What's the ideal pepper growing climate?

I'm thinking subtropical highlands where it rarely gets above 80 or below 60F. Does anyone live somewhere like this? Do peppers just produce year round or do they ever take a few months between crops? Are they typically grown as annuals or allowed to mature and produce year after year? I notice how many peppers come from central America where it's hot year round, so why does the heat not seriously inhibit production? And why are there so many prime pepper growing areas/traditions like New Mexico, Hungary, or Italy where it freezes every year? Couldn't they be 3x more productive if grown somewhere tropical?