WANTED: Great Retirement Location

[Dawg52]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha Wow. Get a load of the comments! A little more to the point than most retiree happy-talk. ha

Yeah, this area is not very popular for the 20-35 age bracket. In fact I never had any intention to move back here after college. But after working a couple of years on the gulf coast, I got a job offer I couldn't pass up. Not the norm here.

Not a bad place for the 40 and over crowd.

[Doubledoc]

Ames Iowa - one word comes to mind...

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I'm sure the people are great but I couldn't face the cold.

I think Utah is your best bet - small towns, close to some large cities, spectacular scenery and outdoor activities, not too cold. Parts of New Mexico may also be nice (above 6500 feet so it's not too hot in the summer).

[mb]

I got my Outside magazine today with their annual Where to Live Now: The Best 30 Towns in America article.

They select a range of small and medium towns and large cities and spread them through out the country.

The winners are:

Santa Cruz, CA
San Francisco, CA
Jackson, WY
Denver, CO
Iowa City, Iowa
Madison, WI
Bend, OR
Portland, OR
Santa Fe, NM
Tucson, AR
Duluth, MN
Minneapolis, MN
Asheville, NC
Atlanta, GA
Portland, Maine
Charleston, SC
Burlington, VA
Boston, MA

[Shabber2]

Interesting list, but let's get it smaller:

Santa Cruz, CA - too expensive
San Francisco, CA- love it but too expensive
Jackson, WY- love it but too expensive
Denver, CO- too expensive
Atlanta, GA - been there and really didn't like it at all
Charleston, SC- love it but too expensive
Boston, MA- love it but too expensive
Santa Fe, NM - Too much desert
Tucson, AR - Too much desert

Leaves me:

Burlington, VA
Portland, Maine
Asheville, NC
Iowa City, Iowa - on my list!
Madison, WI
Bend, OR
Portland, OR - Interesting, but no NFL?
Duluth, MN
Minneapolis, MN

Comments on these?

[calmloki]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shabber2 Interesting list, but let's get it smaller: ... Bend, OR Portland, OR - Interesting, but no NFL? ...Comments on these?

Bend is way hot for real estate right now - spendy++++
Portland - no NFL, no kidding.

[Webzter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shabber2 Interesting list, but let's get it smaller: Portland, Maine Iowa City, Iowa - on my list! Madison, WI Duluth, MN Minneapolis, MN Comments on these?

Portland, ME - Real estate is going through the roof. Boston figured out that it's only two hours by train so a lot of them are moving there.

Duluth, MN - My one complaint is that the shorefront in town is very industrialized. But, it's easy to get on a beach if you go north a little bit. Small city (pop 80k), nice feeling. Not for everyone though! Because: Avg Jan low: -1. Avg Jul high: 76. Record low: -56. Record high: 106.

Madison, WI - Where we might move... considering Iowa City now too, though.

Minneapolis, MN - We're living here now. Stable economy, lots of lakes, very humid in the summer. Urban sprawl is a problem but our traffic on our worst day is better than Chicago on it's best day. Varied neighborhoods, especially if you live 'inside the loop'. Little known fact, when it comes to theatric productions, we are second only to New York City in theater seats per capita. We don't like it because we're not fans of the humidity (some people love it though) and we want a smaller place.

[Zoocat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shabber2 Interesting list, but let's get it smaller: Denver, CO- too expensive Leaves me: Burlington, VA Portland, Maine Asheville, NC Iowa City, Iowa - on my list! Madison, WI Bend, OR Portland, OR - Interesting, but no NFL? Duluth, MN Minneapolis, MN Comments on these?

You will find that Portland is more expensive than Denver in some areas. It all depends on where you want to live. That's why I think doing these statistical comparisons is almost worthless unless you have visited the city and know firsthand what the various areas are like. Another important consideration is the culture of the city which is directly related to its geographic location. For example, do you feel comfortable with Southern culture? Do you like Midwestern conservatism or do you feel at home in the West? And, as for Utah, well, do you have a lot of Mormon friends?

[Brat]

OldBabe is spot-on about culture and neighborhoods. In even expensive cities reasonably priced housing in safe neighborhoods can be found within or on the outskirts.

The price of housing in Bend dropping. That is not to say it has reached 'reasonable' levels yet.

Why should Portland build a NFL stadium when Seattle did it for them? There are Amtrak excursion trains to the games if you don't want to drive.

[Martha]

We live in Duluth, Minnesota. It is far less industrialized than it once was, though there still is quite a bit of shipping traffic, both iron ore and grain. I always liked the look of industry, the ore docks, the lakers, the grain elevators.

The largest two employers are the University of Minnesota and St. Mary's Duluth Clinic Health System. Duluth is a regional medical center with great health care.

A lot of work has been done in the past 30 years to beautify downtown. The streets are bricked. You can get decent Thai food and there is an award winning Indian restaurant downtown. Shopping stinks so go to Minneapolis to shop. Housing prices have increased over the past few years but housing nevertheless is a lot cheaper than Minneapolis/St. Paul.


A lakewalk was built so you can walk along the lake to downtown. There is a nine mile sand beach on a sand bar that starts from downtown. The other beaches are rocky. People wind surf and sail, primarily on the bay. Bigger pleasure boats go on the lake--there are opportunities to crew on some rich guy's big sail boat. Sailboat races every Wednesday. My avatar is currently a frozen view of the lake from last winter. The lake is always cold, though with an east wind blowing warmer surface water inland you can sometimes swim in the summer. People die every year in the lake from hypothermia. A kayaker just died a few days ago. There are many parks in town with cross country ski trails and hiking. There is downhill skiing just outside of town. Canoing and kayaking are popular and there are many rivers nearby that provide great challenges. The boundary waters canoe area wilderness is nearby and is an amazing area for canoe trips, along with wilderness areas in Ontario. There is nothing like summer in Duluth, with non-stop recreational opportunities. The summer temperature tends to be fairly pleasant, often in the 70s. Though with an off lake wind you can have 50 degree days in July or August. Rarely do you have 90-100 degree days, though they do seem to be more frequent, occurring yearly rather than once every few years.

The city is built on a hill so many have a nice view of Lake Superior.

The area is very liberal. One of our lawyers at work is a Republican. He and his family moved to Arizona for a couple of years. He said the democrats in Arizona were more conservative than the republicans in Duluth.

Winters are bitter cold and dark. But if you like skiing or snowshoeing you are set. Spring comes very late, I have seen ice on lake superior as late as June.

My peonies are still in bloom.

If not from the area, most people find the climate too harsh.

[haha]

Nice descriptive portrait Martha. You are a very talented writer.

Ha

[renferme]

check out Butler County, PA, just north of Pittsburgh. Specifically, Cranberry Township or Mars, PA. For 350k, you can buy a mansion.
Property taxes a bit lower than neighboring Allegheny County (Pittsburgh),
but only 30 minute drive on the interstate into the city.
And, remember, Pittsburgh is the nation's Most Livable City this year !
.

[Orchidflower]

I have personal knowledge of 4 of these:

Minneapolis: Considered one of the very best places to live in in America, because of so much culture. Close to Mayo Clinic in Rochester. I considered here (cousin lives there for years), but the cold...damn! it is just too cold...and this coming from someone who was from Chicago. I mean you can be TOO cold. If you can tolerate maybe 4 months of freeeeezing, then this could be your city. It has everything anyone could want, and ends up at the top of all the best places to live in America lists all the time.

Burlington, Vermont: Close-close friend and ex-employee moved there. He is gay. Moved out because it was TOO gay for him even. He wasn't all that impressed with the area at all. Very, very, very liberal thinking. My friend swore when he lived in Manchester (hour away) that nobody in Vermont had any money. He also swears everyone there wears flannel shirt and jeans. Guess he wasn't into the fashions popular there.

Portland, Maine: Many retirees there. My gay friend moved there, too, and did love the seafood/lobster all over Portland at cheap prices. Thought the arts were pretty active there. Liked the area alot. Check out those taxes tho on retirementliving.com and see if you can live with Maine's taxes. It is a beautiful area, tho. Oh, and the area is a wonderful diversity of people (compared to Burlington). My gay friend does prefer diversity and not an all gay world...sorta like I don't want to move to Florida if I am going to be stuck with all old people around me.

Iowa City, Iowa: Know this area because I am living near there now. Cold in winter, yes...but not like Minneapolis or Chicago. Less windy. It is a DRY cold unlike cold, say, in Houston which is a wet cold. For instance, at 32 degrees in Houston, because of the humidity the cold goes right down into your bones. Lots of congestion in your chest there. At 32 degrees in Iowa City or even Chicago, you are running around in a light jacket or sweater and thinking the weather is Fall crisp and wonderful. Big, big difference. Again, get on retirementliving.com and check Iowa's taxes. Depending on where your money is coming from, Iowa can or cannot take a chunk every year. But Iowa City is a hip, cultural, happening place--and, most of all, SAFE. I live about 1-1/2 away from there now, and this area of America--having been the manufacturing/farm area AND manufacturing has gone to Asia and Mexico now--makes this area a VERY cheap/inexpensive one to live in. Costs here are so low that Chicagoans come here to gamble on the boats and party. Drinks that would cost me $7 in Chicago are $2.50 here. My gym membership to a top gym here is $260 a year with a great pool! The Midwest is cheap to live in. You could also consider how close you will be living to the owner of Berkshire Hathaway, too, in Omaha, I guess. Bottom line: check out pricing in Iowa City on Sperling's Best Places (sperling's.com or sperlings.com) and click on the city compare to compare any city with another you are thinking of moving to if price is an issue (it should be).

You might want to use epodunk.com, too, to check out your cities. Lot and lots of useful info there from how many libraries to the nationalities of a certain cities population (i.e., how many Polish, Argentinians, Asians) to how many gays to how many hospitals...well, you get the idea.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orchidflower Burlington, Vermont: Close-close friend and ex-employee moved there. He is gay. Moved out because it was TOO gay for him even. He wasn't all that impressed with the area at all. Very, very, very liberal thinking. My friend swore when he lived in Manchester (hour away) that nobody in Vermont had any money. He also swears everyone there wears flannel shirt and jeans. Guess he wasn't into the fashions popular there

ok, i could go a few ways with this.

way one: burlington was too gay for your gay friend but he had a problem with the fashion in manchester?

way two: a rampage on how a gay person could consider an area too gay. like saying: i like israel but there are so many jewish people there.

way three: some off comment on living vicariously through a gay man.

way four: asking if your friend is single, vgl & debt-free but it doesn't sound like he's ready to settle down.

way five: that's because all the gays live in burlington but the lesbians live in manchester.

[Orchidflower]

I KNEW you would respond to this, lazygood4nuthinbum. I am simply repeating what my gay guy pal told me.
No disrespect intended, but you seem waaaaaaaaaaaaay too overly sensitive about being gay. Please ask yourself "why"?
And do you not have any "straight" female friends? And, if you do, do they have to watch every little thing they say to you? Personally, that would drain my straight a*s.

[calmloki]

"way one: burlington was too gay for your gay friend but he had a problem with the fashion in manchester? way five: that's because all the gays live in burlington but the lesbians live in manchester."

You funny.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orchidflower I KNEW you would respond to this, lazygood4nuthinbum.... that would drain my straight a*s.

which only goes to show what great pleasure you take out of being conniving, manipulative and disgusting. congrats on your great success in life.


ps. calmloki, i just knew someone else would pick up on that flannel. good to see my humor is not entirely wasted. though with all of whatever respect might be due the op (of this mini-threadjack), the "there" reference might have pointed to vermont and not to manchester (the syntax is not clear) and so then the joke might not be well taken.

[Orchidflower]

I make it a policy to not dignify idiocy with a response.

[novaman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiger Here is a test that will result in suggestions as to the best places that fit your requirements: Best Places to Live: Compare the Best Cities & Small Towns for You!

OK this is too funny.

As my login name suggests, I live in Northern Va. I've been a lifelong DC metro resident, and even though I've often dreamed of moving out to Norcal, I've never left this area. I guess what kept me here is family.

And now that I'm in my mid forties, I've been blessed with a great life here in Mclean. I have a successful dental practice in my house (so no commute). My kids go to school in one of the top school systems in the country. I'm close to all the best shops, restaurants, museums, etc. that you can find anywhere. I go to a great church....It seems I have it all... except I can't stand the weather!

I don't do well in humidity or heat, prferring the climate of Norcal. The summers here literally zap the energy right out of me. Fall and spring are ok but too short here. Winter here is already bad enough for me. So I always dream of going to Norcal. I even got my Cal dental license, but feel at 43 it might be a bad move to start over after working so hard to build my successful practice.

Anyways, I took the quiz that Tiger posted in the link. And where is my best place to live according to Top Spots? Norfolk Va! and Cheasapeake/Va beach came in 5th!....So I guess I'm meant to be in Virginia even though I hate humidity. Just had to share this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brat In that case don't move to MO either. Hey, buy a house boat and rock with the roll!!

No problem about me moving to MO, I spent enough time in that area sweating my butt off.

[unclemick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiger Here is a test that will result in suggestions as to the best places that fit your requirements: Best Places to Live: Compare the Best Cities & Small Towns for You!

Natchitoches, Louisiana!

However - if I was sentenced to my old stomping grounds in the Pac NW where I was born and raised until the tender age of 26 - Portland Oregon would be my first choice over say Seattle. More memories, wilder women, lower cost of living.

Of course - in my old age there is Astoria, Rainer, Kalama, Battleground, Hoquim, Winlock, etc. Actually know/knew people who lived in those places. None in Portland at this time.

heh heh heh -