This Wikipedia-Prescott site provides some useful climatic information along with population figures and historical data. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prescott,_Arizona

The area and weather you described in your question sounds like San Diego. Unfortunately San Diego is not a small town and it’s housing prices are not reasonable when compared to the rest of the Southwest. Just for fun checkout these California towns: Poway, Alpine and Ramona.

According to the internet maps Prescott is about two hours from Sky Harbor Airport. The winter lows are below 32 degrees and the winter highs are in the low 50′s. Summertime temps are comfortable hovering around the mid-80′s.

Did you know that Prescott’s altitude is slightly higher than Denver? 5,400 feet.

Prescott sounds very close to what you are looking for. Someone I know moved there three years ago. About 18 months later they moved back to the Phoenix area feeling like they were just too far away from the amenities of the larger city.

If you can handle the heat for 3-4 months then the Phoenix valley would be ideal. Housing costs right now are a steal. I’m partial to the West Valley and towns such as Goodyear and Buckeye. Scottsdale has the same weather as Goodyear, but it costs quite a bit more to live there.