(1) CHARLOTTE, NC
Number one by a long shot over, HOUSTON, and WASHINGTON DC.
You would have to be an idiot in my opinion to even consider DETROIT!
Houston is a thriving metropolis however it is too big, meaning white knuckle Interstate commutes when it is raining, foggy or experiencing heavy thunderstorms.
Houston is very much like Atlanta in that spaghetti, spider web of eight lane interstates with so much traffic going 90mph even at 4:00AM on Sunday morning.
The nice suburbs are at least a 40 minute commute into the city when weather and traffic flow are perfect. It is always one and a half times or twice as long a commute about 30% of the time. The upside is that Houston is nice and big, so if you like big cities, there is no shortage of things to do and concerts/sporting events to attend. There are a number of first class golf courses in the Houston metro area. There is also a strong Tennis community there in Houston.
Houston's population and congested 30mph to 45mph roads with everyone from 16 to 96 driving a big full size SUV or a big full sized Pickup truck at at least 12 to 18mph over the posted speed limit at all times.
DC is too congested, The climate in Washington DC is too cold from Dec 15th to Feb 15th. Although Washington DC is warmer than what you have been experiencing in Asheville, NC over the past few winters, it is my opinion that you really have got to be bananas to want to live anywhere where it is really cold. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Milwaukee, Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, NJ, New York City, Boston, etc. Detroit is a dump unless you're already a multi-millionaire. Detroit is too cold but more importantly it is a city with problems and you will be paying super high property taxes on only decent neighborhoods, where in Charlotte or Houston, your property taxes would be much lower and your neighborhoods would be ten times nicer than in Detroit. Sure, if you're earning a lot of dough, for example, above 1.5 million annually, then Detroit might be tolerable but beyond that Detroit is too much of a dump that is also freezing cold.
The South is where you want to be, excepting all of Mississippi, all of Louisiana, all of Alabama, except Mobile. Atlanta Georgia is great but it is too big with the long commute times on the Interstates that web "Spaghetti Junction". If you don't enjoy driving an 85mph pace in heavy traffic with at least four lanes of traffic with exits on both right and left sides, you will experience great stress while driving in Atlanta, and Houston. Washington DC is not quite as bad but it is also bad, although not as fast as Houston or Atlanta.
Charlotte NC is a big city that still has the feel and traffic of a much smaller city than it is.
Charlotte NC is only about 4 hours from the nicest ocean front beaches in the United States (all located in South Carolina)......Hilton Head ISLAND, SC(closer to Savannah GA), and also Isle of Palms, SC (off of Charleston SC). Those are two of the nicest oceanfront beach areas in the entire country. The Atlantic Ocean water temp is very warm there from May to mid September. Both North Carolina and South Carolina have much to offer. The huge issue though is that if you have young school aged children that you MUST live in the area with the public Best Schools -OR- you must consider tutoring/closely monitoring your children's learning, or consider sending them to a top flight parochial/private high school in the area.
For decades, the southern public schools were indeed improving but since the Lottery has provided for the possibility of free in state University tuition if a child maintains an A grade average all through high school, schools have simply allowed for easier standards so that students can and do get the lottery funded in state University tuition. What has not changed though is the in state University curriculum. Yes, little Johnny and little Susie get in, but they flunk out of Univ. of South Carolina before Christmas of Freshman year. Univ. of South Carolina is a party school but folks coming there today are not as much of the Jethro Bodine types as you may have had with the freshman class of 1972. Should such bogus "lottery A grade" recipients such as Johnny and Susie get into Clemson University, they have zero chance of finishing the first year, even with 24 hour a day tutoring.
Beyond that though, the Weather is great in Charlotte about 320 days of the year. A few days in Dec might be cold, and it might be cold between Jan 10th thru Feb 15th every year but beyond that, you have Spring like weather from Feb 17 to May 20th, and Summer like weather from May 21 to Sept 25th each year....temperatures are again Spring like from the end of Sept thru about Nov 5th, with Fall like temperatures from about Nov 6th to the end of the year. Yes, it can get hot as hell 95F to 98F with high humidity during late June through mid August but you'd still probably have 78F low temps in the 6AM, 7AM hours during those scorching late June, July, and August summertime days.
Charlotte may be one of the nicest cities in the nation if you still are in your "career", working for the man, years....
Once you get to "Critical Mass" and wealthy retiree status, then you can live in possibly other areas that do not have the same opportunities if you're still 'working for the man', slaving for the company, in the ultimate rat race.
I'm an opinionated idiot and what you have read is just one idiot's opinion, and nothing more than that.
I am like Schultz.
I know nothing.
I do believe is the most important thing to consider is where and what will make you and your spouse the happiest.
Money is secondary. I am sure that you are supremely smart and that you will do great everywhere. Your compensation package will reflect that.
The differences will be so insignificant in the whole sum of things.
YOU KNOW YOU. Do what makes yall the happiest!
You're not locked into being there for a long time, if yall find that you don't find that you are enjoying whatever area that you pick.
Again, remember this is just the advice of an old idiot...
My opinion is that do what makes you and your spouse the happiest.
Nobody celebrates and looks back at what they did while working for the man......(unless perhaps you discovered the cure for Polio, or you kicked the game winning field goal in Super Bowl V)
People celebrate and look back on events and milestones with close family and friends.
We all have a limited time on this earth. Listen to the Terry Jacks #1 hit from 1974 for a reminder, wake-up call.
Don't squander the time that you do have with you and your spouse's extended family.
Your parents and your spouse's parents will not be around forever.
Sadly, there is a chance that as they get beyond 65, that one of them develops dementia/Alzheimers that robs both them and you of making the memorable celebratory events and vacations that you planned to do when you get the time on your schedule. Life has its own schedules.
Like the old, Cats In The Cradle song, goes, .."..but I don't know when, but you'll know we will have a good time then...
.......As Terry Jacks sang in his #1 hit, Seasons in The Sun..................."We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun......"
Charlotte will give you more of the warm sunshine without the stressfully long white knuckle interstate commutes of the other 3 cities.
You will get more for your money in Charlotte. The quality of life is better in Charlotte NC is better than in the other 3 cities.
You have a good Airport in Charlotte NC that is easily accessible and will allow you to get to any other city anywhere in the world, via connecting flight somewhere else.
STILL, HAVING A GOOD AIRPORT REALLY CLOSE TO YOU, IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR BEING WITHIN AN HOUR'S DRIVING DISTANCE OF YOUR's or YOUR SPOUSE's PARENTS -or- FROM YOUR ADULT CHILDREN, IF THAT IS SUPREMELY IMPORTANT TO YOU!
If you love cold weather, and Asheville NC can be brutal for a Southern Winter because of it's elevation, you might like the cold winter of Detroit.
I hate cold weather and I am extremely fit, so I don't mind the very hot, and humid summertime in the Deep South.
I like being outdoors as much as possible. My time is entirely my own and has been for many years since I retired.
I've got many things to do and there is no way in hell that I'd live anywhere where you cannot play tennis, golf, and ride a bike in January.
I have some old pals that I will see at the tuna-mint next week, when we go to Augusta next week. They talk about snow on the ground and hoping that Spring will arrive soon.
They live in the frozen tundra, way up north. I tell them that they have to wait until the 5th of May for it to get warm enough to do anything outside while wearing a shortsleeve shirt.
I keep telling them that they are wasting valuable time and that they should just retire and enjoy the good life and the warm weather, but they are workaholic corporate titans who are enormously compensated. I keep telling them that they already have more money than all of their dumbass children could ever spend in their lifetime, if they inherited it all tomorrow.
Whatever floats your boat... Seriously, if it wasn't for their wives essentially making them take time away and travel to places and events, I don't think that they would take more than a week off during the whole year. I guess it just goes to show that everybody has a different idea about quality of life and balancing time with family and work.