So has anybody found a low cost of living area with a number of good restaurants ,some theater , a moderate amount of shops and cultural activities ? I tend to think most of the really low cost of living areas are pretty basic but am I wrong ?
Unfortunately, we are each on our own in looking for a great retirement location!
Your "good" restaurants, might not be very good at all to someone else, and vice versa. Frank (whose family has been in New Orleans for 6+ generations, and who knows good New Orleans Sicilian cuisine), thinks the Italian food in what are supposed to be great Italian restaurants in Manhattan is terrible, and tastes as bad as if it came out of a can. (I have never tried it). He lived up there for several years and that was his conclusion, though. Yet many rave about the restaurants in Manhattan: he doesn't. He said the passable, but not wonderful Sicilian food we had at a restaurant in Springfield was no worse than that in Manhattan.
I was surprised, since that is not the reputation of Manhattan, but then who am I to say. I am only mentioning it to illustrate that what constitutes a "good" restaurant may differ between people.
"Some" theater is often available in areas with low cost of living, especially if there is a local community college or high school theater production. Often the great cultural productions visit small towns during the off season (my daughter was able to see the Bolshoi Ballet in College Station, Texas, for example, when she was 11; no admission was charged, and it was televised on local channels). A "moderate" amount of cultural activities really depends on what YOU individually want, and what you deem to be a cultural activity. Horse shoes and cow tipping (whatever that is) don't float my boat, culturally speaking, but some people disagree and would consider such activities to be more typical of American culture than, say, the opera.
There really are no shortcuts if you want to find a place that you personally like, in my opinion. Do your best due diligence online, and then visit a handful of places that sound like you may like them! Browse through the Yahoo yellow pages, the local daily paper online, local television websites, and so on, to get an idea of what businesses might be there and what life may be like in the areas you are considering. If a place interests you, google it to death and check the local newspaper website daily. Visit. Eat at some restaurants. Read the newspaper.
Again, are you considering moving away from Florida at all? Or did you want validation for not moving? We can give you plenty of that, too, if that is what you want!
If you were considering Jamestown, NY as a potential ER location, then I am sorry it didn't work out! At least you know now.
