The best WARM, walkable communities or cities in the US

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

I happen to hate the marine layer, because it basically lingers from April to early July. I don't know why it isn't more known or talked about, it's Southern California's dirtiest little secret. I pity all the Ohio tourists in Hawaiian Tshirts walking around the damp, melancholic beaches around that time of the year. Florida would've been a better option!

Yes, I made the "mistake" of visiting L.A. in June, Malibu was cooler/nastier than coastal Oregon in August (at least when I visited). I stick with South Florida and the East Coast for beach-type vacations now...

[Crawford]

I would call San Diego borderline warm-weather year-round, but not LA.

To me, anything Orange County and north doesn't qualify. Orange County is usually pretty chilly in January/February; San Diego is just a few degrees warmer, but to me, is on the cusp of what I would consider "warm".

[atlantaguy]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

Yes, I made the "mistake" of visiting L.A. in June, Malibu was cooler/nastier than coastal Oregon in August (at least when I visited). I stick with South Florida and the East Coast for beach-type vacations now...

Yep, friends and co-workers in SoCal call it "June gloom."

[spoonman]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I would call San Diego borderline warm-weather year-round, but not LA.

To me, anything Orange County and north doesn't qualify. Orange County is usually pretty chilly in January/February; San Diego is just a few degrees warmer, but to me, is on the cusp of what I would consider "warm".

The temps around Southern California from north (LA) to south (SD) are nearly the same depending on the distance from the coast, however SD and LA both have very warm and cold pockets (microclimates) relative to the rest of the area.

When people try to compare the temps of the metro areas, they are usually comparing downtown LA (inland), and downtown SD (right on the water). Both areas stretch from the coast to far inland, and thus the locations being compared (inland vs. coastal) are not apples to apples. It would be more accurate to compare coastal cities in each metro, and inland cities (x miles from the coast) in each metro.

Sorry, getting off my soapbox. Just want to point out that

[spoonman]

Originally Posted by atlantaguy

Yep, friends and co-workers in SoCal call it "June gloom."

June gloom sucks if you are anywhere near the coast (10 miles). A secret though is that even in June, if you head 20 miles or further inland, you can "usually" get nice weather. SoCal get incrementally hotter as you go east (unless you go into the mountains).

[QuantumX]

If you do decide to come to South Florida, try to visit Brickell Village. Miami is pretty unwalkable, but Brickell Village is pretty walkable with the financial district just a couple blocks away.

Also, if you rent a car, take a drive across the Rickenbacker Causeway to Virginia Key and back. I think that's the city's best angle.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by spoonman

The temps around Southern California from north (LA) to south (SD) are nearly the same depending on the distance from the coast, however SD and LA both have very warm and cold pockets (microclimates) relative to the rest of the area.

When people try to compare the temps of the metro areas, they are usually comparing downtown LA (inland), and downtown SD (right on the water). Both areas stretch from the coast to far inland, and thus the locations being compared (inland vs. coastal) are not apples to apples. It would be more accurate to compare coastal cities in each metro, and inland cities (x miles from the coast) in each metro.

Sorry, getting off my soapbox. Just want to point out that

Exactly. Typical temperature variations for LA's microclimates (Actually all of So Cal ) for June are something like this

Beach - 10 Miles inland - 65 - 75
Basin - 80
Valley - 85 - 95
Mountains - 70 - 75
Deserts - 100 - 110

[destroycreate]

I consider downtown LA to be the warmest part of SoCal, with respect to the centers of OC, LA, and SD. Downtwon LA is more than 12 miles inland, and due to the urban heat effect it stays warmer during the night as well.

Oddly, San Diego's nightime temps are colder in winter than the city of San Francisco (but SF's daytime temps will be far lower).

[fflint]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

Oddly, San Diego's nightime temps are colder in winter than the city of San Francisco

That's not obviously true, why do you say that? SF's average low in January is 46, while San Diego's is 49. SF's record low is 23; SD's record low is 29.

[dc_denizen]

My CA experiences:

Visited Big Sur and Point Reyes in September, the ocean was not visible (is it ever?) although the sense of looking down on the clouds was pretty awesome; air was warm. San Fran was cold, but pleasant; the wine country was beautiful, with huge temp variation night/day.

LA/Santa Monica in Jan was beautiful and warm!! and very empty. Seriously, this should be the US's Ibiza, with more development in El Segundo and points north..

San Diego in September was cool in the morning, but hot in the afternoons; the water was warm.

Irvine in July, the fog basically burned off extremely early with blue skies most of the day. Newport beach fourth of July, that was an experience...

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by KB0679

Galveston perhaps?

Galveston is a great place but in winter, after the Gulf gets cold, the afternoons often don't warm up much when the flow is off the water. Also, the sea fog can be a problem at times. But again, it's all relative, and northerners might be perfectly happy there during the winter. But most snowbirds go a lot further south to South Padre Island, where it's milder and sunnier.

[brickell]

Originally Posted by mthd

Honolulu 81 65 63
Miami 74 61 73
San Diego 65 49 56
Los Angeles 68 48 66
San Francisco 57 46 85
New Orleans 62 45 56
Charleston 57 43 46
Austin 61 42 47
San Antonio 62 41 41
Savannah 59 39 47

Just for fun, here's each cities walk score in red. We all know how accurate these walk scores are so calm down. I'm using their city search function that comes up with an average.

So if we convert the temps to a day average, add them to the walk score and normalize to 100 (seems like the forbesian thing to do) we come up with a winter/warm/walking vacation score(c). I threw in a few extra cities to round out the list. We could get a lot more specific, but like I said, this is for entertainment purposes only.

Miami 100.00
San Francisco 97.15
Honolulu 96.80
Key West 94.66
Los Angeles 88.26
Santa Barbara 87.19
San Diego 80.43
Naples 78.65
New Orleans 77.94
Orlando 76.16
Phoenix 72.24
Austin 70.11
Charleston 68.33
Savannah 68.33
San Antonio 65.84

[bricky]

The one winter I passed while living in LA seemed quite warm, especially for someone who grew up in the Northeast. But it was an inconsistent warm. There would be days and even weeks when it was cloudy, consistently wet, with highs in the high 50s or very low 60s. But very frequently, after a few cold and gloomy days, not only would the temperatures return to the standard high 60s, but there would be really nice days, sunny and low to mid 70s, even 80s sometimes. The overall impression was of something like Spring, and the variation was nice because I lived there. Even if today or this week or most of December was cloudy, wet and cool, I could be sure that there would be equally long periods of beautiful weather soon after that.

Visiting LA is a different matter than living there though. Visiting is usually for three days or one week or anyway not very long. So if you get a bad break with the weather, which is not rare at all, you won't have it balanced out the next week. You'll just have to fly back to NY or Ohio or wherever, disappointed in the trip. So if you're looking for a warm weather break from the winter, I wouldn't recommend Southern California, unless you're the gambling sort. For this and for other reasons, LA is a lot better place to live than to visit.

[bricky]

Even Hawaii is a bit of gamble in the winter, from my experience. You're definitely not going to freeze, but the water temperatures are a bit cool, and if it's a cool/cloudy/windy day, which Hawaii has a fair number of in the Winter, it will definitely not feel like ideal beach weather. That and the water is not as clear and tropical looking as a lot of people imagine. Some beaches are better than others, but you're not going to find the kind of "Corona ad" beaches which are a dime a dozen in the Caribbean and some other island groups.

IMO there is no sure-fire January tropical paradise in the 50 States. If you want to stay in America, the territories are better - Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, I guess Guam and Saipan out in the Pacific.

[Omaharocks]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Tucson and Bisbee, AZ - you can make a trip out of the general Tucson area, and to be honest, you've probably got a better chance of perfect January weather in southern AZ than anywhere else in the U.S. -territories or otherwise. Many of the tropical locales tend to be rainy, even if very mild.

Parts of Tucson are very walkable, and Bisbee is not far away, and is a one of the best small towns I've seen and very walkable - albeit it is smaller with not quite as much to do as places like Charleston or Savannah.

[Leo the Dog]

Originally Posted by Omaharocks

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Tucson and Bisbee, AZ - you can make a trip out of the general Tucson area, and to be honest, you've probably got a better chance of perfect January weather in southern AZ than anywhere else in the U.S. -territories or otherwise. Many of the tropical locales tend to be rainy, even if very mild.

Parts of Tucson are very walkable, and Bisbee is not far away, and is a one of the best small towns I've seen and very walkable - albeit it is smaller with not quite as much to do as places like Charleston or Savannah.

How about old town Scottsdale? Drier than Southern California during the winter months and typically warmer than the coast, unless a storm front happens to be passing through at the time. Great restaurants, art, entertainment and 5 diamond hotel accommodations close by, hike-able mountains just outside of old town.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by bricky

IMO there is no sure-fire January tropical paradise in the 50 States. If you want to stay in America, the territories are better - Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, I guess Guam and Saipan out in the Pacific.

IAWTC. I can't think of anywhere in the 50 states that I'd risk planning a tropical getaway to in January. PR or the VI would be my choices to go somewhere without using a passport.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by bricky

Even Hawaii is a bit of gamble in the winter, from my experience. You're definitely not going to freeze, but the water temperatures are a bit cool, and if it's a cool/cloudy/windy day, which Hawaii has a fair number of in the Winter, it will definitely not feel like ideal beach weather. That and the water is not as clear and tropical looking as a lot of people imagine. Some beaches are better than others, but you're not going to find the kind of "Corona ad" beaches which are a dime a dozen in the Caribbean and some other island groups.

IMO there is no sure-fire January tropical paradise in the 50 States. If you want to stay in America, the territories are better - Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, I guess Guam and Saipan out in the Pacific.

While I think the beaches and water are nice in Hawaii, I will never go back in the winter if I can help it. Just not quite warm enough, although not cold by any means. But beach weather needs to be warm to hot to enjoy it, IMO. You're right about the water being cool, too.

I'll bet a lot of people don't know that the highest mountains in Hawaii get snow (the volcanoes on the Big Island especially). I've been in the high mountains above Honolulu on Oahu in December and needed a warm jacket. Those particular mountains don't get cold enough for snow but it does get cold up there. As for just walking around Honolulu, I don't think it's ever too cool for that.

[brickell]

Originally Posted by Omaharocks

and to be honest, you've probably got a better chance of perfect January weather in southern AZ than anywhere else in the U.S. -territories or otherwise. Many of the tropical locales tend to be rainy, even if very mild.

Just ever so slightly when it comes to being drier.

Miami averages 6 days of precip in January. Phoenix 4.

But I don't think of Phoenix as a "warm" place in winter. Their record low is 16!

[Buckeye Native 001]

Relative to the rest of the country in the winter time, it's warm. The Phoenix metro freaked the hell out back in January when overnight lows dipped below freezing for a couple days. It can get cold, but nothing like back east.