THINGS TO LOOK FOR:
-Active music/arts scene
-Metro population over 100,000
-Political diversity, aka not mega-conservative or only-liberal
-A snowball's chance in hell at getting an OK job with an arts degree (B.A.)
-Winters not too snowy
-My retired parents could settle nearby and live comfortably on just Social Security payments/savings
-Proximity to a decent airport
I would say portland or seattle would fit the bill. i live in portland and it pretty much fits all of those, i personally want to move far far away but thats because i've lived here so long. has a great arts/music scene, its very young people orientated....everyone is the artsy fartsy type with art degrees trying to form innovative business' etc. winter is kind of lackluster for the most part, we get snow usually but like 1 or 2 inches. the airport is 20 minutes away and is very nice. also oregon is very sparse with cities and portland is really the only big one in the whole damn state, lots of small areas for your parents to settle in, and a plethora of suburbs around portland. it's very much a "little big city"
the biggest downfall, for some, is that it rains 2/3 of the year.