What?? Had to read twice!!

[Rianne]

Consumer Affairs sends e-mails about various topics. I could not believe this one. Not sure anyone here would believe it either. They ranked Champaign, IL as the #3 best city in the country to retire. I might feel that way, and their reasons are believable, but no mountains, no ocean, and terrible winters. This article could be "clickbait" and fine. But when I saw my hometown listed, that was kind of cool!

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/finance/best-and-worst-states-for-retirement.html

 

[disneysteve]

Those "best places" articles are always a farce. They put out the list every year but every year the best places are totally different. How can they be the best one year and not even make the list the next year?

 

[Gumby]

Everyone knows my town is the best place to retire. Always has been and always will be.

 

[Rianne]

Those "best places" articles are always a farce. They put out the list every year but every year the best places are totally different. How can they be the best one year and not even make the list the next year?

No argument from me. It was simply kind of cool. Like seeing your name in the credits of some achievement. Yes, a farce...St. Louis #2?? Seriously.

 

[Ronstar]

I see they rank St. Louis at #2. No reason to say any more.

 

[USGrant1962]

That’s a very strange list. I’ve never seen one of these lists so heavily weighted to central US cities.

 

[Winemaker]

Everyone knows my town is the best place to retire. Always has been and always will be.

I didn't know you lived near me! We ought to get together sometime. Go, Steelers!

 

[Rianne]

That’s a very strange list. I’ve never seen one of these lists so heavily weighted to central US cities.

Right! I was thinking hurricanes and wildfires might play a role. But I'd love to live in Idaho or Montana. Just too lazy to make the move. And family is here.

 

[MarieIG]

It has to be the best - or worst - for you.

 

[skyking1]

I see they rank St. Louis at #2. No reason to say any more.

They also rank high in violent crime rates. Maybe excitement is the spice of life?

 

[Lewis Clark]

Those "best places" articles are always a farce. They put out the list every year but every year the best places are totally different. How can they be the best one year and not even make the list the next year?

The ranking criteria are different for everyone, so there cannot be a single list that is valid for everyone. But these lists are sometimes amusing to skim through.

 

[Sunset]

I think one of the silly reasons some of these ranking use is "lots of other old people there".

Since most folks don't move, just having a bunch who might be too poor to move away from a bad place is no reason to raise it's ranking.

 

[CardsFan]

I see they rank St. Louis at #2. No reason to say any more.

I live in the area, and could not agree more. The City of St. Louis is someplace I avoid, though the Zoo, Botanical Gardens and Busch Stadium do get me in the city 5 or 6 times a year.

Out where we live (St. Charles) we can get to those places in 30 minutes. No need to live in the city.

 

[pacergal]

According to the article, they weighed cost of living the highest, so areas with LCOL are going to be ranked higher.
Interesting article and lists of "best" , "worst" cities.

 

[ls99]

The publishing of the best places to live is the best reason for me to stay put near a little town that hopefully will never make the list.

 

[ERD50]

The town next to us got one of those awards some years back. We were actually in a small village, so that was really our 'town'.

Hey, it's nice enough and everything, but I sure wouldn't try to convince anyone it was a 'best of' in any category. Those lists are weird, must just be click-bait, and they switch towns for a new audience.

-ERD50

 

[W2R]

Everyone knows my town is the best place to retire. Always has been and always will be.

So true, second only to New Orleans! Biggest secret on the internet is what fun it is to retire in the Big Easy. No need to travel anywhere, it's all here in New Orleans.

 

[ncbill]

College towns.

I live ~2km from our local university & should kick myself for not taking advantage of all the free stuff there.

As a (graduate school) alumnus I used their med school library when mom was sick.

 

[threeonesix]

Topeka, KS made the list at #12. Trust me, I've lived in KS for 45 years and there isn't a single city in this state that should make the top 1,000. There is nothing to do here if you love the outdoors. Only RI offers fewer public land than KS. The county I live in is larger than RI. We have some nice rivers in the eastern part of the state, but oddly most are privately owned. Yes, this state allows landowners to "own" their section of the river. Some are known to fire warning shots at "trespassers" canoeing past. It's ridiculous.

https://www.summitpost.org/public-and-private-land-percentages-by-us-states/186111

 

[yhoomajor]

You have to realize how these outlets are paid for these studies. There lies the answer.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I live in the area, and could not agree more. The City of St. Louis is someplace I avoid, though the Zoo, Botanical Gardens and Busch Stadium do get me in the city 5 or 6 times a year.

Out where we live (St. Charles) we can get to those places in 30 minutes. No need to live in the city.

Yep. ^^This^^

I live in suburban Minneapolis. The only time I venture into the city of Minneapolis itself is for baseball games, restaurants, or other activities.

Whenever I see these lists and I'm checking out a potential metro area to move to, I'm always appalled at the crime rates. Therefore, I always plug in the outlying suburban areas to see if the crime finds its way to the outer rings of the area. Usually, it does not.

I see Minneapolis is 11th on the list. You've got to be kidding me! Crime, cold weather, SNOW, high taxes, lousy city services, etc. etc.

Here is a comparison of the crime in St. Louis, MO vs. St. Charles MO. (from bestplaces.net) You can see that St. Charles is lower than the rate of violent crime than the US as a whole and roughly on par with the US in property crime. OTOH, St. Louis (proper) is a rat hole of crime.

 

[Surewhitey]

I see they rank St. Louis at #2. No reason to say any more.

Maybe likely cities to die in...

 

[JoeWras]

Picking on Champaign?

It has good Healthcare options. What I didn't like living there are airport options. This article ignores that. If you like to travel, some of these high rated cities could be a pain.

 

[CardsFan]

Maybe likely cities to die in...

In fairness, the city of STL is quite small, both in area (66 Square Miles) and population (under 300,000), compared to cities like Chicago, NYC, LA, etc., that are 5 to 10 times the size (or more). It really would make more sense to include STL County. But that would make the per capita rates much lower, and thus, less "newsworthy".

 

[Surewhitey]

In fairness, the city of STL is quite small, both in area (66 Square Miles) and population (under 300,000), compared to cities like Chicago, NYC, LA, etc., that are 5 to 10 times the size (or more). It really would make more sense to include STL County. But that would make the per capita rates much lower, and thus, less "newsworthy".

Yeah, born across the river & still having friends in STL, I don't know why they stay. I love the architecture, but the city is just meh for me. A small city should be better on the crime scene, imo. Memphis is another small city I lived in many moons ago (mom still does) & I wish there were reasons to visit other than family or friends or BBQ.