Las Vegas vs Seattle vs Sacramento/NorCal (living, cost, better)

[meramos]

I've lived in Las Vegas for over 15 years, originally from Southern California (high desert) and my husband is from NYC. I hate the long hot summers, there's not really any relief from May-September and now we have small children, I want more things to do outdoors. I also want better schools, and closer proximity to mountain towns, lakes and the ocean. My husband may have a job opportunity in the Seattle area, its a strong consideration because my sister lives 2 hours southwest on the WA coast and my brother is 2 hours north in BC. Our Mom lives in Vegas near us and she would definitely follow us wherever we go. In that way, Seattle would be a perfect fit for our whole family because it would bring us all together, whereas in Vegas we are isolated and it takes a flight to be with any family (nyc for the hubs) for a holiday or birthday. It would also get my mom closer to my siblings, nieces and nephews.

Seattle seems like a no brainer, but the weather has me very hesitant. All of the threads about the gray getting to people. I do know a few people, including both of my siblings, who personally say it's not nearly as bad as people make it out to be, but after living in the land of sun I worry it's far too extreme change from what we have here. I want to make our next stop our permanent home to raise our family and put down roots. The cost of living in Seattle is also worrisome. I recently had a coworker move back to her hometown of Sacramento and she really sold me on the area. I was born north of Tahoe and know the area a little. Sacramento being a city of trees, having a hot summer but cooling down at night and being within 2 hours to San Fran, Tahoe and Napa plus all the other places within a few hours is VERY appealing. My company has an office in Folsom, although I would ideally like to scale back to working part-time while my kids are young and I'm not sure that's really possible in either of these areas. But I've read a lot of negative things about Sac, the smog in the summer and that it's just as hot. Plus its in California so high income tax. It's closer to my fam, but not 2 hours. I'm zeroed in on areas probably East of Folsom, like El Dorado Hills or even Placerville - but sounds like the commute to Sac might be a deterrent.

I'm looking for anyone that can share some opinions on these two areas, even better if you've lived in Vegas (or Phoenix) and can understand what I mean about the oprressive heat here and compare these areas. Also, if there's an area I should consider instead, please share!