Where to relocate to - warmer, urban-cultural, affordable, walkable?

[REWahoo]

Sounds to me as though the Chamber of Commerce has you on retainer...

 

[Amethyst]

Hmm. Funny, I didn't get that feeling at all. OP is obviously a Villages fan, also a meticulous reporter who feels the need to "set the story straight." The description doesn't sell me on The Villages, it just tells me about OP's experience with them.

Amethyst

This sounds like a sales pitch.

 

[REWahoo]

We have never been there and know no owners or tenants, but it always as had a sort of "Timeshare' ring to us.

I can see the timeshare connotation, but to me it sounds more like something Disney might have created or the movie set for "The Stepford Wives".

But to each his own - paradise isn't defined the same way by everyone.

 

[Sarah in SC]

If you like the suburbs and planned communities when you are working/raising kids/etc, I imagine these super senior centers would sound fabulous. To those of us who ran screaming from anything resembling suburburbia and convention, they would be a prison not unlike Stepford Wives.
Give me a few hippies and colorful drunks at the local bar instead of a world where everyone looks like me.

 

[MichaelB]

Sorry, not intended to be a sales pitch. I will stop answering questions about it.

No problem. You might want to stop by the “Hi, I am…”forum here and tell us a little about yourself and any other interests you might have.

 

[MichaelB]

If you like the suburbs and planned communities when you are working/raising kids/etc, I imagine these super senior centers would sound fabulous. To those of us who ran screaming from anything resembling suburburbia and convention, they would be a prison not unlike Stepford Wives.
Give me a few hippies and colorful drunks at the local bar instead of a world where everyone looks like me.

+1

 

[Moemg]

I can see the timeshare connotation, but to me it sounds more like something Disney might have created or the movie set for "The Stepford Wives".

But to each his own - paradise isn't defined the same way by everyone.

I have been to the Villages and it does look like Disney on steroids .

 

[Amethyst]

Suspect what I really want is to live as Bilbo did in Rivendell - free to do whatever the heck he wanted, when he wanted, and there were "Elves when you want them." People when I want them - not utter solitude, and not some mad whirl of semi- compulsory activities going on all round me - that's what I'd like.

Amethyst

 

[Huston55]

Sorry, not intended to be a sales pitch. I will stop answering questions about it.

Ride Buddy-

Sorry to get you accused of being a pitch man for The Villages. But, I found your post very informative; just the kind of research report I was looking for; many of our criteria are the same. So, thx much.

For others on the thread, the folks I know personally who've recently bought to retire in The Villages are by no means suburban clones looking for a white bread community of sameness. In fact, they're pretty damn independent and have lived comfortably in some unusual places. So, although I've not visited The Villages yet, I will certainly do so in future, just based on their selection. And, although the lack of a beach will likely kill the deal for DW and I, one never knows.

 

[JakeBrake]

I just visited Asheville, it was on our short list. It's beautiful and fun, and if we move to NC (thinking Triangle), I am sure we will visit often. Too small for us, and too liberal, but the vibe downtown can't be beat. Almost like a mountain Berkeley, Boulder, Portland, Haight-Ashbury - places I like to visit, but would never live. I realize there's also a wealthy retired conservative crowd in Asheville too, but I noticed the city council recently had to debate whether they were socialists or not...sounded like a split decision.

The last time I visited Ashville, I took a snapshot of a typical Ashville House. The Biltmore.

 

[ohyes]

ldridehd,

DH and I do not play golf, but have heard about the Villages and you definitely piqued our interest. I plan to investigate a bit more and hopefully visit on down the road.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Lisa99]

According to Outdoor magazine's October issue "THE" place to live if you're into the outdoors is Chattanooga, TN. There were 19 towns on the list and Chattanooga took #1.

We considered moving there before we moved to Vegas but the airport wasn't big enough for DH. There would be too many hops to get to clients.

It has a cute downtown, lots of civic stuff going on and the cost of living is very low.

 

[FinanceDude]

Chattanooga is a very nice town, I used to date a girl from there in college. She was a southern belle.......

 

[Mulligan]

After traveling for the airlines I have found Minneapolis to be my favorite "affordable" city to live in. Parks are second to none of all the towns in the US. Several lakes in uptown make you feel like you are in the country. Also one of the safest biking cities in America. All parks interconnect by bike paths.

Problem is you need a second home for the winters, but from late April to early November it is perfect.

I live in Missouri, but I go to Minneapolis at least twice year. What a clean, vibrant, downtown! Ya, it's cold in winter, but they have catwalks all over the downtown, never have to go outside. One thing I would like to add about crime stats stigmatizing towns. Just like real-estate is local, so is crime. Check the area zip codes and specific areas for crime, not the city. For example, St. Louis, MO. It was rated last year as one of the top three dangerous cities. But the devil is in the details. Less than 3% of the crime is in the downtown area that people associate as being "St. Louis ". All of the crime is occurring in certain areas,(especially the north) where you would have to be a damned fool to stumble into. I feel 100% safe in that city, and I have never stumbled into those troubled areas my whole life and never will!

 

[Huston55]

Does Such a Place Exist?

DH and I have been FIREd (occasionally freelance) for 3 years. In our 40s, no kids. We want to move out of the Chicago area to something a lot less cold. But at the same time, it should be culturally (& intellectually) active, diverse, urban/city-living and a very walkable neighborhood (close to restaurants, theaters, galleries, etc). And, of course, not a very high cost of living and preferably low income taxes . Willing to spend around $1500-1800 for 2bed/2ba rental.
Does such a place exist?RA

Looking at the OP and, man, these are some tough criteria!

Does such a place exist? Almost seems like the ultimate question, doesn't it?
Let's review the bidding---

A lot less cold (than Chicago)-OK, that's south of the Mason/Dixon line.

Culturally diverse-that almost certainly means a large urban center or a place lots of folks gravitate to (like Fl, Az, Ca or southern urban centers elsewhere, plus a few other select spots)

Intellectually diverse-Hmmmmm, not sure I know what this means-frankly, it's different for different folks. I lived in San Francisco, which was wonderful and which most would agree is intellectually diverse. But, I'm now living in downtown Knoxville, TN. And, it's moderately hip with a large university next to us, and we are very comfortable here; it might meet this requirement. Point is-look locally, very locally; I met bigots in SF and lots of gay folks in Knoxville; don't prejudge.

Active-If it's warmer than ChiTown, being active is a matter of will more than a matter of environment. As Nike says, 'Just do it!'

Diverse-Boy, lots of diversity here. Don't want to speculate on what else this may mean; see above.

Urban-for me, this goes with "walkable" and "close to everything" below, and really satisfies many of the criteria above. So, I'll address these criteria together. In my experience, this is very easy to find in an urban environment(large or small). Personal examples that could meet this requirement (excluding overseas locations) are: San Francisco; Downtown Knoxville; old town Pasadena, Cali; Eugene, Or; Baltimore inner harbor; selected Florida beach communities; Chattanooga; parts of DC, plus selected edge cities around DC; Seattle; selected coastal SoCal towns.

Very walkable-Above

Close to...everything-above

And, of course-CHEAP---well, aren't we easy to please?!?!
This rules out most of the coastal locations that I've experienced except Fl, and pretty much leaves one with "interior" choices. If you're sure you can live without the ocean at your doorstep (which I'm not), then it seems to me there are lots of choices. My personal experiences of Knoxville and Chattanooga can almost certainly be replicated in dozens of cities.

Personally, I identify with most of these criteria, and am very interested in locals that folks think satisfy all/most of them.

GOOD HUNTING!

 

[urn2bfree]

To be sure there are indeed bigots everywhere...but one can get a sense of a place by looking at the local scene politically--and you have to decide how you feel living in a place that chooses to have that kind of political leadership. In some places no particular political stripe will be dominant--it will shift back and forth. In others the dominant political atmosphere is quite evident. And it makes no difference whether you personally are a political person or not...it will have an impact on the area's atmosphere and your lifestyle including taxes or even what days the stores are open.
This is not to say one is better or worse--just as with everything different strokes for different folks.

 

[Midpack]

To be sure there are indeed bigots everywhere...but one can get a sense of a place by looking at the local scene politically--and you have to decide how you feel living in a place that chooses to have that kind of political leadership. In some places no particular political stripe will be dominant--it will shift back and forth. In others the dominant political atmosphere is quite evident. And it makes no difference whether you personally are a political person or not...it will have an impact on the area's atmosphere and your lifestyle including taxes or even what days the stores are open.
This is not to say one is better or worse--just as with everything different strokes for different folks.

I'll go one step further and say in my search so far the most interesting urban areas seem to be in states or cities with a long history of liberal majority legislatures. But the best of them are prohibitively expensive for us at least, and almost all of them seem to be in states I'd be afraid to relocate to as their the most fiscally unsound (CA, NY, OR, IL, NJ, MI, AZ, NV, WI, FL, RI, etc.) which can only mean higher taxes/fees and maybe less govt spending/services. I'm starting to think we need to find a crunchy conservative city/state and just visit the interesting areas.

 

[haha]

I'll go one step further and say in my search so far the most interesting urban areas seem to be in states or cities with a long history of liberal majority legislatures. But the best of them are prohibitively expensive for us at least, and almost all of them seem to be in states I'd be afraid to relocate to as their the most fiscally unsound (CA, NY, OR, IL, NJ, MI, AZ, NV, WI, FL, RI, etc.) which can only mean higher taxes/fees and maybe less govt spending/services. I'm starting to think we need to find a crunchy conservative city/state and just visit the interesting areas.

It's hard to find a state that does not have 2-10 cities and larger towns that would not keep an open-minded person occupied happily for a lifetime. People are not dull; where there are people there is interest, unless of course one's ideas of what is interesting have been formed by travel brochures and magazines.

The one thing to avoid in my opinion would be weather that you hate, and also tight communities that have little inmigration, especially of people in your age group. Pretty ugly to be essentially locked out of the life of your chosen home.

A conservative fiscally sound state with plenty of appealing cities and towns would be Texas, though the recent really bad weather down there might give one pause. Austin is not the only attractive spot in Texas, Dallas and Forth Worth have really appealing areas, as do Houston and San Antonio and El Paso and smaller places with universities, like Denton.

The same is true almost anywhere.

Ha

 

[Midpack]

It's hard to find a state that does not have 2-10 cities and larger towns that would not keep an open-minded person occupied happily for a lifetime. People are not dull; where there are people there is interest, unless of course one's ideas of what is interesting have been formed by travel brochures and magazines.

The one thing to avoid in my opinion would be weather that you hate, and also tight communities that have little inmigration, especially of people in your age group. Pretty ugly to be essentially locked out of the life of your chosen home.

A conservative fiscally sound state with plenty of appealing cities and towns would be Texas, though the recent really bad weather down there might give one pause. Austin is not the only attractive spot in Texas, Dallas and Forth Worth have really appealing areas, as do Houston and San Antonio and El Paso and smaller places with universities, like Denton.

The same is true almost anywhere.

Ha

Note I said the "best of them." I've lived in San Antonio & Dallas and visited all the others. If not for the weather I'd love to live in Austin, but it's gotten more costly than other cities in Texas. But again, based on my experience there is no city in Texas that can come anywhere near matching New York, San Francisco or even Chicago in terms of culture, restaurants, etc. No contest. And NY, SF & Chicago are already outrageously expensive and in states that seem almost certain to increase taxes even further - I wouldn't touch any of them with a 10 foot pole. But there's more to it than interesting people IMO.

For another example, moderate weather and reasonably COL are factors for us. We are currently focused on Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill. To me Chapel Hill is far more appealing than the other two, but Chapel Hill is noticeably more expensive and noticeably more liberal. They seem to correlate to some extent from my research so far, but maybe I'm kidding myself? Believe me, I'm still looking...

 

[haha]

Note I said the "best of them." I've lived in San Antonio & Dallas and visited all the others. If not for the weather I'd love to live in Austin, but it's gotten more costly than other cities in Texas. But again, based on my experience there is no city in Texas that can come anywhere near matching New York, San Francisco or even Chicago in terms of culture, restaurants, etc. No contest. And NY, SF & Chicago are already outrageously expensive and in states that seem almost certain to increase taxes even further - I wouldn't touch any of them with a 10 foot pole. But there's more to it than interesting people IMO.

For another example, moderate weather and reasonably COL are factors for us. We are currently focused on Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill. To me Chapel Hill is far more appealing than the other two, but Chapel Hill is noticeably more expensive and noticeably more liberal. They seem to correlate to some extent from my research so far, but maybe I'm kidding myself? Believe me, I'm still looking...

And I wanted Uma Thurman, but she wouldn't give me a discount.

Ha

 

[kcowan]

Midpack, we have friends who live in Wisconsin in the summer, Arkansas in the spring and fall and PV in the winter. It seems they have discovered there is no one place that satisfies them. Eventually they will forego WI when there businesses there are sold.

 

[Huston55]

Dunedin, FL

I've been meaning to post and ask forum members what experience or knowledge they have of this location-Dunedin, FL. Seems like this thread is as good a place as any.

It's near Clearwater Beach, Fl on the gulf coast. I've read some very positive things about it but, would be very interested in hearing about first (or second) hand experiences.

 

[Moemg]

I've been meaning to post and ask forum members what experience or knowledge they have of this location-Dunedin, FL. Seems like this thread is as good a place as any.

It's near Clearwater Beach, Fl on the gulf coast. I've read some very positive things about it but, would be very interested in hearing about first (or second) hand experiences.

I have only been to Dunedin a few times but I absolutely love it . Quaint city , great location and lots of gorgeous older homes . It is above Clearwater near Tarpon Springs .The traffic is pretty heavy there but once season comes it's pretty heavy almost anywhere in Florida.

 

[kcowan]

I have only been to Dunedin a few times but I absolutely love it . Quaint city , great location and lots of gorgeous older homes . It is above Clearwater near Tarpon Springs .The traffic is pretty heavy there but once season comes it's pretty heavy almost anywhere in Florida.

We stayed there at the Best Western on the water. Very nice. Not as hectic as places further south. The Toronto Blue Jays have their practices there.

 

[HFWR]

Sounds to me as though the Chamber of Commerce has you on retainer...

As opposed to the Hill Country Welcome Committee...