How about AZ? I live in the east valley of the Phoenix area and love it. Yes our summer temps can get extreme, but it's only a few weeks out of the entire year. The rest of the time it is beautiful! I am a sunshine person, I love waking up everyday to early sunlight and when I come home from work I still have several hours of daylight. I just spent the past 6 months up in the northwest and it was aweful! Even though that's where I grew up, and it is beautiful the dark, gloomy, rainy, wet and cold where terrible. No wonder Seattle has the highest suicide rate in the nation, ther's alot to be said for light therapy! As for cost of living and job availability, we are pretty much average. There are places where houses are inexpensive, but you have to make some trade offs. And depending on what you do, I would hire a headhunter before I moved. Just to let you know San Diego is only 6 hours away and the mountains are even closer. I love the desert it has its own unique beauty, I like riding my horses in the desert and other places and you'd be amazed at the beauty you can miss until you slow your pace. Best of luck wherever you decide!