I’ve lived in Fresno CA for 15 years and it is the best kept secret out there. We are 1 hour from Yosemite and about the same to Sequoia/Kings Canyon Park. We also have the Sierra National Forest even closer. We have lots of Lakes and rivers. We can link up with the JMT from the National Parks or via spots such as Edison and Florence Lakes in the Sierra National Forest. It’s cheap to live here (by CA standards). The air is not the best and it can get hot in the summer but you can be at 7,000’ in one hour from Fresno. We are about three hours from S.F. and four hours from L.A. You can also go to the coast for the day and come back too. I came from Michigan (24 years) and Wisconsin (23 years) and would never go back. I like being able to drive to snow and home from snow but not live in snow. The ski season (downhill and C.C.) is actually longer than the midwest.