A peripatetic in search of a stopping point

Despite my current peripatetic lifestyle, what I really want to do now isn't travelling. I want to find a place in Latin America where I can settle down for about a year and become part of the scenery and have the scenery become part of me; to become a creature of habit again, but with new habits in a new place. After quitting my job I might have done that in Toronto were it not for the fact that it's expensive to live there without an income. But I think I can afford to live anywhere I want in Latin America--not in all the poshest neighbourhoods, but somewhere in any town or city. I should add that a cheaper place to live is not the only reason to move to Latin America: I've been studying Spanish in a desultory way for years and would like to achieve some semblance of fluency; and living (not just being a tourist) in another country is something I've wanted to do for some time--among other things, it would be good for me, and not in the same way that a smack upside the head would be good for me.

One thing I'm hoping to do on this trip is find a place to send out shoots, if not actually put down roots. I'm kind of demanding, though (see point one below). Hard to please. Always feel that something's missing. Maybe it's the organelle in my cranium that enables one to say, at least some of the time, "nothing's missing--this is just right" or "something is missing, but it doesn't matter".

Here are some of the things I'd like to find, in no particular order. I don't expect to find all of them, and some may be contradictory.

• Just walking down the street should be like going to an art gallery (such places do exist, and in Latin America too, so I'm not completely out to lunch on this one). This could be satisfied by either manufactured or natural beauty (though I was mostly thinking of the former).
• It should be possible to live on about $1000 Canadian per month, not counting trips back to Canada.
• It must be a Spanish-speaking location.
• The place shouldn't be overrun by people like me (expats) though some would be ok.
• I need to be able to find a place (such as a café) where I can go and read and relax for a few hours on the strength of buying a coffee or two.
• There should be convenient access to nature: places to hike or at least a good park. Convenient could mean taking a bus for an hour or so.
  
• I shouldn't have to be concerned about my physical safety on a regular basis. It would be even better if this were largely true of the country as a whole.
• It should be warm-to-hot (including night-time) for almost all of the year.
• Some kind of "cultural life" should be possible, as evidenced perhaps by the presence of a university, cinemas, theatres, and the like.
• I'm thinking around 100,000 as a minimum population
• If the city/country has a significant indigenous population, that would be a plus

Is this kind of laundry list the right or wrong way to go about finding a new home? Is my list totally off base? Just today I talked to three people (all from Germany) who had spent a couple of months in La Serena, which I just left and felt there was little to do in (despite it being a pleasant city). They all liked it because they had made friends there and had an active social life. Obviously that makes a difference--though some people find it easier to make human connections than others...hence the laundry list. Ultimately my decision will be made on the basis of some kind of intuitive reaction to the place in question: the checklist is my best guess at what will inform my intuition.