Where Have You Have Lived, Why you chose where you live to Retire or Still Mulling

[2035]

I live in San Francisco (hometown). I've also lived:

• Seattle (might retire there one day)

• Las Vegas

• Knoxville (was too sleepy for my taste in '94)

• San Diego (not enough cultural activities for me and the weather is overrated - poured cats and dogs many times)

Would love to explore more one day, but not enough vacation time at work and l'm in savings overdrive (cash reserve, maybe condo) since the 401(k) hit 100k. I have a short list of cities that I want to visit later this year for a mini vacation: Denver, Vancouver, Austin, Santa Fe. I need walk able cities because I don't drive.

[lhamo]

Grew up in the Seattle area -- in Burien until age 4-5, then in a rural area in east King County.
Lived in the south of Wales for two years at an international school at the end of high school.
Returned to Seattle for college/grad school. 11 years total.
Relocated to NYC for first professional position for 2.5 years (lived in the West Village for about 10 months, then bought a co-op in Queens)
Relocated to Chengdu, China for work. Lived there 5 years.
Relocated to Beijing, China for personal reasons. Have been here 5 years now.

Seattle is still home and always will be, and likely where we will ultimately end up retiring. I don't mind the rainy winters too much as I grew up with them. NYC was great as a childless couple, but I wouldn't want to raise kids there because it is so expensive. Loved our square mile life in Chengdu, but it is too far from both of our families for us to choose it again unless there were really great professional opportunities for both of us. I am trying really hard to like beijing, but it just isn't really the place for me, at least not while I have a cross-town commute. Too big and sprawling.

[Huston55]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2035 I live in San Francisco (hometown). I've also lived: • Seattle (might retire there one day) • Las Vegas • Knoxville (was too sleepy for my taste in '94) • San Diego (not enough cultural activities for me and the weather is overrated - poured cats and dogs many times) Would love to explore more one day, but not enough vacation time at work and l'm in savings overdrive (cash reserve, maybe condo) since the 401(k) hit 100k. I have a short list of cities that I want to visit later this year for a mini vacation: Denver, Vancouver, Austin, Santa Fe. I need walk able cities because I don't drive.

DW and I lived in San Francisco twice and loved it. We now live in downtown Knoxville and, while it's not San Francisco, it's no longer sleepy and has lots going on: restaurants, clubs, theaters, shops, a university, all within walking distance.

[SpencerM]

Lived in LA for college and a few years after, not bad but too much concrete.

Houston- worst place I have lived because of the humidity and gridlock. Sorry Texas.

Honolulu - love the people and landscape but 4 years was enough. Island fever and too limiting on my other travels.

Seattle - great place to raise a family. Very scenic, compares to San Francisco without income taxes! We keep a home here and will live there part of the year in retirement.

Europe, various spots fo 4-5 years, some a bit cold but many I would return to. May live part of next year in Croatia, it is a very interesting spot.

West Africa most recently for a couple of years. People are fantastic but normal life and travel has frustrations. Medical care is not good and risks are many.

SM

[Alan]

I've lived:

Seaham, Co. Durham, England - born and grew up here.
Leicester, Leicestershire, England
Bradford, Yorkshire, England
Guisborough, Yorkshire, England
Dumfries, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Kirklevington, Cleveland, England
Friendswood, Texas (south of Houston)
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
The Woodlands, Texas (north of Houston) - worked and then retired here.

While we were working in The Woodlands our son graduated and has been living and working here for over 5 years now. He is the reason we are staying here although it is also a very nice place to live, with very little traffic and over 150 miles of hike and bike trails.

Since we are retired we spend all, or most, of each summer in cooler climates, and we prefer hills and/or mountains with plenty of opportunity to hike.

Of all the places we have lived, Guisborough, in Yorkshire, is our favorite and we confirmed that last year with a 7 month stay.

I expect we'll spend more summers in Guisborough or other places in the British Isles over the coming years. (We are planing a long stay in Ireland and England next year).

In the USA we have been on holiday in many States (there are still 12 that we have never spent a single night in) and there are still places we want to visit, and also to re-visit. We have now stayed in 3 different places in Colorado, always in the spring or summer months, and I'm sure we'll back there some more - it is a reasonable driving distance from where we live, with only a single overnight stop needed so fairly convenient for a long holiday.

We just finished a 3 month, 8,200 mile driving holiday that took in several new States for us, and we really enjoyed staying in Utah, Oregon, Washington, Montana and Wyoming. The USA has a fantastic variety of natural beauty, and excellent National and State Parks.

[ItDontMeanAThing]

Long Beach, CA. Don't remember much
Newport Beach, CA for K-12. Nice place, this was before it became a zoo.
San Diego, CA. 2 years of college. Changed a lot since then.
Santa Barbara, CA 2 years of college. Hasn't changed much since then.
Champaign, IL Grad school. I can see living in a college town if one isn't in college. Climate sucked.
Costa Mesa, CA. What's not to like about costal Southern Califorina if you have short commute?
Alhambra, CA. Least objectional and affordable place near job. Little else to recommend it.
Slums of Beverly Hills. Who knew BH had rent control? Went for a job. Never thought I'd live there. Don't recommend it.
Las Vegas, NV. Went for a job. Never thought I'd live there. Don't recommend it.
Hua Hin, Thailand. Clean air, most things a westerner could want are here because of the tourist industry, if not Bangkok is 2.5 hours away. Life is slow, cost is low.

[haha]

Members here have a wealth of experience living in desirable locations. Thanks for all the thumbnail descriptions.

In case I haven't yet posted mine-
SE US- ok, but I was happy to leave
Several New England cities-Boston (central city) best by a mile, but I was ready to leave
Venice Beach, CA-perfect place to live, when I was there
San Francisco and Berkeley CA- fine, but prefer the SoCal beach. More sun in East Bay relative to SF, but Berkeley life can be tedious.
Medellin-very very nice
Seattle outskirts-good to raise family and be married
Seattle near downtown- better place to be single -I own a place here and I will stay.

Ha

[Dreamer]

Waynesburg PA, born there and lived many years off and on
Akron Oh, short time as a child
Simi Valley CA, short time as a child
Columbus OH, 9 yrs when first married
Morgantown WV since 08/86

Morgantown is home for us, family is close and we will probably be here until the end. It just made AARP's top 10 list for places to retire for under $100 per day and Forbes magazine ranked it 7th on its list of best small places for business and careers. It helps that it is a college town. It would be nice to get away during the winter months though.

[heyyou]

Born and raised in a small town in Oklahoma.
Moved to Phoenix in 1972 after a couple of years in the Army
Moved to a small tourist town in the cooler, high country of Arizona in 1992
Retired there in 2005
I would prefer somewhere on the Big Island of Hawaii, but my wife (from upstate Michigan) is staying here. We had a beach house on the Gulf of California/Sea of Cortez in Old Mexico for a few years, but tired of the local attitude towards tourists.

[SJ1_]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2035 I live in San Francisco (hometown). I've also lived: • Seattle (might retire there one day) • Las Vegas • Knoxville (was too sleepy for my taste in '94) • San Diego (not enough cultural activities for me and the weather is overrated - poured cats and dogs many times) Would love to explore more one day, but not enough vacation time at work and l'm in savings overdrive (cash reserve, maybe condo) since the 401(k) hit 100k. I have a short list of cities that I want to visit later this year for a mini vacation: Denver, Vancouver, Austin, Santa Fe. I need walk able cities because I don't drive.

Syracuse , ny- (till I turned 3 months)
Hyde Park ,ny - till 3yr old
Kingston,ny - till 12
Mahopac,ny - till 1979
Nantucket,MA
Queens,
mesquite tx
Lake Jackson, tx
Houston,tx
Atlanta ga area since 1984

we always looked at different places to retire we love the medium size cities
Greenville SC, Knoxville TN, and Chattanoota TN they all seem the right size and are still pretty close to Atlanta relatives. The prob. is when I look at what we want to do we will travel pretty much (I hope) 4+ months a year
counting the winters in FL and we have grand children in Atl and cannot imagine not seeing them as much as we do now so right now we plan to stay put ..The traffic here is a nightmare here but being retired I can pretty much plan around it .

[reubenray]

We had a home in the Shreveport, La. area for 23 years. Our current home (retirement home) is in Pearl River, La. We have been working out of state since 1989 and visited our homes once a month while doing this. We are moving for the last time next week. Below is a list of where we lived/worked since 1989. While doing a third job in New Orleans we decided to have a house built to retire in. It was being built when Hurricane Katrina came through. Even though the center of the eye was only about 30 miles away we got very little damage.

Florence, Kentucky
Batavia, Ohio
Maryland (can't remember the small town)
Fairfax, VA.
Charlotte, NC
Charleston, SC
Arkadelphia, AR
Sherman, TX
Addison, TX
Dallas, TX
Pasadena, TX
Spring, TX
Birmingham, AL
Chamblee, GA
Tulsa, OK
Abilene, TX
Waco, TX
Houston, TX

[RunningBum]

I'll play. I grew up in Nebraska and Iowa, mostly Lincoln.
Post-college, 16 years in Raleigh/Cary, NC
8 yrs about 60% of my time in Austin/Cedar Park, TX
4 years, and about 40% of the preceding 8, in Wintergreen Resort, VA

No plans to move, though if I was to look, I think Bend, OR might fit my lifestyle well. I've never even visited though. I might next year.

[imoldernu]

Except for final moves, the rest for school or business
Pawtucket, RI (5 moves)
Brunswick, ME
Winthrop Maine
Columbus GA
Ayer MA.
Concord, MA
Clermont, NH
Chelsea, MA,
Saugus, MA
Vineyard Haven , MA (2 moves)
Falmouth, MA (2 moves)
Greenfield, MA
Saratoga, NY
Clifton Park, NY
Lisle, IL
Sublette, IL
Donna, TX
Leesburg, FL
Peru, IL

We like Peru... For convenience, as we age.
Multi Level Senior living enclave established 2000... we live in a single family home
150 yds to Sr. Apartments, Assisted Living, Rehab ctr. Nursing Home, AZ unit,
5 Min to hospital
2min to Grocery Stores
4 min. to major Mall, 6 min to farthest shopping (Walmart SC)
5 min to newest YMCA in US.
13 min to Community Coll.
16 min to Starved Rock #1 visited State Park in IL.
31 min to our camp on lake.
75 min to our kids
................................
6mo. IL, 6 mo. FL
................................
Low cost of living, entertainment, restaurants, services
All Major retailers
Friendly Town
Almost no stoplights, people know how to use efficient stop signs.
Low traffic level
Crossroads of US Rte. 39 and Rte 80 (1 mile)
All services available, lower price, and nearby.
Baker Park- 1 min. Walking, Biking paths.
Newer upper middle neighborhood
5 minutes in all directions to country driving.

Done travelling. Like Florida, but Peru offers more, for a final settlement.

[Huston55]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SJ1_ we always looked at different places to retire we love the medium size cities Greenville SC, Knoxville TN, and Chattanoota TN they all seem the right size and are still pretty close to Atlanta relatives.

All three great mid-sized cities with lots going on and the benefit of good weather and geography.

[SinCityGrrrl1]

I've lived North of Boston, MA all my life except for time spent in the Army in SC, TX & WA. I planned on staying in the Seattle area when I got out of the Army but my family convinced me to stay home.

Sometimes I dream of moving when I retire away from the cold. I like the Savanah GA area, visited friends in Lake Charles LA, they hated it there , I loved it and I still dream about going back to WA state. It's was so beautiful, I loved Mt Ranier and I don't mind the rain, it's snow I hate! So I have a few yrs to research areas some more. I may just stay where I'm at and pay someone to shovel the snow because the rest of the seasons I love here.

[bssc]

Let's see where I have lived
Tehran, Iran (born in a US Army Hospital)
Jakarta, Indonesia
Taipei, Republic of China (now Taiwan)
Ann Arbor, MI
Manila, Philippines
Seoul, South Korea
Northern Virginia
Houston, TX
Phoenix, AZ
but will retire to Colorado

[Greg V]

Born in St Croix Falls, WI and grew up in Minneapolis, MN and Birmingham, AL
Lived in:
Colorado Springs, CO
Lubbock, TX
San Bernardino, CA
Honolulu, HI
Charleston, SC
Warner Robins, GA
Retired back to Birmingham. Nice area, friendly people and we are close to family. If family was not a consideration, the choice might have been Charleston. Despite hurricanes (Hugo in particular), it's a beautiful and historical place to live.

[check6]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Helen Also, New Zealand is high on the list to check out during our winter months.

That was our game plan for many years as well, but after visiting we changed our minds.

[rodi]

Born in Southern Ca.
Lived in northern Puget Sound
Lived in a Philly suburb
Lived in Atlanta
Lived in a Philly suburb again
Live in So. Cal.

I love the Northwest. But the hubby doesn't like the weather.
I hate the weather in the mid-atlantic and southeast. Humidity and I don't get along. (I like the winters in Philly... but not the summers)

We love southern Cal for the weather, family, lifestyle, etc. My kids are growing up with year round beach going and surfing... Year round outdoor sports... it's all good.

[Cessna5354]

WOW, have I lead a sheltered life,

Grew up in small town northern W Va.
4 yrs Dayton Oh
36 yrs South Jersey,
Last 11 yrs across the street from the beach

I have been enjoyed both domestic & international business & personal travel throughout the years.

We think will be relocating to Fla. and summer in NJ after the work days end.