Flagstaff has pleasantly warm summers and is relatively free from severe weather, but its winters are as long and as cold as those in Vermont. Prescott's winters aren't quite as cold.
I drove through Winslow last summer, and it seemed to be economically depressed. Holbrook's economy seemed to be better. Show Low, to the south, also seemed to be a nice place to live.
My first love is Scottsdale, where my son was born, and then Sedona. There is one huge rock with what looks like a man standing on the top that is all mine! We’ve been to the Snow Bowl a couple of times to ski and have a very special restaurant in “downtown” Flagstaff. Whole lot less expensive at the Snow Bowl than Colorado and the grandsons loved it. But we’ve also seen times when there was absolutely no snow. We also like the proximity to the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas and California where we only go to visit for a day trip. We also like the White Mountains and Apache Trail area.
But then we spent a couple of weeks in Alabama and Mississippi on the coast and it was so nice to hear everyone speaking English for a change.
Just lots of options and wonderful people here in the U.S. if you look for them.