Best places to retire for young active family?
- Thread starter bank5
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FUEGO
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Ah, well you know. Up here we're just gangsters.
Durham?
But let's move the discussion away from the political landscape of NC to which bank5 is certainly accustomed.
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steelyman
Moderator Emeritus
But let's move the discussion away from the political landscape of NC to which bank5 is certainly accustomed.
Good idea. As you were. We'll keep up with our stuff in Illinois (duck!).
Sarah in SC
Moderator Emeritus
I was really just waiting for a photo of a confederate flag bikini, to be honest.
timo2
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
i'm not taking that bait
Back to Colorado, In this weeks useless 'best of' survey, is an Allstate 'safest cities in America' poll with Fort Collins at the top. The reaction of my coworkers was "great, now more people will move here". Where are the Safest Driving Cities in America? The Ninth Annual "Allstate America's Best Drivers Report®" Reveals New Results - News Releases - News, Videos, Photos, Press Releases | Allstate Insurance Newsroom
No gang issues in Mission Viejo, CA or Irvine, CA or Lake Forest, CA or Ladera Ranch, CA or several others I can name. I live in South Orange County, CA. There are great schools, lots to do, lots of cultural events, and the BEST weather in the country. It is expensive though and traffic is bad. However, there are rolling hills and miles of bike trails and a variety of terrain. You can go to snow about an hour and a half from me and leave it when you desire. Can't say that for any of these other non California towns.
Dawg52
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Sarah in SC
Moderator Emeritus
I'm proud of you, Dawg.
F4mandolin
Full time employment: Posting here.
Spokane WA, Bend Ore.....neither close to the ocean though.
ShokWaveRider
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
We lived in MV for 20 years. The crowds and traffic just got on top of us! Also anything near the ocean is astronomical. The expense can also be prohibiting. Climate is perfect as you say. We sold our home at the peak and purchased another larger one, better built for half the price in coastal FLA. Plus no state income tax. We were lucky and had prop 13 for RE Taxes. We could not afford to buy our own house back now. Oh and did I mention the crowds and traffic, and then there is that SoCAL attitude to deal with too. People are always in such a hurry and stressed out all the time. Here everyone talks to you in the street and are so friendly. There is something to be said for Southern Hospitality.
Florida's nice but not perfect.
Now you did not add anything additional to what I had already written. At least I wrote the good and the bad. I never said it was perfect because there is no perfect place. Life is about trade offs. I considered Florida. ALMOST bought a home there. However, I don't like the humidity there. It's uncomfortable. Don't like annual hurricanes, some places in Florida can't get homeowners insurance. Property taxes are amongst the highest in the country. I don't like having to have a mosquito fence around my pool that doesn't work.
Now you did not add anything additional to what I had already written. At least I wrote the good and the bad. I never said it was perfect because there is no perfect place. Life is about trade offs. I considered Florida. ALMOST bought a home there. However, I don't like the humidity there. It's uncomfortable. Don't like annual hurricanes, some places in Florida can't get homeowners insurance. Property taxes are amongst the highest in the country. I don't like having to have a mosquito fence around my pool that doesn't work.
ShokWaveRider
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Carlos2:
Yup you are correct the humidity (High temps in general) can get on top of you after 6 months of it. But you know what, you kind of get used to it. At first it took me lot of time to "wind down" from the SoCAL way of life, and being FIREd, there is no real rush to do anything.
Sorry, I did not mean to be negative about SoCAL, the opposite in fact, we had a great time there, when we were both earning hefty salaries and owe it a lot from an accumulation of wealth perspective. But now living off our nest egg, we prefer to just live 1 mile from the beach and go there every other day.
I would add that SoCAL was the best place we ever lived and the longest we have lived anywhere (at a cost), and we do not regret a moment of it.
However, FLA has it's good points too. I would say the humidity was one of the ONLY drawbacks. A minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things.
Yup you are correct the humidity (High temps in general) can get on top of you after 6 months of it. But you know what, you kind of get used to it. At first it took me lot of time to "wind down" from the SoCAL way of life, and being FIREd, there is no real rush to do anything.
Sorry, I did not mean to be negative about SoCAL, the opposite in fact, we had a great time there, when we were both earning hefty salaries and owe it a lot from an accumulation of wealth perspective. But now living off our nest egg, we prefer to just live 1 mile from the beach and go there every other day.
I would add that SoCAL was the best place we ever lived and the longest we have lived anywhere (at a cost), and we do not regret a moment of it.
However, FLA has it's good points too. I would say the humidity was one of the ONLY drawbacks. A minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things.
A transplanted New Yorker
You have to understand that I grew up in New York City and so when I moved to California, I found heaven. I have been here for 30 years now and back east is not an option.
I like Florida a lot. I have a friend who lives in Punta Gorda that I visit and another in Boca Raton. Nice places and quiet. I thought long and hard about it. I could literally live in a mansion if I sold my place here. However, for the reasons I mentioned and my wife's family is in Los Angeles, I am pretty much bound here. I have to suffer with a five-ten minute drive to the beach, horrible winters in the mid 70's, and picturesque scenery on my six minute, no freeway drive to work. I won't be an early retiree at 61, but I will be having fun until that time and hopefully well after that time too here in Southern California.
You have to understand that I grew up in New York City and so when I moved to California, I found heaven. I have been here for 30 years now and back east is not an option.
I like Florida a lot. I have a friend who lives in Punta Gorda that I visit and another in Boca Raton. Nice places and quiet. I thought long and hard about it. I could literally live in a mansion if I sold my place here. However, for the reasons I mentioned and my wife's family is in Los Angeles, I am pretty much bound here. I have to suffer with a five-ten minute drive to the beach, horrible winters in the mid 70's, and picturesque scenery on my six minute, no freeway drive to work. I won't be an early retiree at 61, but I will be having fun until that time and hopefully well after that time too here in Southern California.
Surewhitey
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Wow! I've visited many of the places everyone has mentioned. NE Arkansas is beautiful, you also have awesome camping and canoeing rivers (Buffalo is great, Spring too). Blanchard Springs has great camping.
Springfield, MO is close to big lakes, AR also has Beaver, Norfolk, Bull Shoals...all great lakes and good trout fishing.
Both of those are a little cold in the winter.
Huntsville is a nice area. Flat, but just a short drive to the Smokys and Chattanooga which is a very scenic small city too. Just visited friends there and the riding there would be challenging, reminding me of Ojai, CA. River & lake activities there too. Vibrant small city downtown.
CA has a lot of lower $$ areas (relatively speaking) that are still not too far from the Ocean. Just don't know the schools situation. Oxnard comes to mind, maybe Ventura too? Winery's and Santa Barbara is a short drive away...
Austin is nice, it just gets hotter there than the others, but the winters would allow more year-round activities. San Antonio and hill country is nice too...Frio River for camping / tubing the spring waters (read cold).
Lived in Dallas, not bad, just flat and a few lakes, but some good schools in some good neighborhoods.
All affordable, AR & Springfield the most, CA the least. CA was very nice to live if you don't have to commute...We were in Woodland Hills and commuted downtown.
We're in Mexico now and surprisingly there are a lot of families here from the US and Canada, but home schooling the kiddos. Swimmable warm Caribbean and lots of snorkeling and spear fishing here. Cost of living is $2k / mo for many of our friends (or less)...A little more challenging, but you get to teach your kids about another language / culture.
My $.02
Springfield, MO is close to big lakes, AR also has Beaver, Norfolk, Bull Shoals...all great lakes and good trout fishing.
Both of those are a little cold in the winter.
Huntsville is a nice area. Flat, but just a short drive to the Smokys and Chattanooga which is a very scenic small city too. Just visited friends there and the riding there would be challenging, reminding me of Ojai, CA. River & lake activities there too. Vibrant small city downtown.
CA has a lot of lower $$ areas (relatively speaking) that are still not too far from the Ocean. Just don't know the schools situation. Oxnard comes to mind, maybe Ventura too? Winery's and Santa Barbara is a short drive away...
Austin is nice, it just gets hotter there than the others, but the winters would allow more year-round activities. San Antonio and hill country is nice too...Frio River for camping / tubing the spring waters (read cold).
Lived in Dallas, not bad, just flat and a few lakes, but some good schools in some good neighborhoods.
All affordable, AR & Springfield the most, CA the least. CA was very nice to live if you don't have to commute...We were in Woodland Hills and commuted downtown.
We're in Mexico now and surprisingly there are a lot of families here from the US and Canada, but home schooling the kiddos. Swimmable warm Caribbean and lots of snorkeling and spear fishing here. Cost of living is $2k / mo for many of our friends (or less)...A little more challenging, but you get to teach your kids about another language / culture.
My $.02
Have read all of the posts, but have one hurdle I can't seem to get over...
"Why would anyone wanna ride a bike, UP a mountain?"
I love to ride, and do about 5 to 10 miles a day, but pedaling UP a grade, is, IMHO, masochism.
Hey, Dawg... Good pic of the "flag".
"Why would anyone wanna ride a bike, UP a mountain?"
I love to ride, and do about 5 to 10 miles a day, but pedaling UP a grade, is, IMHO, masochism.
Hey, Dawg... Good pic of the "flag".
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It's kinda like the FIRE lifestyle .... a long, sometimes arduous active push up the hill followed by a free, glorious float down. Provided a huge unexpected crash doesn't f(*& it all up.
Have read all of the posts, but have one hurdle I can't seem to get over...
"Why would anyone wanna ride a bike, UP a mountain?"
I love to ride, and do about 5 to 10 miles a day, but pedaling UP a grade, is, IMHO, masochism.
mh
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
No gang issues in Thousand Oaks either. I've never had any "gang issues" in my entire life here in ca. Just stay out of some select areas and it's a complete non issue IMO
Sarah in SC
Moderator Emeritus
Since I goaded Dawg into that, I thought I should share one of the best scenes from a cheesy favorite movie, Shag (no, not that kind, cheeky Brits--it is about the dance).
Miss Sun Queen Scene from Shag Movie (1989) | MOVIECLIPS
Miss Sun Queen Scene from Shag Movie (1989) | MOVIECLIPS
Dawg, how can you possibly post that photo with the caption "I'll bite" ?
Especially both ways...
RebelwoaCloo
Confused about dryer sheets
I didn't have time to read all of the posts - maybe Albuquerque is already off of your radar, but you might give it a visit. Contrary to another post there are several lakes within an hour from town as are National and State Parks. The Q is very bicycle-friendly; the city has almost completed a bike path loop around the town and a few years ago they spent $4 million or so for a dedicated cyclist bridge over the Rio Grande next to I-40. City buses and the Rail Runner passenger train have bicycle racks on them. Petroglyphs and the Sandia Mountains are within 20 minutes from where I live. I could go on about this place (I've been around) but you might take a look at the Q on the www.
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