Car Free Snowbirding Destinations

[superdave]

The recent car free posts had me thinking about Car Free Snowbirding Destinations.

Last winter we spent time in Myrtle Beach. There are a few areas there where you could enjoy a car free lifestyle, particularly in the area of Town Commons.

The community is walking distance to the airport, as well as all the shops and conveniences. Market Common MB - Home - Market Common, Myrtle Beach, SC

The owners of the next townhome to our rental lived in NYC, and when commuting to MB, would just walk from the airport to their townhome. Probably a 30 minute walk.

Soooo, this got me thinking. Are there any other similar enclaves in the sunbelt?

 

[48Fire]

Charleston, SC? You can walk a lot there. A little chilly, but similar to Myrtle Beach.

 

[pb4uski]

How about Miami? Or Sydney or Melbourne if you are more adventurous.

https://www.walkscore.com/cities-and-neighborhoods/

 

[superdave]

How about Miami? Or Sydney or Melbourne if you are more adventurous.

https://www.walkscore.com/cities-and-neighborhoods/

hmm, Miami might be nice, but I can't remember any transit options when we visited. I do remember that the light rail/bus transit in Phoenix was surprisingly good....

 

[zinger1457]

I do remember that the light rail/bus transit in Phoenix was surprisingly good....

Phoenix is so spread out that you are very limited on where you can go using the light rail. Using the bus system in combination with the light rail will allow you to spread out but I'm sure most residents would still consider a vehicle in Phoenix a necessity. I certainly would.

 

[Ronstar]

Phoenix is so spread out that you are very limited on where you can go using the light rail. Using the bus system in combination with the light rail will allow you to spread out but I'm sure most residents would still consider a vehicle in Phoenix a necessity. I certainly would.

I agree. Look into Sun City, az for possible carless snowbirding or maybe Rio Verde if you're into golf and want to be out of town


Sent from my iPhone .using Early Retirement .//82339)

 

[robertf57]

Although rapid transit in Phoenix isn't perfect, you can get by with a motor scooter plus public transit easily



Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[superdave]

What I think I am looking for is locations where there is a microcosm area where you could do 90% of what you would like to do, but have access to transit when necessary.

When we visited Phoenix a couple years ago, we found that rental cars were much cheaper when renting at Scottsdale airport as opposed to the big intrernational airport. We used a combination of light rail and busses to get to scottsdale, and found the scottsdale area itself to be reasonably car free friendly. Obviously, you can't golf like 10 different courses, this would require a car, but you could easily catch a spring training ball game, shop, get groceries, etc in Scottsdale without requiring a car.

What I am thinking about is snowbirding in the south from Canada, but being able to snowbird without a car.

 

[donheff]

Key West if you have a few bucks.

 

[Ronstar]

It makes it easier if you can find a rental car company to pick you up. We were at our snowbird condo, and needed a rental car. We called Enterprise. They picked us up at the condo, drove us to their facility, we did the paperwork and drove off with the car. I suppose other companies do pickups as well.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[OldPro]

North American culture is not designed to live car free really other than downtown in a city. Not exactly my idea of a 'snowbird' location to spend a winter in.

It also depends on your interests and what you want to do with your time. If you're happy doing nothing but sitting in the shade and taking the odd walk to the store to buy groceries, then car free is easier to contemplate. But if you want to do much more than that, it's a lot harder.

One of my favourite winter getaway locations is Borrego Springs, California. But we go there for the desert hiking, not bright lights and action. It's actually California's only International Dark Sky Community. So great star-gazing.

You could stay there and get around without a car but it would be very limiting. We do day trips to Delmar and La Jolla on the coast or up to Julien in the mountains or over to Palm Springs to see how the plastic people live or to the Salton Sea to see the folly of that 'retirement oasis' that flopped so spectacularly.

 

[foxfirev5]

Key West if you have a few bucks.

The first place that came to my mind. A condo/rental near N Roosevelt is still convenient and considerably cheaper than the high priced old town area.

 

[Moemg]

Anna Marie Island has a trolley that travels from the beach to other destinations . There are lots of restaurants , a nice beach & some shopping . Publix delivers groceries so basically you could go car less or rent a bike .The trolley combines with regular bus transportation so you would be able to go to spring training , movies & other events .

 

[Turn_the_Page]

Condo/Apartment in Woodlands (TX) Waterway. Same in downtown Austin.

 

[Revlefty]

Anna Marie Island has a trolley that travels from the beach to other destinations . There are lots of restaurants , a nice beach & some shopping . Publix delivers groceries so basically you could go car less or rent a bike .The trolley combines with regular bus transportation so you would be able to go to spring training , movies & other events .

Anna Maria Island (Bradenton, Florida) Trolley is FREE. And it connects you to the bus services that go into Bradenton or Sarasota.

 

[donheff]

I have stayed in Bradenton Beach a few times and highly recommend it and Anna Maria.

 

[CoolChange]

My personal favorite snowbird destination is the Yucatan south of Cancun. Cancun is relatively cheap and easy to fly into from most anywhere; and, public transportation between towns is cheap and efficient once you are there. Taxis are a viable option for shorter distances as long as you avoid them within the touristy areas and the airport where I consider them to be significantly overpriced.

I definitely need to add the Anna Maria Island (Bradenton, Florida) area to my domestic travel considerations; it looks quite nice.

 

[superdave]

Interesting replies.

We have been to Key West and loved the vibe. Verrry expensive. I remember a couple campgrounds where you couldn't open your RV door without hitting the rig parked next door

Have also spent time in Cancun and relied on buses with no issues at all. Taxis have a local and tourist rate.

Austin TX would be interesting.... Spent a week there during SXSW. Downtown, ya you wouldn't need a car there...

 

[JTOrt]

One of my favourite winter getaway locations is Borrego Springs, California. But we go there for the desert hiking, not bright lights and action. It's actually California's only International Dark Sky Community. So great star-gazing.

You could stay there and get around without a car but it would be very limiting. We do day trips to Delmar and La Jolla on the coast or up to Julien in the mountains or over to Palm Springs to see how the plastic people live or to the Salton Sea to see the folly of that 'retirement oasis' that flopped so spectacularly.

Shhhh, we want to keep Borrego a secret . Even the snowbird season is quiet. Our villa is in the center of town and we can walk to restaurants and the grocery store. Hiking & biking in the state park is fantastic and there's lots of 4x4 trails as well. We love the dry desert heat, better than shoveling snow back home

 

[OldPro]

Shhhh, we want to keep Borrego a secret . Even the snowbird season is quiet. Our villa is in the center of town and we can walk to restaurants and the grocery store. Hiking & biking in the state park is fantastic and there's lots of 4x4 trails as well. We love the dry desert heat, better than shoveling snow back home

I first found Borrego over 30 years ago JTOrt. It's claim to fame then was no traffic light at all, just Christmas Circle. It's claim to fame today is the same. There are not many places where you can say something like that about.

What fascinates me about the place is how many major developers have attempted to try to turn it into anther Palm Springs and every one of them has failed. It stays pretty much the same decade after decade. It's almost as if you don't have to 'shhh, keep it secret', it's immune to change.

 

[YeahNo]

Key West for sure!! We just got back from our first 6 week stay there. We wanted a place that we could walk/bike to anything we needed (restaurants, grocery, beaches, parks). KW totally fits that bill in that regard. I did a bunch of research prior to deciding on KW as this was our first extended vacation that we've taken. We strongly believe we hit a homerun with this very first trip.

For reference, family of 3 (34, 33, 6 months).

 

[kcowan]

Downtown Puerto Vallarta. All walkable. Only shortcoming is lack of a good grocery store. That usually requires a bus ride to get there and a taxi ride home. Lots of corner stores for daily food shopping. Restaurants, live theater choices, cheap flights. Driving takes an extra couple of days compared to Florida.

The C$ has stayed competitive with the peso:

 

[donheff]

Key West for sure!! We just got back from our first 6 week stay there. We wanted a place that we could walk/bike to anything we needed (restaurants, grocery, beaches, parks). KW totally fits that bill in that regard. I did a bunch of research prior to deciding on KW as this was our first extended vacation that we've taken. We strongly believe we hit a homerun with this very first trip.

For reference, family of 3 (34, 33, 6 months).

Where did you stay?

 

[iac1003]

Condo/Apartment in Woodlands (TX) Waterway. Same in downtown Austin.

But for food shopping in downtown Austin you'd have to walk a ways to Whole Paycheck, oops I mean Foods, and that's pretty spendy. There is no supermarket in the downtown area and it isn't set up for driver-less living in general. Public transportation in Austin is subpar to say the least.

My friend who lives on 2nd and Lavaca drives to South Congress to do her shopping at HEB.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[iac1003]

Downtown Puerto Vallarta. All walkable. Only shortcoming is lack of a good grocery store. That usually requires a bus ride to get there and a taxi ride home. Lots of corner stores for daily food shopping. Restaurants, live theater choices, cheap flights. Driving takes an extra couple of days compared to Florida.

The C$ has stayed competitive with the peso:

That's where we are now. Walk or bus to anywhere and taxis aren't too expensive. Except the airport taxi fare just went up.

We take the bus for a big weekly food shopping if we want - Walmart, Soriana, or Costco - and a taxi back. Buses are plentiful and cost only 7.5 Mexican pesos. The peso at such a low makes the bus ride ridiculously cheap.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum