Another "Best Places to Retire" Article

[Spritz]

#50 ..... can't wait to get out

[Dtail]

Hey we love FLA. Not for everyone, but it works for us.

[FreeBear]

Our adopted home AZ did OK at #17, primarily due to low COL. Our former Frozen Flyover state fared well below average, primarily due to high COL. From my perspective, this is essentially meaningless since I live in a specifc neighborhood, not in an entire state. Both states have very expensive suburban neighborhoods as well as cheap stuff out in the sticks. This is important because all housing related expenses make up the majority of our spending.

I was suprised to find that our newly beloved AZ ranked slightly below the median for "quality of life", but found that weather/climate made up only 10% of the score. This maybe have been the case when we w*rked in offices all day, but now I would assign 70%+ of the quality of life score to the climate. For DW, having warm and sunny "winters" would make up 110% of quality of life! This doesn't leave many places in the USA since lower COL has been somewhat important.

[Badger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by davebarnes Have you seen the bugs in Florida? And, there are gators and pythons.

Mosquitoes that carry a number of deadly diseases (West Nile virus and 2 types of Encephalitis and Chagas disease and Dengue Fever and Malaria etc), cockroaches the size of large sparrows, hurricanes and nor'easters, excessively high humidity year round, snow birds clogging the roads, Fire Ants, wild boars, panthers, lots of sharks and jellyfish in the ocean, Southern Black Widow and Brown Recluse spiders, Florida Black Bears, etc.

It's a tropical paradise!
Just so you know I live in Florida but I'm not telling where. I don't want to encourage more people to move here. There are enough.



Cheers!

[DrRoy]

#21 so middle of the pack. However, we like our town, we are blowing dough to customize the house, DW has friends here, and she is a few hours from most family. #1 for us!

PS: no hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, forest fires, or risk of flood.

[DayDreaming]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spritz #50 ..... can't wait to get out

I am very happily retired in #50 (New Jersey) and have no plans of leaving.

[ShokWaveRider]

Florida is getting crowded, I wish we were not rated so high. SW FLA is almost unbearable from a traffic point of view, especially in "The Season". Sanibel is wat too commercial now, we used to love shelling there.

The Central and North East Coast is also getting heavy traffic wise, especially within 30 miles of a major center.

Even 15 years ago it was a lot better, again traffic wise. But I guess anywhere anyone wants to be will be like that, unless we stop selling cars.

We should do what China did with children, only one per family. (Just Kidding).

[Music Lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoiseBoy That's a pretty cold top ten list. The sparsely populated western states don't usually feature in the "where to retire to" threads on this forum. A quick look at Bismarck's airport shows that traveling internationally from North Dakota would require a connection to a US hub first. This list doesn't seem to pass the "smell" test to me.

I would think that avoiding a connecting flight is probably very low on the requirement list for most people when compared to other factors.

[Markola]

Minnesota doesn’t always rank as highly in these places-to-retire lists as it does here, due to obvious snow/ice and a bit higher income taxes. However, it does a lot of things well in exchange for the income taxes, like healthcare, environment, education, transportation options and no sales tax on food or clothing. And since it’s a Delta hub we can fly direct just about everywhere - like Naples, Fl or Scottsdale and Tucson, which seem to be suburbs of Minneapolis, LOL. So this ranking seems a little more comprehensive.

For ourselves, I see continuing to be MN residents who escape for the winter.

[Ian S]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreeBear I was suprised to find that our newly beloved AZ ranked slightly below the median for "quality of life", but found that weather/climate made up only 10% of the score. This maybe have been the case when we w*rked in offices all day, but now I would assign 70%+ of the quality of life score to the climate. For DW, having warm and sunny "winters" would make up 110% of quality of life! This doesn't leave many places in the USA since lower COL has been somewhat important.

DH and I agree with your DW! I moved to Phoenix over thirty years ago and got accustomed to all the sunshine. Two years ago, DH and I decided that it was time to either undertake an expensive remodel of our existing home or consider a move. We wound up moving 100 miles north to Red Rock country and are so glad we did. We still get all the sunshine but a more moderate climate especially the summers. It's a more rural scene but we can access the amenities of nearby small cities and even the metro Phoenix area if we have to. Meanwhile, we have a large number of amenities within a mile of our home. Certainly with the covid-19 pandemic, we've found it fairly easy to avoid contact with people on our daily 5+ mile walks.

No doubt it would be more complicated, but these sorts of surveys would benefit from the ability of the user to input their own priorities and weight them appropriately to obtain a more personalized result. That probably means a huge amount of data to provide a more granular approach than just a 50 state one.

[nap470]

I live in #41. Every year it battles NY as the state with the largest outbound population. Typically wins the honor as the highest property tax state and the most corrupt. Yet my actual city of Naperville, IL annually is named "the best place to live in America," or finishes in the top 3 places. Obviously different methodology is used for each survey.

I look forward to leaving IL once our daughter finishes college and establishes herself. But I do appreciate my city.

[Amethyst]

Then you'd be complaining about Too Many Old People. But wait...I think you already did!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShokWaveRider We should do what China did with children, only one per family. (Just Kidding).

[jrcunniff]

Interesting that Texas ranks bottom ten... yet isn’t in the bottom ten in any one category (affordability, quality of life, healthcare). In any event, I’m in CT, so a lot of places to potentially move up! But honestly, what’s most important to me is to be near friends and family. I’d rather it not be in CT, but I can’t envision moving to FL or elsewhere if I don’t know anyone.

Or I’ll just move to a tropical island and live my final years on my own.

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo I note with pride that Texas is in the bottom ten. Hey, I tried to tell you. 2021's Best and Worst States to Retire

Must be all those dang mud chiggers that gum up everything from high school football fields to carburetors fuel injectors.

I live in a bottom half state - Washington. And even if only half of the tax increases proposed this year are passed it will go down farther. Imagine living in a state with not only the highest gasoline tax but also the highest liquor taxes.

[Out-to-Lunch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut Imagine living in a state with not only the highest gasoline tax but also the highest liquor taxes.

It's enough to drive you to drink!

[RetireeRobert]

Delaware was a surprise at #3 of the best. With home affordability ranked #4. I would not have guessed that.

[golfnut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nap470 I live in #41. Every year it battles NY as the state with the largest outbound population. Typically wins the honor as the highest property tax state and the most corrupt. Yet my actual city of Naperville, IL annually is named "the best place to live in America," or finishes in the top 3 places. Obviously different methodology is used for each survey. I look forward to leaving IL once our daughter finishes college and establishes herself. But I do appreciate my city.

Another Napervillian here. Would love to move but better half won't budge.

[iloveyoga]

Iowa here #16. I have lived here all my life and I have never heard of anyone moving here to retire. Lots of good things here, but the winter weather......

[Musica40]

I want to work at Walmart ! )

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister We're very happy to be living in our part of #45. As with all of these lists, the numbers are meaningless when you average things across an entire state.

Ditto here in #44, WV. To be sure there are parts of WV (or any other state) that we wouldn't want to live in but where we are is by far lots better than where we were near D.C. Which is of course why we moved.