Advice / Info on Where to retire in the US

[F4mandolin]

There are a few towns that fit in the rain shadow.....

Living out of the US, almost everybody thinks WA+Oregon are wet over the whole state. I then have to explain that a large chunk of each state are quite dry. I grew up in Castle Rock on the wet side of WA..... Plenty of places in the NW I could live in.

 

[skyking1]

The San juans are pretty dry, but I don't want to live out there where I'm beholden to a ferry system.
They are fun to visit with general aviation but I don't see that as being a practical solution.

 

[tulak]

We have enough people in the PNW. No need to break the rain myth.

 

[Montecfo]

Sequim, Washington - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Definitely a place I would look at if considering Washington. Much better weather than most of the eastern part of state.

Notable also as one time home of Joe Rantz of "Boys in the Boat" fame.

 

[F4mandolin]

Definitely a place I would look at if considering Washington. Much better weather than most of the eastern part of state.

Notable also as one time home of Joe Rantz of "Boys in the Boat" fame.

It depends on what you want in weather. If I didn't golf, I loved the weather in the Spokane area. Lovely warm dry summers, cold mostly dry winters...and nice Fall and Springs. You do NOT golf during the winter there. I owned property (8.5 acres) outside Ellensburg for a while....but Eburg is a pretty windy place at times, but my property was on the "quiet" side of the valley in Badger Pocket.

 

[Alex The Great]

Sequim, Port Angeles are nice places to live. But what about healthcare access? Both seems pretty far away from Seattle.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Weather it not quite top of our list, Healthcare access and quality is number 1, Then Weather. Our county is number 1 as the healthiest county in Florida . As once gets older that is kinda important.

 

[skyking1]

Sequim, Port Angeles are nice places to live. But what about healthcare access? Both seems pretty far away from Seattle.

Being near Seattle is not the be-all end all of healthcare. Being a 30-minute helicopter ride a way is not too shabby.
I for sure would not want to live within within an easy drive of harborview. That's horrific for me. The traffic just sucks. I love people but not that many people!

 

[Montecfo]

It depends on what you want in weather. If I didn't golf, I loved the weather in the Spokane area. Lovely warm dry summers, cold mostly dry winters...and nice Fall and Springs. You do NOT golf during the winter there. I owned property (8.5 acres) outside Ellensburg for a while....but Eburg is a pretty windy place at times, but my property was on the "quiet" side of the valley in Badger Pocket.

Apologies. I meant to say Sequim has much better weather than most of the WESTERN part of the state. Just an opinion.

 

[flyoverstate]

I see several people saying they want to retire "near Denver". Having lived in the Denver area for over 30 years, and leaving three years ago, I would say look very closely at that, and really understand what the Front Range has become. If you haven't been there since the pandemic, you haven't been there.

• Property crime is off the hook bad, everywhere in the Denver area. 700 cars were stolen out of the airport parking in 2023. I'm not kidding. You literally can't leave a nice car parked on the street in much of the Denver area. Bicycles get stolen, mail is stolen, catalytic converters are stolen. Basically, if someone can see it and it isn't nailed down, it will be stolen. It is insane.
• The entire Front Range misses several air quality targets, and it gets worse every year.
• Trails are so crowded that nearly anywhere within 90 minutes of Denver is just a conga-line of hikers and bikes on the weekends.
• Traffic is bad, and the public "transit" system is a running joke. RTD = Reason To Drive
• Real estate prices are silly.
• Taxes may or may not be low, depending on where you are. Many newer houses on the Front Range are locked into a unique-to-Colorado quasi-governmental entity called a "Metro Taxing District". You pay county and local property taxes, and then you pay an ever bigger bill to the developer who built the development so they can recoup the cost of infrastructure, but the entire system is crooked. There are many good articles on the web about this scam. "Let the buyer beware" never held a more true meaning than when someone buys a house in a Metro Taxing District.
• Restaurants in general are mediocre and expensive.
• Hospitals and health care facilities are also generally mediocre and expensive.
  
  There are many better places to live in the western US, if that is your thing. I wouldn't move back to the Denver area for any reason, period. Many of the retirement age people I know still living there are looking to leave as soon as they retire.
  

 

[big-papa]

We have only visited in late summer. That said, it was remarkable how much warmer it was an hour downhill to the south.

We also visited later summer - never got over 90 and was a welcome change from Austin. My worry is that it appears more and more that Asheville is becoming the new Austin. That is, when I visited it was starting to seem a lot like Austin was about a year before I moved here in 1984, with more and more people moving to the area.

 

[W2R]

My suggestion (when evaluating weather at a potential retirement spot) is to focus on what YOU like instead of what others like. Unlike many, we utterly despise the warm, dry weather in Southern California and instead we love the hot, steamy, humid weather here in New Orleans. Works out really well for us.

 

[big-papa]

My suggestion (when evaluating weather at a potential retirement spot) is to focus on what YOU like instead of what others like. Unlike many, we utterly despise the warm, dry weather in Southern California and instead we love the hot, steamy, humid weather here in New Orleans. Works out really well for us.

Opposite for me - I grew up on the other side of Lake Pontchartrain from NOLA and really can't stand the humidity anymore when I come back to visit family. My skin also doesn't like dry all that much either. Searching for that goldilocks zone...

Cheers.

 

[teej1985]

I see several people saying they want to retire "near Denver". Having lived in the Denver area for over 30 years, and leaving three years ago, I would say look very closely at that, and really understand what the Front Range has become. If you haven't been there since the pandemic, you haven't been there.

• Property crime is off the hook bad, everywhere in the Denver area. 700 cars were stolen out of the airport parking in 2023. I'm not kidding. You literally can't leave a nice car parked on the street in much of the Denver area. Bicycles get stolen, mail is stolen, catalytic converters are stolen. Basically, if someone can see it and it isn't nailed down, it will be stolen. It is insane.
• The entire Front Range misses several air quality targets, and it gets worse every year.
• Trails are so crowded that nearly anywhere within 90 minutes of Denver is just a conga-line of hikers and bikes on the weekends.
• Traffic is bad, and the public "transit" system is a running joke. RTD = Reason To Drive
• Real estate prices are silly.
• Taxes may or may not be low, depending on where you are. Many newer houses on the Front Range are locked into a unique-to-Colorado quasi-governmental entity called a "Metro Taxing District". You pay county and local property taxes, and then you pay an ever bigger bill to the developer who built the development so they can recoup the cost of infrastructure, but the entire system is crooked. There are many good articles on the web about this scam. "Let the buyer beware" never held a more true meaning than when someone buys a house in a Metro Taxing District.
• Restaurants in general are mediocre and expensive.
• Hospitals and health care facilities are also generally mediocre and expensive.
  
  There are many better places to live in the western US, if that is your thing. I wouldn't move back to the Denver area for any reason, period. Many of the retirement age people I know still living there are looking to leave as soon as they retire.
  

Ugh, and I applied to a promotion in Denver and got excited about the high walk score and high transit score!

 

[Boose]

Ugh, and I applied to a promotion in Denver and got excited about the high walk score and high transit score!

We're visiting Denver in the spring to check it out as a potential relocation spot, but many of flyoverstate's observations are exactly what drove us out of San Diego after 13 years! We'll see...

 

[Trailwalker]

I think "boots on the ground" is an important part of the process. What is important to one person often has less importance to another. I've lived in large cities and currently (25 years) in a very rural area. We miss living in a walkable/bikeable city with services and amenities, so we are looking for something in between Denver and our current nearby city, population 3000. Loveland/Fort Collins is high on our list, and we will be returning again in October for a longer stay. I'm not worried about busy hiking on the weekends. I'm retired and can hike off-season, off-peak times and less-frequented areas. Many National parks are jammed packed this time of year, but if you hike a bit further and on weekdays, it isn't hard to escape the crowds--sometimes into adjacent national forests.

We are also including Grand Junction on this trip,but I'm worried that it's just a little too small and far away from other cities/amenities/airports. Happy wife, happy life. We have a priority checklist, and I'm sure it's different from the checklist many others would prepare.

 

[Murf2]

We stayed with my BIL in Grand Junction several years ago. It seemed to me that there was an inordinate number of homeless / troubled people for the size of the city.
I’m a semi-rural Midwest boy tho, so take my opinion with a large salt cube.

 

[Surewhitey]

Northwest Arkansas is surprisingly nice. More hills than mountains. Not sunny all the time, but it's green and quite a few lakes, Buffalo National river. Summers can get above 90 and are humid. Things are still relatively affordable the further you get from Bentonville. Lots of homes with enough room for a workshop barn.

Agreed. North Central AR to west is very nice. Grew up camping, canoeing and fishing trout rivers there and even DW likes it. Not sure how living full-time is, but it is beautiful.

Hot Springs area has lots of nice lakes there too. Closer to Little Rock too for "big city" needs.

 

[Diogenes]

Opposite for me - I grew up on the other side of Lake Pontchartrain from NOLA and really can't stand the humidity anymore when I come back to visit family. My skin also doesn't like dry all that much either. Searching for that goldilocks zone...

Cheers.

The panoply of tastes and preferences is truly amazing! And a good thing too, for otherwise we'd all be clamoring for one particular place, rendering it... unlivable.

Originally from NE Europe, I wandered around the East Coast (mostly mid-Atlantic) and the Midwest, before ending up in SoCal. There are, to put it mildly, pro and cons here. Limiting our discussion to just the weather, it is highly mottled geographically. Downtown LA is considerably milder than just 10 or so miles over the hills and into valleys north and east. Cross the Santa Monica Mountains - really, more tall hills than mountains - from the immediate coast into the San Fernando Valley - and the summer midday temperatures rise by 25 degrees.

There are pockets where the weather (by personal reckoning) is absolutely exquisite. There are stretches where the summer heat is akin to Anytown, USA.. not horrid, but contrary to myth of eternal bliss. One supposes that it's similar up and down the Pacific Coast... strong thermal gradient inland, punctuated by the effect of hills/mountains.

The implication is the old maxim, "buyer beware". Stark local variation means that an appealing house in a tony neighborhood at a decent price, may be... decently priced, for a reason. One has to make hands-on, deliberate and systematic investigation. It's hard work!

 

[big-papa]

The panoply of tastes and preferences is truly amazing! And a good thing too, for otherwise we'd all be clamoring for one particular place, rendering it... unlivable.

Originally from NE Europe, I wandered around the East Coast (mostly mid-Atlantic) and the Midwest, before ending up in SoCal. There are, to put it mildly, pro and cons here. Limiting our discussion to just the weather, it is highly mottled geographically. Downtown LA is considerably milder than just 10 or so miles over the hills and into valleys north and east. Cross the Santa Monica Mountains - really, more tall hills than mountains - from the immediate coast into the San Fernando Valley - and the summer midday temperatures rise by 25 degrees.

There are pockets where the weather (by personal reckoning) is absolutely exquisite. There are stretches where the summer heat is akin to Anytown, USA.. not horrid, but contrary to myth of eternal bliss. One supposes that it's similar up and down the Pacific Coast... strong thermal gradient inland, punctuated by the effect of hills/mountains.

The implication is old maxim, "buyer beware". Stark local variation means that an appealing house in a tony neighborhood at a decent price, may be... decently priced, for a reason. One has to make hands-on, deliberate and systematic investigation. It's hard work!

Exactly - and as my quote notes, tastes and preferences aren't necessarily static, either.

And you're also correct about limiting ones decision only to weather is somewhat myopic. On the other hand, there are some who are trying to optimize on so many different objectives that it's likely not even possible.

Cheers.

 

[jpjr]

It took us five years of exploration to find our new home. We had certain criteria that we looked for and I would suggest you too outline exactly what you want/need. For us we wanted to be near a college town, close enough to an airport, good hospitals, vibrant city or town as well as mountains and lakes and four seasons. We found the sweet spot for us was near Clemson SC. We are two hours away from Atlanta and Charlotte, and one hour from Asheville. Greenville is 35 miles away and has all the entertainment and dining that you could want. Being close to Clemson University provides the energetic feel we desired. Our children are in Washington DC and upstate NY. We would like to be closer to them, but we do make time to visit on a regular basis. I know talking politics is not part of this thread, but I would research Asheville before committing to that area. [Mod Edit]

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

This is an different suggestion, but based on 25 years here, consider south central PA, Harrisburg area. Not major mountains but astoundingly beautiful. Picture a wagon wheel. We are in the center. Highways leading everywhere. Three hour drive to NYC, 1.5-2 hr to Baltimore and DC. Four hours to Pittsburgh. Seven hour drive to Michigan and Boston. Yet I live 5 miles from the Appalachian trail and next to a farm with its own farmer's market.

We are surrounded by farmland, yet boast some of the best school districts in the state, and have multiple colleges nearby. State income tax is 3.07%, and retirement income, IRA distributions, 401K distributions, and SS income is not taxed at the state level at all. When we moved here in 1999, I had no idea how amazing this area is. When we moved here, even Starbucks was almost non-existent. Now we have multiple ethnic restaurants everywhere, and great festivals in the summer. We have a Nepali community mostly populated by MDs, PhDs, and the like, and the ethnic food of their culture is amazing. We have an annual Greek festival. Three festivals on the Susquehanna River during the summer holidays-Arts, Music, and Kipona festivals

We can see the ski resort from our house-facing south. Turn north and we are looking at state gamelands. Beautiful colors every fall. If you love rollercoasters and amusement parks, Hershey Park is one of the best in the world. Snow is welcome and handled beautifully by our state and local governments.

We don't have Colorado level mountains. We have two world class medical centers competing for our business, 10 minutes from our house. PM me if this is of interest to you. Also, if your family is located in the USA east, this ia considration. If to the west, maybe not.

I am originally from PA and just bought a property there (in the process of a slow move). The no state taxes on IRA/401K/social security distributions is a factor on why I am moving there (from NY). In my case, having relatives there is also a major factor.

Things to watch out for: Property taxes are pretty high AND school districts can do income tax (not an issue for retirees). PA also has a death tax, so that needs to be understood (and potentially worked around by transfering assets in advance).

The Harrisburg (surrounding) area is very nice, have some friends and relatives that live there. As you mention, pretty convenient to a bunch of areas and more modest weather than northern PA or most of the North East.

I will miss upstate NY/VT/NH skiing - the closest to my new digs will be Seven Springs. However, this year I made two "out west" ski trips w/friends, and I hope to do something similar this coming season.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

Northwest Arkansas is surprisingly nice. More hills than mountains. Not sunny all the time, but it's green and quite a few lakes, Buffalo National river. Summers can get above 90 and are humid. Things are still relatively affordable the further you get from Bentonville. Lots of homes with enough room for a workshop barn.

I took a road trip last year w/my son. NW Arkansas was definately nice and made me want to check it out further.

 

[Koolau]

Exactly - and as my quote notes, tastes and preferences aren't necessarily static, either.

And you're also correct about limiting ones decision only to weather is somewhat myopic. On the other hand, there are some who are trying to optimize on so many different objectives that it's likely not even possible.

Cheers.

In choosing a place that is "perfect" it helps a lot if you do not need low cost of living (or at least if cost of living is low on your priorities.)

The near perfect weather and natural beauty of our Island comes at a fairly steep price. Our biggest compromise (therefore) is to live in a relatively small condo rather than in a SFH (though we could have the SFH if we changed our spending priorities.) YMMV

 

[teej1985]

In choosing a place that is "perfect" it helps a lot if you do not need low cost of living (or at least if cost of living is low on your priorities.)

The near perfect weather and natural beauty of our Island comes at a fairly steep price. Our biggest compromise (therefore) is to live in a relatively small condo rather than in a SFH (though we could have the SFH if we changed our spending priorities.) YMMV

What size is your condo? I'm assuming they've appreciated quite a bit since you purchased?