale Beach, FL
Galveston, TX
Sarasota, FL - you already noted
New Orleans
Honolulu
It does seem that the NE, especially NJ and NY, own the walkable town market.
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My niece, husband and kids found their tribe in Tallahassee. Not sure about walkability but he (engineer) was working on some kind of mass transit while they lived there (moved to San Antonio for another job about 4 years ago).
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Downtown (near FSU) is walkable.
Davidson NC would still work and checks off most of your boxes except public transportation.
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/210-Harbour-Place-Dr_Davidson_NC_28036_M95604-52552?from=srp-map
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/207-Tamala-St_Davidson_NC_28036_M96994-03677
If you want more urban, Charlotte itself has some great walkable neighborhoods.
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That might have more interference in the desire for walkability, as many homes in walkable areas have relatively little outdoor space. For instance, Wilmington, DE seems to hit a lot of what you’re asking for, but when I look at Realtor.com at the walkable areas of town with access to public transportation, etc, I’m not seeing properties that would be great for a builder type of person.
I live in a streetcar suburb, and it’s definitely possible to have yards large enough where one might have a shop in the backyard for woodwork/metal work or similar, but there is not nearly the space that one might want for working on cars (unless, perhaps, you don’t use your driveway (if your house even has one) and are willing to haul car pieces back and forth from wherever they’re stored when not working on the car).
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Also if you are getting ample space at $500k, you’re likely further out - away from walkability and transit.
If you want a garage and car(s), I think that is going to eliminate the most walkable neighborhoods (especially with $500k price limit). But maybe this discussion will surface an exception.
Here’s what I think. If you are looking for “top” walkable towns/cities based on lists or where people tend to go, and with temperate weather, you’re going to get a list of housing expensive places like the San Diego, North/South Carolina, etc.
I think you have to give a little something up. Some of the suggestions like Tennessee, Midwest, small college towns, and maybe a little winter weather might be more likely to work.
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Just a thought as you search for walkability, you might want to keep an eye out for communal/DIY garages space like this: DIY garage offers workspace for automotive projects or even garage rentals. Our garageless neighbor rents the unused garage space from our other neighbor for tinkering on his ‘64 Galaxie. A win-win for both of them here in my walkable neighborhood.
Edit to add: if you like CA, check out Sacramento. I think there are still smallish homes available in walkable neighborhoods in your price range: https://www.sacbee.com/sacramento-city-guides/get-outside/article271837522.html but I’m not familiar with the market there anymore (SIL owns a place there that I’ve helped rent) so maybe someone else can chime in.
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So my address only has walkability score of only 21 (of 100).
But… from my house in a development, I can walk on sidewalks to a few destinations. About a mile away is Walgreen’s, Safeway grocery store, Great Clips (haircuts), donut shop, Carl’s Jr, dollar store, starbuck’s, Jimmy John subs, and other places. So I’m not totally isolated from services. It’s a reasonable compromise for us, especially since my husband can hop on his ebike and take a 20 to 30 mile ride that is mostly country roads and a few miles of bike/walking path at the local like. I can hop on my bike (though I usually drive) 1.5miles to do my 3mile run around the lake. Of course it was 12 degrees today. Not common, but it happens.
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The walk score for my house is 79. Considering everything I can walk to that is within a mile or less, that score seems low to me. And yes we have sidewalks, crosswalks, walk lights, etc. our city requires sidewalks to be cleared when it snows ( people comply). So I expected the score to be higher.
The only thing I can think of is that many people don’t/won’t/ can’t walk a mile ( or even a half mile)? IDK
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For kicks, I put in an address on Main St in our downtown area. It had walk score 92. Makes sense because lots of shops and restaurants, bus pickup (including to Denver) etc. However I think it’s at least a mile to a grocery store. It’s not like my grandparents neighborhood in Queens where there were small and medium sized grocery stores nearby.
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Winters, Ca is a cute little town. Close to a university, some good restaurants. Lots of cyclists in the area. I think a 500,000 could be doable.
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My house is a 3 on the walkable scale. My daughter lives 10 minutes away by car and her score is an 84. So walkable varies depending on where in a town you live.
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My town (population 19,000) has a walking score of 89 and was voted Best Main St in 2021. I can walk to 3 Dunks, 2 Honeydews and a Gourment Coffee. 
Plus 4 cafe type coffee places(No Starbucks in this town). I used to like walking my kids to school and on the way back I could hit town hall, the library, stop at a multitude of places to grab a bite, and do my business at town hall. We have lots of shops and restaurants, even a speak easy, and an old mill that has a nice mix of restaurants, shops and businesses.
When we moved here 23 years ago, there were lots of empty storefronts. It was the first affordable town outside of the city. We thought is was charming and in a great location for our opposite direction commutes. My mom thought we were crazy, but I said, “it can only go up from here”. Now it’s written up every place for its restaurant scene and her friends travel 40 minutes from their posh city adjacent town to check out the restaurants here. Houses get multiple, no inspection, outrageously over asking price, offers within hours of being on the market. I feel like we struck gold.
We’re still waiting on a Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods, but I don’t think that is ever going to happen. I can walk to a small Shaw’s that I hate, but we have plenty of grocery and big box stores within a 10 minute drive. I’ve always been able to walk to my dentist and mechanic and I’m thrilled that I just switched to a doctor within walking distance as well.
We also have a bike path. My son called it “the bike highway” when we was little and loved to figure out how to get anywhere in town using the bike path. We were in a baseball tournament and the other teams (international teams and teams from big cities) were shocked that our kids could all ride their bikes to each other’s houses.
I never realized how walkable my town was until I wrote this all out. Truth be told, it’s walkable, but as I’m usually running multiple errands and it’s freezing cold or hot and humid half the year, I tend to drive anyway.
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Our house is 42 but there is a grocer about 20 minutes walk. Son is 97 (in Seattle)!
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What state are you in?? And can you buy a home with a couple bedrooms for under $500?
I envy your walkability!
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I’m at a 90 walkability. I sold my car when we moved here 7 years ago and don’t miss it. But it won’t meet OP’s warm weather criteria and budget would be tough but not impossible.
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where do you all find your walkability rating?
OK - I found one on Zillow. It says 4. That’s funny - because I walk to downtown all the time - restaurants, shops. A Walgreens and convenience store are walkable. So not sure how accurate these are.
I looked up a home in Westhaven - the neighborhood with the elementary school, Kroger, 7 or 8 restaurants, dry cleaner, liquor. A house near all that says 49.
Many there have just one car - and a golf cart. One could never leave that neighborhood - and many don’t - it’s set up with offices above the rear garage for work from home - before work from home (covid) was a regular thing.
Not sure i’d trust these walkability ratings - at least on zillow.
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