I lived in WNY before heading south for grad school. Once we married we lived in Rochester NY, Santa Clara CA and Raleigh NC. Of all the places we lived the best was Rochester from an overall quality of life. We always had something to do in Rochester no matter what time of the year, sure CA had better weather however anytime ya went anywhere traffic was terrible and event was crowded. In Rochester we enjoyed eating out on Park Ave, walking the neighborhood, cross country skiing, golf etc. Weather never impacted any plans. Raleigh is nice however a relatively boring nightlife when we first got here. Also in Rochester we always knew what was going on here we have to find it by looking at many different places and usually here about it the day after. If the job market in mid 80s had not been so bleak in Rochester I would still be there today since housing was so affordable compared to NC and CA was ridiculous.