Poll:What is your retirement environment - mountain, sea, city, rural, abroad?

[aaronc879]

Small town/Rural for me, but with an expected several months each year out RVing. No intention to full time RV, but certainly plan to see a lot of the country on some longer trips.

Exactly what I was going to say. 5 with quite a bit of 7 mixed in.

 

[DrRoy]

I am a year from RE and currently live in a medium suburb on the edge of a big city, so have elements of both. My ideal would be to blend this in with mountain living, if the climate were not too cold. We won't move anywhere right away, but will be looking to see if we can find the optimal blend.

 

[gerntz]

I answered "Others". No place to vote for suburbia.

 

[Brdofpray]

We moved to the Upstate in South Carolina upon retirement. We have everything, and actively participate in the opportunities, mentioned in the mountain living option. We are also three hours from friends on the beach near Charleston. We have the best of both worlds!

 

[2017ish]

Went with the key factor for us: medium city (with user-friendly airport). We'll start out on our land/farm/suburb, but only 10 miles from airport; when land sells, we plan to move into urban core so as to get better access to entertainment options (currently a 20 mile drive each way). After we get a good deal of our more adventurous travel out of the way, we plan to do extensive RV traveling in the US and Canada, but don't think we'll ever go full-time.

 

[NYEXPAT]

I am a 2,3,7. I live overseas, oceanfront ( cliffs above Pacific ocean), Big city ( pop 9 million). Very touristy year round, several of the worlds best restaurants nearby (Peruvian food is one of the worlds top cuisines). No rain,no bugs,no heater,no AC, no weather of any kind (occasional earthquakes). Very safe as there are cameras everywhere and my district has National and tourist police as well as our own private security force. SA's best rated International airport is 30 min away by taxi ($9.00). All modern amenities,shopping galore, Internationally accredited hospitals, doctors come to your house. Fresh organic everything, generally cheaper to eat out than cook. Traffic is horrible at rush hour but I do not need a car as I can walk to everything except the big box stores which require a bus or taxi. I can be in the desert in under an hour or up in the Andes mountains in 2-3, The Amazon jungle is about 8 hrs by car or 1 hour by air. Did I mention the food?

 

[kcowan]

1,2,5,7 with 6 months in PV, 5 months in West Vancouver (pop 43000) and 1 month traveling, usually Europe. Seems to be working for us.

Budget has dropped by 40% since we purchased our PV property in 2007. A big surprise. Partly because Vancouver is so expensive. Also travel to Europe is on points earned while working.

 

[cyber888]

wow, what part of Peru is this? did you buy property or renting ?

I am a 2,3,7. I live overseas, oceanfront ( cliffs above Pacific ocean), Big city ( pop 9 million). Very touristy year round, several of the worlds best restaurants nearby (Peruvian food is one of the worlds top cuisines). No rain,no bugs,no heater,no AC, no weather of any kind (occasional earthquakes). Very safe as there are cameras everywhere and my district has National and tourist police as well as our own private security force. SA's best rated International airport is 30 min away by taxi ($9.00). All modern amenities,shopping galore, Internationally accredited hospitals, doctors come to your house. Fresh organic everything, generally cheaper to eat out than cook. Traffic is horrible at rush hour but I do not need a car as I can walk to everything except the big box stores which require a bus or taxi. I can be in the desert in under an hour or up in the Andes mountains in 2-3, The Amazon jungle is about 8 hrs by car or 1 hour by air. Did I mention the food?

 

[Dog]

1,2,5 & 8. Waterfront home on an island on the Puget Sound with views of Cascades & Mt. Baker and within 5 miles of a small town (county seat so has hospital and county services). I spend a lot of time hiking, snowshoeing and XC skiing in the Cascade and Olympic mountains. Kayak opportunities abound with the Sound, lakes and rivers nearby as well. Quiet rides on the island for cycling too.


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[34rlsa]

I'm surprised there aren't more... 6 RV and Mobile Living... in combination with the other choices.

Its a great way to live and experience different parts of the country. Especially if you're looking to move from your current digs and you're searching for a new area to call home.

Or if you love your existing home (like us) but want to travel to warmer climates in the winter and visit family in different parts of the country while still having your own personal space.

 

[REWahoo]

I'm surprised there aren't more... 6 RV and Mobile Living... in combination with the other choices.

Good point.

I voted "Other" but should have included #6 as well. We spend approximately two months of the year living in the RV - from a few days to a few weeks at a time.

 

[Walt34]

Small city/rural for us. We moved from the Washington, D.C. area because of the insufferable traffic there. The small town where I grew up was a nice place to live then but now one has to plan life around traffic and I wasn't going to do that in retirement. There is a "rush hour" here but it doesn't last long. There's a hospital not too far away and several grocery stores within 15 minutes. Rural areas are nearby too so the area is not crowded.

An important issue was proximity to family. At the time no one was more than two hours away but several years ago my two sisters moved to Delaware, four hours away so that requires an overnight stay. Even later one moved to Georgia and that's nine hours away. But DW's sister moved when they retired from two hours away to 15 minutes away so that's a good thing.

 

[Music Lover]

Medium city right where I am now...city of 660,000, I live on the outskirts on 1.6 acres with a farmer's field behind me. It's peaceful and quiet. Although I'd like to live in a warmer place, virtually all my friends and family are here, and I'm in 3 great bands that would be hard to replace as 1 of them has 2 life-long close friends. If I moved, I'd lose all that, and those social contacts are more important than the weather.

I'll suck it up in winter and take the occasional trip somewhere warm, but have no plans to move at this time.

 

[Danmar]

I've got them all covered except RV.

 

[Jack_Pine]

I would say a combo if everything works out right. Rural/country place in Wisconsin for summer, Medium town in Florida for winter. Then an RV for transport between and trips from both bases.
As we age I can see reducing to just the Florida place but intend to enjoy all three for some years before that.

 

[Car-Guy]

Definitely rural. We moved to the county before I fully retired. I can't say "rural town" since there is no town anywhere around here. The closest "town" is more than 15 miles from here and it has less than 1000 people living there.

 

[MRG]

Currently outside a town of 10k, bedroom community for medium sized city 25 miles away. Ideally moving to the mountains soon.

 

[hnzw_rui]

Considering splitting time 50/50 or 75/50 between US and Philippines.

Big city near ocean/sea for me. I would like someplace where I wouldn't need a car and most everything is walking distance. Also need to have a good hospital nearby so in the Philippines, that would have to be Metro Manila (three JCI-Accredited hospitals).

 

[kcowan]

I've got them all covered except RV.

Just a matter of time? I have a buddy who I met here in PV. He has a 3200 sq.ft. condo here. Since I have know him, he has bought:
- a large home in West Vancouver
- a 65 foot yacht
- a home in Pender Harbour with a deep water pier
- a 38 foot motor home
- a hefty motorcycle
- one quarter share in a one bedroom watercraft for PV
He is very relaxed here in PV but he is busy all summer!

So I see that they left off live-aboard watercraft from the survey. Mighty short-sighted!

 

[calmloki]

small towns/rural for us. Up north in Oregon we are in a town of 9000. Lovely and green in the summer. In the fall and winter and soggy Oregon spring we are in La Quinta. Man made movie set oasis in the desperate desert. Lots of sunshine and all manner of amenities and hospitals to suit the wealthy raisins down here for the golfing. We are in a cove surrounded by mountains, about 50/50 retirees/staff for the gated communities. Could be a tougher life - morning just now:

january morning.jpg Photo by calmloki | Photobucket

 

[explanade]

Poll needs to be limited to one choice.

And then you can have one of the choices be all of the above.

 

[MichaelB]

Our intended retirement location was a big city in a foreign country, close to both ocean and mountains. Didn't work out as planned, though, so we then chose a medium-sized city near the ocean that often feels like a foreign country but maps show is really part of the US.

 

[sanfanciscotreat]

I am where iwannabe, western NC but not in Asheville. Had no idea the traffic was so bad in Aville untill we moved here. I can be there in less than 30 minutes and have nice golf courses and several good brewpubs where we live. A bit cool here now, 12 degrees when I walked the dog this AM but we can still play golf once or twice per week during the winter. March through December are really nice with very few days bove 82 degrees. Sure beats south AL in the summer.

 

[explanade]

Our intended retirement location was a big city in a foreign country, close to both ocean and mountains. Didn't work out as planned, though, so we then chose a medium-sized city near the ocean that often feels like a foreign country but maps show is really part of the US.

Sounds like a riddle.

 

[karen1972]

I'm 2 hours from the mountains and 2 from the ocean..that works for me. I don't need to see it every day, but its easy enough to get up in the morning, check the weather forecast and do a day trip. I'm 2 miles a major mall (220+ stores) , 5 from the heart of the city and museums, 3 to the airport and 1 mile from a 5500 acre park w/ 3 lakes, 30 miles of trails, connected to a greenway of another 100 miles of trails. ie the best of big city and country all in one. I can walk to restaurants, movie theater and shopping but still be suburbia.