Town of 100-200k people, blue politics, and pleasant climate?

This is just a thought experiment for now as I’m not in a position to move yet. I’m from the front range in Colorado currently going to school in NYC and starting to think about what comes next. My ideal place would be something like this:

  1. Smallish town (100-200k people), but not too far from a major urban center (less than 2 hours)
  2. Blue politics - preferably the state, as I don’t want to live under red legislation that restricts abortion rights, but would consider a liberal town / region in a red state
  3. Mild(ish) winters - Colorado has 300 days of sunshine a year, and even though the winter gets cold, it’s not months of misery the way NYC winters feel
  4. Access to nature - I’m not the most outdoorsy person ever, but would love stuff like river access or easy trails. Bonus for nearby skiing, but not a priority

COL is not important to me (yet) because this is still theoretical. Some towns I like include: Boulder, CO (although I’m looking away from home!) Missoula, MT (long, cold winters though…) Eugene, OR (haven’t spent much time there, but seems lovely)

Any thoughts? xx