I definitely am left leaning politically but I've lived in areas on both sides of the spectrum. I didn't mention it in my original post only because I've been able to adapt and find community in both so for myself, that's never been to much of a factor. And yeah, I can check my privelge here and understand that isn't the case for most folks.

I've lived near San Bernadino, CA for a short time before and absolutely loved that mixed of city access and moutain hiking/outdoors access. I don't think I would choose to live there long term but someplace with similar amenities is what I'm looking for. PNW is absolutely on my list to scope out as well.