We still have the colder winters (join a curling club to make the winters go faster if you don't like outdoor winter sports) but the outdoors are beautiful and great for activities. La Crosse, WI is only two and half hours from Minneapolis/St Paul and two hours from Madison, WI. The area is excellent to raise a family and much less expensive than the larger metro areas. They are slowly starting to roll out fiber too. Although, we're not really off the grid.

https://www.centurylink.com/fiber/