I was going to suggest Find Your Spot as a starting point, but it looks like that website is down indefinitely. :(
You can always ask here for suggestions based on your criteria. I did that last year and got some great input, and my husband and I have already visited 2 of the locations which are definitely contenders for us!
One tool I've used to find out more about locations (after I came up with a list of possibilities) is the City Data forums. It's interesting to see what people who actually live there have to say about the climate, housing, recreation, etc.