Top 5 cities to retire on a budget

"I live in the Dallas area and it fits my needs. Reckon I won't be movin' anytime soon." she says with drawl.
 
Portland, Seattle, Denver, New Orleans, TDY Baltimore/Huntsville Al/Long Island(Bethpage) in small doses, and then Kansas City.

Like Happy Days the movie - prefer the burbs.

Alas Tonganoxie has been discovered and is growing like crazy.

heh heh heh - :cool: After Katrina - waaay inland on a hill, a really big hill. Now if they would only move that tornado siren a couple miles further away. :D
 
nun said:
I've never understood why people move when they retire. I live where I do because I like it, have friends and a full social life. I don't intend to give any of that up when I retire.
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I agree, but a lot of folks moved to certain metro areas for the jobs, not the atmosphere. Then they slowly developed a social network. The place was never the first choice, but the social network made the place easier to tolerate. Now they have the money and time to go where they want, they get a chance to reconsider their options. Hence, the move.
 
rec7 said:
We can live in Missouri for $1300 a month but the weather is not the best.
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It's not the worst, either! And besides, weather is not really the first priority in choosing a place to live, for everyone. There are so many factors to consider.

But, if weather is really important to you, why not check out Florida? Weather there is wonderful, balmy and tropical, and I think some parts of Florida are still quite affordable.
 
haha said:
So are WA and OR.

Ha
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That somewhat depends on whether you mean the Puget Sound coast or the Pacific Ocean coast. Prices out by the ocean used to be much lower than the Seattle area. Last weekend I was out in the Ocean Shores area (my prospective post-retirement location) and according to the real estate brochure I picked up while there it is still possible to buy a house (not condo) for under $100K in Gray's Harbor Co, though probably not right in the city of Ocean Shores. For that price it would be a fixer-upper, but I'd be surprised to find any house at all available in that price range here in Seattle—I don't know what the prices are like in Everett or Tacoma but anywhere within commuting range, I would expect prices to be more like Seattle's than those out by the ocean.

One thing to take into consideration, though—the Gray's Harbor Co. coastline appears to be real high on the tsunami hazard scale. I just heard someplace this morning a list of the top five Tsunami danger locations (I don't know if this was the entire west coast or just Washington and Oregon). I don't remember what order they went in, but three of the top five are in G.H. County: Aberdeen, Westport and the above-mentioned Ocean Shores. Another one, Long Beach WA, is in the next county to the south, and the other one is Seaside OR. So, I plan to stay a little way inland from and higher than the shoreline. I can't afford waterfront property anyhow!
 
I grew up in a small Mississippi town of about 40k. Never thought I would move back here after college, but a business opportunity brought me back. Not the most exciting town in the world but I have all my friends here and my cost of living is pretty cheap. Heck, I belong to a country club for $250/mo which includes unlimited play, a storage building for my private cart and also a monthly food allowance. Pretty darn cheap for a decent golf course. Also good medical care here.

So I'm sure I will stay here even after my mom and aunt are gone. Doesn't mean I can't travel, which I plan to do. But a decent home base.
 
unclemick said:
Portland, Seattle, Denver, New Orleans, TDY Baltimore/Huntsville Al/Long Island(Bethpage) in small doses, and then Kansas City.

Like Happy Days the movie - prefer the burbs.
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Uncle Mick,

Just curious -- Out of all these places, which are your favorites?
 
BunsGettingFirm said:
I agree, but a lot of folks moved to certain metro areas for the jobs, not the atmosphere. Then they slowly developed a social network. The place was never the first choice, but the social network made the place easier to tolerate. Now they have the money and time to go where they want, they get a chance to reconsider their options. Hence, the move.
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Excellent point. I never said to myself, "Hmm! I think I'd like to live in New Orleans. What fun to be a tee-totaler introverted science geek in the city of both Bourbon St. and Mardi Gras boobs-for-beads." :rolleyes: I moved here for the job, obviously.

I think that for many of us, ER is the only time in our lives when we can freely choose where we want to live, make friends, and settle down. We are born in a location, move with our parents if they move, live where the college is that we want to attend, and go to live where the job is after that. When we settle down, we can't move easily because of the kids.

But now that we are entering ER, often we can finally have the luxury of choosing where we wish to live.
 
Want2retire said:
But, if weather is really important to you, why not check out Florida? Weather there is wonderful, balmy and tropical, and I think some parts of Florida are still quite affordable.
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Price of homes in many parts of Florida is quite reasonable. The climate is too humid for me in the summer, though it's much better in winter (I think).
 
kyounge1956 said:
That somewhat depends on whether you mean the Puget Sound coast or the Pacific Ocean coast. Prices out by the ocean used to be much lower than the Seattle area. Last weekend I was out in the Ocean Shores area (my prospective post-retirement location) and according to the real estate brochure I picked up while there it is still possible to buy a house (not condo) for under $100K in Gray's Harbor Co, though probably not right in the city of Ocean Shores. For that price it would be a fixer-upper, but I'd be surprised to find any house at all available in that price range here in Seattle—I don't know what the prices are like in Everett or Tacoma but anywhere within commuting range, I would expect prices to be more like Seattle's than those out by the ocean.

One thing to take into consideration, though—the Gray's Harbor coast appears to be real high on the tsunami hazard scale. I just heard someplace this morning a list of the top five Tsunami danger locations (I don't know if this was the entire west coast or just Washington and Oregon). Three of the top five are in G.H. County: Aberdeen, Westport and the above-mentioned Ocean Shores. Another one, Long Beach WA, is in the next county to the south, and the other one is Seaside OR. So, I plan to stay a little way in from and higher than the shoreline. I can't afford waterfront property anyhow!
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Oh sure, you are definitely right about that. And the Coast is beautiful. I just assumed if he is coming from a city Minneapolis, he wants to go to a city. Hoquiam and Aberdeen can get pretty grim. I lived for a few years on the coast. You had better like rain!

Re Tsunami- usually I don't think about that but I was looking at a getaway on Long Beach Peninsula. I don't think so! What a place to get trapped! Although down near the Columbia would be fine. For me, if I weren't happy in Seattle I might consider Longview. Big enough to have a little stuff to do, near the Columbia, not too far from Portland.

Ha
 
haha said:
Oh sure, you are definitely right about that. And the Coast is beautiful. I just assumed if he is coming from a city Minneapolis, he wants to go to a city. Hoquiam and Aberdeen can get pretty grim. I lived for a few years on the coast. You had better like rain!
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I don't mind it if I don't need to go out and work when it's raining. After seventeen years on a survey crew with municipal gov't I decided I had had enough rain run down the back of my neck and requested a lateral transfer to an office job. It was a big pay cut but worth every penny to get to work where it's warm, clean & dry and to get out of the supervisory role, which was a very bad fit for me.

Now me, I hate hot weather!! I used to say I was going to move to Juneau because their all-time high temperature ever was 78 degrees Fahrenheit, but someone told me a while ago that they had broken through into the 80's. The NW coast is almost equally temperate as you probably know. I do recall hearing once during the last few years that they went above 90 in Hoquiam which is absolutely unheard of. But even that day it was more like 80 right on the coast. I've never liked heat but after 25+ years in the Pacific NW I have also completely lost my ability to cope with high temps. Once the mercury goes higher than about 82, I'm not much use.

Re Tsunami- usually I don't think about that but I was looking at a getaway on Long Beach Peninsula. I don't think so! What a place to get trapped! Although down near the Columbia would be fine. For me, if I weren't happy in Seattle I might consider Longview. Big enough to have a little stuff to do, near the Columbia, not too far from Portland.

Ha
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Yeah, that would be a bad place to be in case of a tsunami, and my guess is the only reason Ocean Shores might not be just as bad is because I think the Long Beach Peninsula is longer than the one Ocean Shores is on. Other places you could head for the high ground right away, but there isn't any high ground on the peninsulas. It's a long way from the far end of either one to where you can turn inland and uphill. I've never been on the part of the Columbia river between the ocean and I-5, but the part east of I-5 is just gorgeous. This is a great time of year to drive up the Washington side. That's an old winding state highway. The Oregon side of the same stretch of the river is an interstate highway, and nowhere near as scenic IIRC—it's been a while since I've seen either side.
 
For me, if I weren't happy in Seattle I might consider Longview. Big enough to have a little stuff to do, near the Columbia, not too far from Portland.
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Thanks. Longview, WA seems to be a good place to live since the 2008 cost of living is low -- index : 82.6 (U.S. average is 100) , proximity to Portland, and much milder climate than that of Minneapolis. The rain will not bother us.
 
Spanky said:
Price of homes in many parts of Florida is quite reasonable. The climate is too humid for me in the summer, though it's much better in winter (I think).
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Me too I was thinking of colorado but only parts of it are around the same cost as Missouri.
 
Ed_The_Gypsy said:
How about living in a houseboat on the Columbia river in Vancouver, WA?
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While surfing around looking for RE just for fun, I ran across several houseboats around Portland, and probably what you mentioned too.

Intriguing, and low prices too. But I do not know about possible drawbacks. Houseboats sink?:) Neighbors being too close? Maintenance? What's the gotcha?
 
NW-Bound said:
While surfing around looking for RE just for fun, I ran across several houseboats around Portland, and probably what you mentioned too.

Intriguing, and low prices too. But I do not know about possible drawbacks. Houseboats sink?:) Neighbors being too close? Maintenance? What's the gotcha?
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There have been houseboat dwellers on Lake Union in Seattle for a long time. One of my good friends lives in one. I house sat for him for a month years ago. They are small, of course, and they are damp. This last is the killer for me. I like to be up high with good airflow, not a foot above a lake.

There are also liveabords in the various marinas who never go anywhere- in effect their boats are house boats. They are usually old wooden fishing boats.

Ha
 
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