Having been born and raised in CA and having traveled extensively west of the Rockies for both work and pleasure, I need to warn you that anyplace west of the continental divide is an arid environment. If not desert, then certainly steppe. There will be the occasional valley that supports irrigated agriculture and there is the humid sub-tropical coast in OR and WA, but most of the rest of the Wild West is arid, or semi-arid. There will be seasons pretty much everywhere that will have at least a few days with century degree temperatures. The saving grace is that the relative humidity is fairly low, (compared to east of the Rockies). Additionally, except for areas under the marine influence, winter nights will be cold. Winter snow is not unheard of in the deserts.

On the Nevada crime rate... It cannot be said that the whole of Nevada has a terrible crime rate. The demographics of the state are such that they are biased when Las Vegas is included. When applying rates in Las Vegas into a statewide average ... well, in this case, "What happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas". Most of the state is sparsely populated and has a low crime rate, per capita. Las Vegas is "sin city" in more ways that one.