We seriously looked at several options, mainly driven by the desire for lower taxes and COL. Eliminated FL due to hurricane risk as well as climate. We could have tolerated the heat and humidity if we could SCUBA dive in warm water year-around, but even Key West waters are too chilly for us in the winter.
Eliminated NV because we didn’t love the pervasiveness of the gambling culture everywhere, the weather, or the housing value. A lot cheaper than So CA, but we didn’t feel that high quality homes in nice areas were cheaper enough to justify moving.
Eliminated TX due mainly to weather and culture. I lived in Houston for 10 years and love some things about the culture in TX, but other aspects aren’t appealing to us after 30 years in CA.
Considered the USVI also, but eliminated that due to hurricane risk and scarcity of good healthcare. Also, the distance from CA and cost to travel there would mean very infrequent visits with people we are very close to.
Ultimately, like many others, we couldn’t find a place that we felt beat So CA enough to relocate. We surprised ourselves by relocating from the beach to the desert in 2019. We didn’t consider that as part of our plans, but made a rather spontaneous decision to make the move and so far, we love it. Sometimes I miss the beach, but we prefer the dry heat here as well as the slower pace.