>The heat doesn't really bother me so much. With AC these days you either just stay inside or you stay in your car while you're driving somewhere

This feels weird to me, because I'd so much rather have a grey day where I can go out and live my life than be stuck inside because of the temperature. I'm not trying to convince you you're wrong, just explaining why I wouldn't want to live elsewhere.

And I also won't try to convince you that it's not too expensive to comfortably live here as a regular person -- it is! When I was waiting tables most people I knew had multiple jobs. That said, I've also lived the small town lifestyle in eastern washington and it's incredibly isolating. Way cheaper, but there's nothing worthwhile to spend your money on either. Also, cool places are expensive. There are places I'd consider living other than Seattle, but they're almost universally more expensive, or have a job market that's bad enough that they're functionally more expensive.