Most of the Seattle area people I know who have made the move end up really loving Chicago (once they get used to the idea of extreme summers and winters).

To name a place not on your list.

LA - too big an area to summarize, could be anywhere. Plenty of choice on great places to live, almost all with a significant commute.
San Fran - what, in the City? High cost of living, but if you're near a BART station, you can actually live across the bay as far away as Concord and Walnut Creek or down the peninsula a bit from the City, which would also work. Bay area people loooove the Bay area. NoCal isn't for me though, so the question is, are you the NoCal type or the SoCal type?
San Diego - Chernabog loved it when he lived there. Easy access to lower-priced areas, but San Diego made a recent list of most overpriced (compared to avg income) cities in America. So did LA. Not OC though :)
Pasadena - Beautiful. South Pasadena gets a bit sketchy, but for the most part Pasadena is awesome
Reno - Haven't lived there. Haven't heard anyone rave about living there. Prices will be quite decent though, and you're close to skiing in Tahoe.
Las Vegas - Like SoCal, only REALLY far inland. Not quite as nice a place to live as it was 5 years ago because it grew so much, but I loved it there. Avoid Summerlin unless you like HOA interference level set to "Nazi". However, that whole west side, up the hill from the strip is a great place to live. A lot of the new stuff on the southwest end should be great. Prices have been declining a bit, but they gained a lot beforehand. Still, compared to CA, much more affordable.
Phoenix - Saw a LoT of growth in the boom. Sellers suffering now. Could probably bargain and pick up a deal from over-invested speculators
Tucson - no idea
Sacramento - Depends. Some nice rural and suburban areas. Not far from Tahoe, but not as close as Reno
Spokane - no idea
Portland - no idea
Medford - no idea
Honolulu - Well hey, it's Hawaii. Prices are high though. But... it's Hawaii.
Santa Ana - You wouldn't wanna live *in* Santa Ana necessarily, but plenty of great areas within close commuting distance, and it's near Disneyland! You'd have LoTers near you in Garden Grove, Orange, Lake Forest, Costa Mesa, just all around you!
Fairbanks - Alaska? Gorgeous landscape and about 8 men to every woman (as they say, "The odds are good, but the goods are odd.") Actually, I don't know, I've never been there myself.
Boise - I keep hearing buzz about Idaho. It's probably nice.
Billings - no idea
Anchorage - Alaska?
Juneau - They really want you in Alaska, don't they?
Riverside - "The I.E." It's where people move to when OC is too expensive. Really grown in the last few years. The area gets mixed reviews, some love it, some don't.
Woodland Hills - it's like, The Valley, okay? I grew up in Chatsworth, not far from there. Nice place, but I see the Valley as a declining area. Still, would be a decent choice to start with.
Fresno - growth area. No longer "dee ends of dee urt" like it once was. Some folks say it's quite nice.
Oakland - no. Okay, not "no", but you'll want to commute in. Like San Fran, consider coming in from Walnut Creek
San Jose - Not wholly familiar with the area, but probably alright. Dot com boom had an effect on prices. Pixar is near there.
Missoula - I have one friend in Montana... she can't wait to leave. She's in Missoula. However, she does like the wild areas.

However, you CAN get something nice in Lake Forest at near that price :)

Not to get argumentative but unless you really love suburban living, advocating living in Walnut Creek is just mean. Are you familiar with Oakland or just going off the reputation because I'd move back to the Grandlake, Rockridge, Monte Vista, or Jack London areas in a heartbeat.

Rockridge? Do they have cardboard standees of all of the residents?

No. But since I'm obviously missing a reference I figure I'll ask.

Blazing Saddles.

In an attempt to defend the town of Rock Ridge, the townspeople build a false front replica of their town and populate it with standee replicas of themselves.

Well, I do like suburban living, and I think Walnut Creek is a neat little city. However, I will fully admit that that is the closest I've come to living in Oakland, and if you say there are nice parts, I'll take your word for it. But bear in mind Prudence will be working in the court system, which means going to work, well, where the courts are. In most cities that's not the nice part. Admittedly I'm going off a lot of assumptions there. Beyond Jack London Square, I have not seen much to recommend Oakland. But again, that's my experience, YMMV.

To be honest, I wouldn't recommend living in NoCal at all if I didn't recognize that there are some folks whose personalities are more suited to it than SoCal. I've lived up there twice and both times couldn't wait to get back to SoCal, despite living in some pretty nice areas (Danville, Benecia). For me the Bay Area is a nice place to visit. But it wears out its welcome. I figure people are either NoCalers or SoCalers, and I'm a dyed-in-the-wool SoCal girl.

So, what's the difference between a NoCaler and a SoCaler?

Hard to say. You're just one or the other. NoCalers generally dislike living in SoCal, and vice versa.