re: Where to move - US

St George, UT fits everything, just don't know about cost of living.

I'd recommend Montana but there's nowhere here where you can escape a harsh winter, and cost of living is rapidly going up.

What is Little Rock like? From online viewing, the terrain and tree coverage in the neighborhoods near the river look beautiful for a relatively low price.

I would start with states with no state income tax.

Tenn, Fla, tx.

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-Reasonable cost of living
-Smaller than a major city (with preference for micro-city)
-Decent schools (ideally public; do not need "blue ribbon")
-Good sized airport within an hours drive
-Opportunities for outdoor recreation (eg mountains, lake)
-Access to reasonably fast internet (for taking on remote job)
-Community feel with middle/upper-middle class demographics
-Weather/climate without the extremes (no insane snow/cold or constant humidity)

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Some towns that come to mind that fit your critia:

Lexington, KY
Raleigh, NC (Triangle area)
Rock Hill, SC

You'll get some snow in Lexington and humidity in the summer in Raleigh. The outlaying towns, like Apex or Fuquay-Varina in Raleigh all fit the bill for what you're looking for. Rock Hill has Charlotte close by, but has a small more upscale neighborhood feel and doesn't have the issues of Charlotte.

We made to choice to relocate to the Raleigh area about 12 years ago. Lots of local outdoor options, beach and mountains are all just a couple hours away, schools are decent, fiber internet is widely available. Cost of living is naturally higher now because of real estate, but we made to move due to almost the same criteria you have listed.

My first thought was somewhere like Tennessee, North/South Carolina, Kentucky etc. I love it out West but I hate cold weather so places like Colorado would be out for me to live full time.

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What do you think about Castle Rock? I hear that's where it's at in Colorado if you want to avoid the traffic and expensive COL in the Denver area.

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My buddy lives there and really likes it, but you'll deal with some rough winters, tons of snow, and from my understanding it's very cookie cutter with little character due to how new it is.

Castle rock is one big suburb, I totally disagree about traffic, you’re in the thick of it being so close to Denver. Home prices are crazy high especially for what you are getting there.

Here are some small towns in CO that we love:
Buena Vista, has everything, a little down town area, Arkansas River (world class fishing, white water rafting, I even saw people surfing it last time we were there) runs right through town including a board walk kind of thing. Good food/bar scene, no traffic, in the mountains. Prices are reasonable for CO if not a touch on the high side. Lots of people go there for summer. About 2.5 hrs from COS, about 3 hours from DIA.

Canon City - a little more blue collar than Buena Vista. Less expensive, decent food/bar scene but a notch below Buena’s. I like the people here a lot. Happens to be the home to 5 prisons including the one holding El Chapo. Lots to do around town, you’re right in the middle of a cool range. You are about 1 hr 15 min from COS, which can fly you anywhere.

Alamosa- got a pretty cool vibe. Cost of living is super low here, definitely a lower socioeconomic area than COS. Not close to any major airports (3 hrs from COS). Some neat things that bring us to town a couple times year, sand dunes National park, hot springs north of town, farmhouse brewery that we love.

There are more, but this is a good start. If I could do it all again I would have bought like 10 acres outside of Buena Vista, that place is awesome.

Winters in CO are mild. When the sun comes out that stuff melts and it’s breathtakingly gorgeous. There is nothing like a sunny, cold, winter day in CO. The best.

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Some of the criteria we have (no expectation of meeting all of them):

-Reasonable cost of living
-Smaller than a major city (with preference for micro-city)
-Decent schools (ideally public; do not need "blue ribbon")
-Good sized airport within an hours drive
-Opportunities for outdoor recreation (eg mountains, lake)
-Access to reasonably fast internet (for taking on remote job)
-Community feel with middle/upper-middle class demographics
-Weather/climate without the extremes (no insane snow/cold or constant humidity)

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Western Kentucky

That’s a good one too. Like I said, there are more than I listed but it’s a good start.