WSJ - Five Reasons You May Not Want to Retire in a Small Town

[skipro33]

We moved well beyond even a small town. But 'civilization' keeps moving towards us. We started out with mail using a Placerville, Ca zipcode. Then a closer town, Diamond Springs, got a post office and we had to change to that zip code. Then an even closer town, El Dorado, got a post office and we had to change our zip code once again. Now there's talk that Logtown, even closer to where we live, will get a post office and zip code. I guess we were 3 towns away from the closest 'small' town. Our kids were 10 miles from school. A chain grocery store was 7 miles away. We had gardens, livestock, heating with wood stove and when the snow got deep, we stayed home for a few days. I guess it's time to move, as civilization has gotten closer, so has crime, traffic, and all the rest civilization has to offer.

With the advent of Amazon, we don't even bother with Costco any more. I'd say 70% of our pantry is stocked from Amazon.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

I haven’t lived in a city since Boston in the 70s, briefly. I’m living the dream in Vermont. Our little town (pop ~650) has SO MUCH to do! Weekly and monthly community picnics, historic lectures, the art center, the library, so many events. But gardening, hiking, and (20 minutes away) skiing - my 3 favorite things to do are just outside the door. In the adjacent town of Woodstock there are more historic sites, museum/national park, ice rink, many restaurants, movies, concerts, festivals, and quirky boutiques.

Neighbors actually drop by, introduce themselves, and help each other. The postmistress knows your name and has those packages for you a moment after you walk in the door. I w*rk three days a week and I don’t have time to do everything I want to try.

Anyone who wants to pitch in and help will find plenty of acceptance, as long as you show interest in and respect for the traditional way of life and don’t drive or act like an entitled idiot.

The nearest hospital is probably 20 minutes, but Dartmouth-Hitchcock is about 40. Many of the tiny community hospitals here have an ER and a helipad to take you to Dartmouth if needed.

But no, there is no Costco. There’s a BJs about 40 minutes away, if a big box bulk store is your thing.

I’ll take rural. I’ve been waiting a long time to live here.

 

[Nemo2]

Six reasons....you might run into John Cougar Mellencamp.

 

[michelek]

RTP is an area but you must choose your city. Raleigh ( the capital city which is struggling unsuccessfully to adjust to its growing pains), Durham (the city of medicine aka Duke which has major problems with poverty and hi-lo income disparity) or Cary (the C.ontainment A.rea for R.elocated Y.ankees- where everyone looks the same, dresses the same and drives the same cars).

Ain’t no small towns in RTP anymore.

For a small town, the OP smartly chose the Yadkin Valley. It is very small town (and beautiful) and close enough to Wake Forest to have excellent health care.

 

[thepalmersinking]

- May not be in the inner circle
- Health care
- Transportation
- A hard driving FIRE type may rub current residents the wrong way
- Small now, but if everyone moves there, how long?

We considered moving to the Yadkin Valley in NC. This is the real Mayberry and Mt. Pilot area. We've tossed that idea because of the health care issue.

RTP area of NC, however, has great health care. And after all, it is "where Barney goes to party."

WINSTON-SALEM is a stones throw from Mt.Pilot as I live near there. Wake Forest Baptist Hospital is highly rated.

 

[hesperus]

Our small town has a demographic very similar to our own. Although it's not quite a 'small town' anymore.

 

[googily]

Like a few above, my neighborhood within a biggish east coast city is in a lot of ways the equivalent of a small town--historic homes, a little market on the corner, neighbors who all know each other and look out for each other, and most basic amenities within five blocks, plus a baseball stadium and a riverfront. My doctor's office was a five-minute walk (until she left the practice). After living here 25 years, it's rare for me to go for a walk and not run into someone I know.

But I have all manner of big-city amenities within a 10-minute car ride.

Plus I have deep roots in a town in Wyoming where I can spend time and be not *quite* an outsider. (I'm a legacy!) I could live there if all hell broke loose and needed to relocate to somewhere cheap where I felt comfortable, but it would not be my first choice.

Best of both worlds.

 

[imoldernu]

One good reason why you might not want to live in a big city.

Yesterday in Chicago:
25 shot in multiple-victim shootings over 2.5 hours in Chicago: 'If they shoot you, they don't even run' - Chicago Tribune

 

[Mulligan]

I'm certain that lots of folks here don't think too much about the need for close-by great health care. If you live long enough, you will. When we thought about moving to HI we considered The Big Island as (especially then) it was MUCH less expensive than Oahu. We learned that most significant health care procedures required a flight to Oahu (from ALL the other Islands.) That made the decision easy. The other issues would IMO depend very much on the individual. YMMV

I agree, I am not spending my life worrying about healthcare when I have spent zero minutes in a hospital since birth 54 years ago. I live in a small town of 5k and no immediate health facilities of importance. My 88 year old neighbor couple have no problem driving an hour for their medical appointments.

 

[imoldernu]

Small towns and healthcare are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Our town population is 11,000, with an excellent hospital 3 minutes away.

Posting here because of a recent event. Three weeks ago the three minute drive to the hospital was the difference between life and death for me. Emergency room... The doctors agreed that 5 more minutes would likely have proved fatal. Not heart, and not a factor of age (82). Am now okay and healthy after 7 days of hospital treatment for what will not be a recurring event.

Strangely enough, this was our deciding factor in making the move here, in 2004.

 

[cooch96]

Posting here because of a recent event. Three weeks ago the three minute drive to the hospital was the difference between life and death for me. Emergency room... The doctors agreed that 5 more minutes would likely have proved fatal. Not heart, and not a factor of age (82). Am now okay and healthy after 7 days of hospital treatment for what will not be a recurring event.

Strangely enough, this was our deciding factor in making the move here, in 2004.

Wow! All I can say is what a wise and prescient decision you made 14 years ago. Seriously, you should be proud of yourself; that call really paid off. And I’m glad you made a solid and rapid recovery.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

I live in a rural setting. The sounds of frogs, crickets, owls and coyotes at night yet only 20 minutes to a level one trauma center yet in a smaller city (about 100K). Plenty of skiing in the winter, hiking in the summer. Perfect except for the high taxes...

 

[gauss]

There is a huge difference between:
a. a small town (e.g., Santa Paula, CA) that is 15km distance from a city (Oxnard) of 200K
b. a small town in the middle of nowhere (e.g., over 1/2 of Colorado) with nearest hospital over 75km distant

Very true - I would not include "small town" in the descriptions of the suburbs described in the first sentence.

 

[Golden sunsets]

Imoldernu; So glad to hear that you survived the event and are back with us


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[JoeWras]

One good reason why you might not want to live in a big city.

Yesterday in Chicago:
25 shot in multiple-victim shootings over 2.5 hours in Chicago: 'If they shoot you, they don't even run' - Chicago Tribune

Chicago Magazine has a great story in trauma doctors' own words. An incredible read that crosses over on the violence problem.

What Trauma Docs Know | Chicago magazine | August 2018

P.S. Imoldernu: glad you are OK and back!

 

[1-31-18]

Chicago Magazine has a great story in trauma doctors' own words. An incredible read that crosses over on the violence problem.



What Trauma Docs Know | Chicago magazine | August 2018



P.S. Imoldernu: glad you are OK and back!

These shootings all happen in the south side and west side ghettoes. Wouldn’t want to visit there, much less live there. But the violence has no effect on my life in Chicago. Possible exception: Might slow down emergency room service at my favorite hospital. Still, I’ll take my chances, because our doctors are worth the inconvenience.

 

[JoeWras]

These shootings all happen in the south side and west side ghettoes. Wouldn’t want to visit there, much less live there. But the violence has no effect on my life in Chicago. Possible exception: Might slow down emergency room service at my favorite hospital. Still, I’ll take my chances, because our doctors are worth the inconvenience.

Agree mostly, except for the fact that as a citizen you are paying for most of that violence in one way or another through the costs to the health and rehab system.

I lived on the Far North Side and only heard a gunshot once. Crime there seemed to be no different than where I am living now. The biggest difference was I became very away of petty crime, which was common (pickpocket, etc.) and to this day take measures to avoid being an easy victim. Many of my friends call my behavior silly. Example: I don't like it when people walk behind me. I break my cadence or take a turn when I feel eyes are staring at me.

 

[Nemo2]

Many of my friends call my behavior silly. Example: I don't like it when people walk behind me. I break my cadence or take a turn when I feel eyes are staring at me.

I've read interviews with 'reformed' muggers regarding their choice of victims.....inattention on the part of the mark is of the key triggers.

 

[Walt34]

Chicago Magazine has a great story in trauma doctors' own words. An incredible read that crosses over on the violence problem.

What Trauma Docs Know | Chicago magazine | August 2018

I saw a news story a while back that the military (Marines, I think) is sending their surgeons to Chicago to get practice on gunshot and knife wounds.

 

[brucethebroker]

We considered it. Then discarded the idea. Three reasons....healthcare, too far from an international airport, and no Costco.

+1 for airport and healthcare. We lived in a small town when I had an emergency health situation a few years ago. "Oh, that specialty is not on call on Sunday-we will need to airlift you to (25 miles away) regional health care" says the ER doc. 40 minutes and $21k (for helicopter ride) later, a specialist finally saw me. Could of died during that time...
Within a year we were living in a much larger area with great hospitals (and specialists on weekends...)

 

[brucethebroker]

I saw a news story a while back that the military (Marines, I think) is sending their surgeons to Chicago to get practice on gunshot and knife wounds.

Do those Marine Docs qualify for combat pay?

 

[Bamaman]

One good reason why you might not want to live in a big city.

Yesterday in Chicago:
25 shot in multiple-victim shootings over 2.5 hours in Chicago: 'If they shoot you, they don't even run' - Chicago Tribune

Hold on long enough and the thugs will all kill each other. But unfortunately they are like The Phoenix and out of the ashes comes another murdering thug.

 

[ncbill]

I saw a news story a while back that the military (Marines, I think) is sending their surgeons to Chicago to get practice on gunshot and knife wounds.

IIRC there are no Marine doctors (they use Navy docs), so it was probably Army docs, or corpsmen.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

I would be happy to live in many places including other countries, but DH is firmly rooted here in our small town. I don't really know why, as it seems I have more friends here than he does, but there it is. I do love living in a small town and as long as I get to travel some, am content. I briefly lived in a city (Houston) but didn't really love it. It took forever to get anywhere (29 minutes to get to work even though I chose the closest acceptable apartment to my work- 7 miles). I hated the random traffic jams, but liked all the different kinds of restaurants.

Our town is now home to both of us having lived here 21 and 30 years. We'll never be considered "natives" though our kids are. People are kind and it was easy to fit in. There are medium sized cities with good healthcare to either side of us- 45 min and an hour away. We like to cook at home, and don't love going out to eat, so that isn't too much of a downside. Violence and crime are extremely low. Cost of living is very low- which is one of the reasons we get to retire soon. I love gardening, kayaking and boating which is easy to do here, but I suspect I'd have different hobbies if I lived in a more urban area. To each his own.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Hold on long enough and the thugs will all kill each other. But unfortunately they are like The Phoenix and out of the ashes comes another murdering thug.

Read Geoffrey Canada's book "Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun" for an inkling of how violence rules some of our country's subcultures.