What do you mean? The pool SUCKS. I mean, just look at it!!!
Definitely not the most affordable but Santa Barbara is quite nice. The USPS cycling team used to conduct winter camps there. Take a wetsuit and you can swim in the ocean as well. Many triathetes there also. If you’re into pampering there are many nice day spas or if you have the means Bacara (www.bacararesort.com) has luxurious accomodations on the beach with 450 acres of National Forest to run thru.
Thanks everybody for all the replies to date.Lot's to think about in the next few months I guess.
Ill put a vote in for Fla in the winter. I’ve been in the Tampa / St.Pete area for about 7 years now. Cost of living is not bad, (I am a waiter/bartender) all I need to pay my bills is about 1100 a month. Hills are about an hour away in Cleremont (SP?). We have the Mad Dogs Tri Club and the worlds longest uninterrupted sidewalk ( Bayshore Blvd. ~4mi. ) which has lots of motivation to go running 
. Also the Withacaluchie (I know the spelling is wrong on that one) trail 80mi each way. Google the trails cities and tri club for more info, but don’t look past the Tampa / St.pete area.
YOu are right, the pool is sweet, better than anything in ABQ except maybe the academy (which isnt open to the public anyways) I suppose if you want to ride a bunch of flat stuff over and over again, its pretty cool though. I did a ride from nmsu to fort seldon once and it was okay, I did another 100k ride there with a local club, it was okay, I like riding through those corridors of pistachio trees, thats pretty cool. Other than that, cruces is lame.
And yes, I have high standards about local rides. ABQ has tons of amazing riding from flats, to burly mountain climbs, I just did a 70 mile loop today (around the mountain), 18 miles of climbing, 7 on dirt switchbacks. super cool ride.
I am Always one to pimp my hometown. Sarasota(as well as the rest of SW Florida) is a great place to train in the winter. While we do not have any hills there are some nice hilly terrain in Cleremont and San Antonio. Now this isnt mountanous but we usually have a nice wind to ride into during the winter(who doesnt). I am not to sure about the cost of living but there are a lot of investors around here that need to rent out the houses that they wanted to flip.
If you have any additional questions about the area or info on rentals PM me.
how big are the hills in clermont? GFT is pretty hard isnt it? (its in clermont right?)
Cruces is lame
… i made some amazing friends down in LC… and a amazing ride to a ghost town and a 8000 feet climb…some awsome place to eat, a cool coffee shop to hang out at… stacy the hot lifeguard!!! Danny the coolest training partner and pool manager in the world, the long run in the field, the rodeo tempo runs, the altitude!!!
We only see what you want to see in life, it s not enough to open your eyes, you have to dig deep to find the amazing tresor in everything…
yeah, it s not everyone that can see the beauty and good side of things in life
well thats great that you are entiteled to your opinion but im not entitled to mine. I am sure that a worldly gentleman such as yourself has visited and stayed in areas that you didnt particularly enjoy.
i just dont call places ‘‘lame’’ you know, i m not a big fan of florida… but to be polite and respectfull of the people living there and also memeber of slowtwitch, i would jsut say it isnt my favorite training place…
i totaly respect your opinion… just not your way to express it…
Then I appologize to all those I have offended. and for the record, Im sure you got a better feel for the place than I have.
Yes GFT is in Cleremont. It is mostly rollers with one or two good climbs. I am not sure but I think Sugarloaf, the biggest climb in the area, is only 200-300’, so nothing spectacular. San Antonio is closer and again it is mostly rollers with a few more climbs if you want to call 100-200’ a climb. We dont have to worry about many non training days. I think last year I had to skip an outside workout because of weather twice and I am a wimp when it comes to rain.
another vote for SD. Meets all of your criteria. beach, ocean, inland there is great climbing (Palomar Mtn, for example, which is the equilvalent of an TdF H.C. rated climb.) Obviously a big tri culture here. Seems like all the big name pros are either here or in Boulder. Macca, Stadler, Major, Jones, to name a few.
Not strictly answering your question, but doesn’t Australia have quite a nice summer at that time of year? 
Most of Australia has a great summer you are right however where I live in Oz the summer is the worst time to be training.I'm from Cairns in the tropical north-east and our normal training days would be IM Hawaii's worst nightmare.Super hot,humidity in the 90's and windy.We also get torrential rain and cyclones at that time of year.In the north our triathlon season is during the Australian winter.I will probrably have to back to Oz anyway after I do the Deca in Mexico but I don't want to so I'm just looking at options to stay and train with a tri community in Nth America for the winter.If I do go back it will most likely be to the Gold Coast where I used to live.I miss the surf.