We've seen a lot of migration to cities in the sunbelt and a huge increase in prices as well as radical changes in some of these cities. Here's my list in no particular order, although I do think OC & SD are in the top 3.

1. San Diego
2. Orange County
3. Los Angeles ( Away from Downtown, prob west side like culver city, manhattan or hermosa beach) Santa Monica and other parts of LA have gotten considerably worse.
4. Chicago- Surprisingly good if you live in West Loop/River North/Lincoln Park area
5. NYC It's been years since ive been there so dont know how bad its gotten, but still should be in the top 10 for what it offers
6. Dallas- Enjoy Uptown a lot, would not want to live in a suburb like plano etc
7. S Florida- Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Delray Beach are all very nice but it's gotten very expensive especially in Miami metro
8. Tampa/St Petes- Not quite on the level of S Florida but improving. Traffic has gotten pretty bad though
9. Phoenix/Scottsdale area- Taken alot of jobs from california, still relatively affordable compared to CA/NYC etc. Spread out and feels spacious, but it is a desert and summer is terrible.
10. Maybe Austin, solid weather, home prices coming down, has pretty good job scene. Somethings missing though

If money is no issue, OC/SD nice parts of LA or S Fl probably win. Chicago, Dallas, Phx, smaller cities in Florida are prob best value atm.

Potentially Honorable mentions: Other cities that are growing/hot but havent gotten to go to - Atlanta ( areas outside of downtown ive heard are still decent), Charlotte, Greenville( heard this name last couple of years but def on the smaller side) Charleston. I'm sure there are smaller florida cities that would make the list but havent gotten to go.