California, of course.

Haha, that's what everyone tells me, I guess I needed to hear it from a complete stranger. Never been, so I wouldn't even know where to start. Any tips? I am a young professional. Apparently California has it all, but if I had to choose, I would say closer to beach than mountains. I enjoy night life, but like my home to be not in a crazy busy area. Any help narrowing would be awesome.

California has it all - including high property taxes and a sales tax.
Look at Curry County Oregon. You might like Brookings or Gold Beach. http://www.curryhealthnetwork.com/
Brookings is often the warmest town in Oregon when the offshore flow is coming down the Chetco River valley.

California, although north of Pismo Beach it is generally considered wet-suit country for surfing; little swimming except in sheltered shallow water such as off the beach in Santa Cruz.

California has it all - including high property taxes and a sales tax.

The property taxes in California have been limited by Prop 13 for a long time, but they are a percentage of the purchase price and housing prices are high along the coast.

I prefer N. CA, anywhere from Monterey north to Mendocino. A bit inland is warmer in the summer. I've just moved back after a long time away and my choice was the Sierra foothills, what's known as the Gold Country. Close to the mountains, obviously, and just over 2 hours to San Francisco.

San Diego but I think you need to carefully consider your actual work prospects.

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and am forever grateful that I was born here...and I've never left except for a 7 year university stint in L.A.
Everything you are desiring is here...mountains and beach within a half hour to hour, depending on where you live; snow about 4 hrs' drive also depending. Some of the top hospitals are here as well, including Stanford and UCSF (my daughter is a nurse at UCSF and I work at Stanford). What you will DEFINITELY need to consider, however, is the price of living...particularly housing. My daughter and her husband (a high school teacher) earn great salaries, but are having a hard time finding a house they can afford. I guess the far reaches of south San Jose might be more affordable or some cities such as Hayward in the East Bay, but am sure anywhere around here is higher than where you're from. Just make sure you check out this aspect of living in California! There are other places in California that come to mind (San Luis Obispo?) that might have much of what you're looking for but not quite as expensive. Best of luck!

Oh, and Santa Cruz has both the warmest beaches around here plus gorgeous redwoods. You sound like you're probably on the younger side, and there are lots of younger people in the Santa Cruz area (my son went to UC Santa Cruz and never left!). It's smaller, however, and your job prospects might be more limited.

Leslie, the considerations you mention are, in part, why I'm a couple of hours away from the Bay and because I love it here. I was born in SF and lived much of my life on the Peninsula too. Also worked at Stanford. Much more affordable here, much less crowded. I feel I've gotten what I was looking for without having to compromise. A beautiful part of the world.

Thanks for all the feedback everyone

Central Connecticut. A lot more affordable to live than California, nice little coastline but close to even nicer beaches in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, has some suitable hiking trails and easy access to mountain hiking in other areas of the N.E.including Acadia Ntl. Park (6 hour drive); good skiing for the day is local and it's a short drive to Southern Vermont or to the White Mtns. for skiing. You can't swim and ski during the same time of year, but you can 'do it all' all year.

Hartford is still, barely, the insurance centre of the world so you might find a niche because of that. Good luck!

If you want it all at the same time, all year, then of course CA is your best choice if you can afford to live there.

I lived in Milton,MA, a close-in suburb of Boston, for a long time and loved the fact that I could leave at 6 AM before rush hour, be climbing a mountain by 9, summit and have lunch, and be home by the beginning of afternoon rush hour around 3:30. Ditto skiing in the winter, though I only do cross country.

In summer and early fall, If you can get away at noon or after seven -- stop and have a bite to eat after work -- you can be at great beaches in time for a drink before bedtime, not just on the Cape but in southeastern MA (Horseneck) or in RI. Ditto places to sail, and you can get to some of them, north and south of Boston (Portsmouth, NH and Mystic, CT) by train if you live in a part of the city where you don't want a car.

The economy in Boston continues to be pretty good. There are lots of "artists" and "poets" and "actors" waiting tables, but there are many jobs for people with other kinds of credentials, health care of course being one.

The two best places for beaches - hands down - are Florida and California. Florida has no mountains- it's tallest hill is 345 feet

Have lived in San Francisco and loved it then - but IF you want warmer weather - and also being within an hour of some mountains (old mining town of Julian, Lake Cuyamaca, etc http://www.julianca.com/ and Mt. Laguna http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Laguna,_California ) ---

or if you drive a little further - two hours plus - and you can be at 10,000 foot mountains (San Bernadonio) and skiing (Big Bear, etc http://www.bigbear.com/ ) - or take a tram up or hike - 11,000 foot San Gorgonio by Palm Springs, http://tinyurl.com/aoze7nb and http://www.everytrail.com/best/hiking-big-bear-lake-california

--- THEN come out here and check out San Diego.

Hey - even if you don't move to California - you should certainly visit us.

(BTW - Hawaii is pretty amazing too.)

As a CLT resident your post shows just how little you know about CLT. CLT is a city of transplants w/a huge number of people living here from Ohio, PA. & New York, particularly upstate NY. There is a lot more to CLT than NASCAR & PBR, as you state. As we are home to a recently burgeoning craft brewing industry & near many of the better NC wineries. In addition you are about 1.5 hours from the Mts. & 3 hours to the beach - which can be anywhere from Wilmington to Charleston in SC. All easy weekend jaunts. We are also home to NoDa, Southend, Elizabeth & Plaza-Midwood, all great areas w/their own special flair(s). I would encourage you to make a visit to some of these places, prior to making a decision based on stereotypes & misinformation.

Sorry, no offense intended. I base my opinion off the several visits a year I do to that area for visiting the in-laws. So what I have experienced with them on several occasions is all I know.

And it's not like I am making decisions off stereotypes. Also in my original post I say the top three places I am looking at are Baltimore, Charlotte, and JAX. Given I am heavily considering Charlotte still, obviosuly the stereotypes I have come to see aren't affecting my decision making.

And yes, I am going to try to experience all for myself before judging it

An interesting news tidbit I heard within the last week.
More people moved to Oregon than any other state last year.
Among the states that lost the most people was New Jersey.
DW and I moved from PA to Oregon 7 years ago.

Golly, you Charlotte people are defensive.
http://www.fodors.com/community/united-states/wedding-weekend-charlotte-area.cfm
Not exactly making me want to beat a path there.

Does it have to be an ocean beach? I'm thinking Lake Tahoe, Salt Lake City, or somewhere around the Great Lakes that has some mountains relatively close by....you'd certainly get warm/cold weather at any of those locations, more so than living along the California coast.

Not to turn this into an advice column but if you have inlaws, you probably have a spouse to consider as well. I don't see any mention of "we", just "I". Where does your spouse want to move? If you have or will have children, would you want to live near the inlaws/grandparents?

Charlotte is about as "southern" as Jacksonville. Also, Jax has no mountains. It's 6 hours to drive to the foothills in north Georgia. Jax also doesn't have much cold weather.

Baltimore doesn't seem to fit your criteria at all.

Charlotte would give you seasonal weather and proximity to beach and mountains. California would be the spot to have it all, all the time.

In this economy, you might search for a job before you commit to an area. You definitely need to do some traveling when you leave the Army to gain a better sense of what's available.

Good luck! Thank you for serving our Country.

Healthcare admin field is contracting as more and more hospitals form into larger groups to spread large fixed costs. A couple of friends of mine who were Chief Pharmacists (staffs of 80 and up) were combined out of existence. So be sure there are a number of institutions near whatever area you look at.