Very pragmatic advise, Ha. But it sounds totally dreadful to me to base my dream retirement spot on where the good hospitals are at. Maybe it's my age of not quite 50 and still healthy along with my aversion to living in a big city clouds my view also.
I totally see your point. However, after living out for years, including a few years on the Olympic Peninsula in a town way less populated then Sequim. I figured out that only a few people like to go elk hunting all fall, and steelheading every day. When I was on the streams, I met plenty people from Seattle, its not like they didn't have cars or trucks. I also figured out that it is fun to go on all the outdoor and indoor group activities that are found or at least organized in big cities with many like minded people. And man, this holds in spades if a married person finds him-herself single again.
It took me a long time to admit it, but unless you are living a true hermit existence, you encounter less traffic right in the center of Seattle than anywhere in the outskirts, which of course are getting very built up. Looking back, in Boston I lived in Back Bay, in East Bay downtown Berkeley, in LA Venice Beach, in Seattle downtown. Any of these places I would return to to live, although I prefer West Coast even to Boston. Density equals vibrancy equals fun, unless you are going moose hunting, then hire a guide and go to Alberta. I would never return to a less dense setting. It is reassuring to me to know that when I wake up, I don't have to do anything beyond my usual daily activities and I will encounter> 100 people before I go to bed.
Someone else might prefer a 4000 sq.ft house in the burbs to my one bedroom condo in the city center, but my vote is permanently cast on this issue. I recently talked to my ex, who was always kind of frightened of cities. Now, she lives in the heart of the beast too, for reasons very similar to mine.
A recent Seattle Times Headline was "29 homicides in 2013, 6 or them by cops". So I figure, if I always obey officers and say please and thank you sir and keep my hands in view, I am likely pretty safe here.
BTW, I did not base my decision on where the good hospitals were. So far, I never been hospitalized. But as I said, I sure saw a lot of unhappy people commuting from boonies at considerable expense to where they perceived they would get up to date care for a serious illness.
Even if Seattle were less attractive than it is, my life is here, my children, many old friends, etc. IF I didn't have the money to stay, I would more likely find a cheaper way to stay than to leave.
Ha
