We are about 3 1/2 years away from youngest leaving for college and starting to think about leaving our Ohio town in June 2009 for somewhere much warmer. We will need jobs and want to work about another 5-10 years when we get to our new town and remain for our retirement. Our skills are in IT project management and sales. Our home in Ohio is very nice but much less expensive than if we lived in the East or California and we want a new place where the standard of living is comparable. We like culture (art, museums, theatre), major sports programs (like the Buckeyes!), the beach, the mountains, big cities that have lots of action (our city is 1 Million people), good access for travel, fine dining, fine shopping venues. Any suggestions of areas to begin researching?

No one has the Buckeyes! But good luck anyway!

Atlanta has everything you mention, but it's also got problems (traffic & sprawl if you live in the suburbs, crime, infrastructure, goverment issues, high home prices if you live in the city).

well you have 50 states to work from, just to name some of your options, go for it!!!!

Wise cracks aside! If it were me I would to go to Southern CALIFORNIA. San Francisco being too expensive (vs work opportunities) for someone facing retirement...because you want to work for 10-15 more years and you want sun.

Can't comment on sports facilities or teams whatever it is that you sports fans look for LOL.

Thanks for the comments so far. We have thought about Atlanta but have heard horrible things about the congestion and traffic and upwards of 1 hour commutes. I live 10 min from work and am spoiled in never having to face traffic. We love Hilton Head, Charleston and Savannah and a base in Atlanta would work well. I would love to explore San Diego area but I am afraid our housing costs would triple or quadruple for the same amount of space. What does a 2 or 3 bedroom condo in a nice neighborhood go for in San Diego area?

Hi aliska, may I suggest that you go to www.realtor.com for prices in San Diego and elsewhere. I "think" from what my daughter who lives in Ventura County has said that a condo such as you are looking for would probably be about $600,000.00 but not an expert on that. And don't forget to add in the monthly Homeowner Association fees. Best wishes to you with this exciting venture.

Since your ultimate goal is to find a town for retirement, why don't you start your search with googling "top ten retirement towns?" This will give you lots of towns that you've probably never thought about. Then log on to the hometown paper and look at the job ads and real estate sections. If money were no object, I'd choose Hood River, Oregon!

HappyTourist, took your advice and found a list on Amazon.com for the top 100 retirement towns (see link below). Will have to do some research. Sorry, the Northwest is out for us. Too far from family, who are all in East, Midwest and Florida. But I am sure we will find some gems to check out. Thanks for the suggestions!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0964...=1#reader-page

What about Jacksonville, Florida? Not as expensive as the rest of the east coast of Florida (yet), major sporting, gorgeous city, 2-4 hours from Savannah and Charleston.

Housing costs will not eat you alive either.

Despite my grumbling about the growth in "sleepy little" San Antonio, it remains a very popular retirement destination. Population wise SA is about the same as your current city, though it often "feels" smaller if you concentrate your activities in one part of town. You are within a couple hours drive of the beach, less time to lakes, on the doorstep of the beautiful Hill Country. Weather is generally mild, a few really cold days in winter but nothing like up north and no blizzards. Summer can bring some hot weather, but really uncomfortable times are quite limited. I consider the 15-20 minute commute to my office close to unbearable, though others do drive a half hour or more if they choose to live in the outer fringes. Leisure life is quite nice, with options for sports (Go Spurs!) museums, very lively arts scene, and many good and several great restaurants. The airport is right in town with lots of flights, though SA is not a hub and a connection may be necessary. Shopping is first class, with all the major middle and high end stores plus loads of smaller boutique shops from funky to couture.
While not a native, I moved here many years ago, have left twice and come back each time.

Jacksonville is a great idea - don't know why I didn't think of it. Spend some time (2 weeks +) down there in summer though before moving to make sure you can live with the heat.

Seamus, thanks! Will put San Antonio on research list, have only been to Dallas. Brian, Jacksonville will be added as well. My background is IT program/project management and I believe Jacksonville is a big financial services town. It's probably about 6 hours to Mom in southern FLA, just close enough and just far enough away. Kids will be in college in Boston area, not an option!

http://www.findyourspot.com/

Fun site that may help you narrow your search, in addition to the other recommendations above.
First learned about it right here on Fodors!

CaliNurse, thanks for the interesting web site. I completed the quiz and it did come back with 24 suggestions. Don't quite understand how the majority of the housing recs fell in the $300K & up category (all in CA) when I indicated a lower figure, or places like Orange County when I revealed I am a liberal Democrat. The 2 useful recs I had not thought about are Las Vegas and Baltimore MD. Never been either place but friends tell me there is a lot more to Vegas than gambling and Celine Dion (don't gamble, not much for casinos). Baltimore sounds nice, wonder about weather in winter as one of the purposes of the move is to escape from snow. Surprisingly, neither Phoenix nor Tucson was on their list, and they are both on my list. According to Salary.com, both these cities have similar cost of living to our existing hometown. Thanks for the link!