My wife and I were born and raised in Rochester, NY and we've also lived in Syracuse. Bottom line: I HATE THE SNOW! Hope to never drive in it and shovel it again. We moved to Dahlonega, GA in 1985 and now live in Gainesville, GA. Gainesville is about an hour north of Atlanta in the foothills of the N. GA. mountains. We really like it here. Property taxes are low, ($1500 annually on a 180,000 home) presently no tax on food, average 1-2" of snow per year...except this year, which has been very strange. The cycling in north GA is very good, both road and mountain and a lot of retirees from the Atlanta area are moving up in this direction. Gainesville, is a growing city but still small in feel with no real traffic problems. We have a mall and all the standard chain stores and restaurants, but Atlanta style malls are about a forty minute drive.

The negatives: the summer temps are regularly in the 90s and the humidity can be real high as well. Sept-May are real nice and often you can bike ride in Dec. and Jan. in the 40s and even 50s. But June thru Aug are hot and sticky. People still ride of course but in July-Aug. it ain't much fun after 1pm.

North GA has great mountains, kayaking, cycling, hiking etc. If you are going to consider Chattanooga, Nashville, Ashville, etc., at least take a look at north GA.

http://www.gainesville.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gainesville,_Georgia

All that said, my wife and I have fallen in love with Colorado. I'm 60 but still need to work. If I was offered a job in Colorado Springs or Denver we would seriously consider it. Both cities have more snow than I would like, but the sun comes out at that altitude and it doesn't stick around too long. And there is NO humidity there.