Hi! For the last 10 years I've lived on the road all over the world. In the process I managed to save some good money and built a business that lets me continue to live the nomad life.

It's been fun, but as a guy who likes to tinker, I dream of having a place to call home where I can have a shop and build things...

The question is where?!

I've settled on the following requirements:

1. In the US - because I've lived abroad enough and it's not particularly easy.
2. Warm climate - thin southern Californian blood. Snow / continual rain / etc. wont work
3. Young people / community - I'm 30, single, liberal and not ready to move to the sticks.
4. Want a small house with some space around it (.5 acres) and I have $400k to spend. I'm open to building one too.
5. Preferably in a rentable market in case I need to pack up and hit the road again.

There are TONS of places that meet this criteria. The challenge is finding some sort of rationale to pick one. I've tried building fancy spreadsheets, visited places, talked to realtors galore... but it's difficult to decide where home should be.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.