Compiling List of Interesting/Unique Living Locations

[clobber]

I'm a while from retirement, but always on the hunt for interesting/unique possible locations and properties (I'm not tied to any particular location.) Sometimes I just stumble on places, but I figured this community be able to help. Primarily I'm looking for places that might have unique(ish) architecture, views, or amenities.

For example,

1) I've never been to the Palm Springs, but am fascinated by the mid-century architecture. I can look at properties on Zillow all day long.

2) The views of Red Rocks near St. George, UT look stunning. I could foresee having coffee in the morning and wine at night while staring at the cliffs.

3) Bentwater - on a lake just north of Houston (not far from the Woodlands). Is a gated community that has a separate gated community within - on an island inside. I've attached a picture.

4) Rendezvous in Winter Park Colorado. Ok, it is not all THAT unique, but it looks great and comes with transportation to/from the lifts along with a club at the bottom of the lifts where you can store skis, change etc. Would make skiing very hassle free.

Looking forward to your ideas

 

[Dtail]

Nice pics.
The Bentwater properties look to be fairly expensive.

 

[DayDreaming]

I like 'driving around' in Google Maps 'Street View'. I pick a random spot in the world, someplace I'm curious about but have never been to ,and just 'drive' around. Places like Barcelona, Seoul South Korea, small villages in Tibet, Africa... I've found a lot of interesting places. In some parts of the world like southeast Asia, users have added a lot of 360-degree photo spheres, in addition to Google's street images. I can get lost for hours exploring this way.

 

[mystang52]

I like 'driving around' in Google Maps 'Street View'. I pick a random spot in the world, someplace I'm curious about but have never been to ,and just 'drive' around. Places like Barcelona, Seoul South Korea, small villages in Tibet, Africa... I've found a lot of interesting places. In some parts of the world like southeast Asia, users have added a lot of 360-degree photo spheres, in addition to Google's street images. I can get lost for hours exploring this way.

I do this, too! I find it a fascinating, and easy way, to spend some down time.

 

[Scuba]

DH and I moved to Palm Springs from a coastal So CA community a year and a half ago. We are happy here. You are right about the interesting architecture. A few other things about the area:
- Mountain views are everywhere and stunning. Lots of outdoor recreation such as hiking, biking, tennis, pickleball and golf.
- It’s a desert climate so it is HOT in summer, not unusual for high temperatures to be over 110. It can be quite cold at night in the winter as well, not extreme but 40’s and 50’s.
- There is a large senior population and it’s easy to meet other retirees.
- Because it’s only 2 hours away from LA, San Diego, and OC, the restaurant and shopping choices are much better than one would expect in a community of this size. It’s easy to go to any of the bigger cities to see shows, attend events, etc, if you want.
- PSP is a great little airport. We have been pleasantly surprised that we can get flights to many destinations from PSP.
- Palm Springs has a huge gay community so if you are not gay, you must be comfortable with being surrounded by gay people, gay PDA, etc.
- Property prices have greatly accelerated since COVID as people from crowded, expensive cities realized they could work from home and relocate to the desert. It’s still much more affordable than the big West Coast cities, but much more expensive than it used to be.

There are several other desert communities near Palm Springs and each has its own unique personality, architecture, etc.

 

[old medic]

I'm almost there, 1/1/22, but wife has a few more years... Our next home will have wheels and we will "live" in all kinds of interesting places as long as we can. Our home base is in WNC

 

[harllee]

I'm almost there, 1/1/22, but wife has a few more years... Our next home will have wheels and we will "live" in all kinds of interesting places as long as we can. Our home base is in WNC

old medic --we have done that--traveled all over the US and Canada in our motorhome, had a great time until the knees/back etc gave out. In my opinion you already live in one of the most beautiful places in the US--the mountains of North Carolina.

 

[audreyh1]

I do this, too! I find it a fascinating, and easy way, to spend some down time.

You can also tour inside many historical buildings.

 

[aja8888]

I owned a house in Bentwater for several years and actually got married at the Yacht Club in 1996 . I also play a lot of golf so that was pretty nice. I sold out and closed my membership several years ago as the commute to towns south for "stuff" was a bit much. Although within the last few years, the town of Willis has expanded and shopping is closer to Bentwater now.

The only real drawback with the community is the East/West road (FM 1097) connecting Bentwater to I-45 as it's still only 2+ lanes, and always jammed these days. It's a great place, but the island real estate is VERY expensive (for Texas, LOL). Other Bentwater homes are reasonably priced though.

We live on the north side of The Woodlands now and even though the traffic is nuts, it's closer to hospitals, medical facilities, shopping, etc than when we were in Bentwater.

 

[clobber]

I owned a house in Bentwater for several years

Thanks for that info

 

[DrRoy]

If you like red rocks, there is a lot more of that across Utah and neighboring states.
https://500px.com/p/drg7771/galleries/utah

 

[Midpack]

Not sure what the criteria are, we all have different preferences? If we won the lottery (DW plays occasionally) we’d probably be house hunting in Newport RI, Nantucket MA, and La Jolla CA. Maybe Boulder CO, Asheville NC, Santa Fe NM, Santa Barbara or Carmel CA or Charleston SC. We’re pretty happy in our new undisclosed retirement city after 26+ years near Chicago.

I don’t quite agree with this list, but some/many would https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow...s-to-retire-that-are-worth-it-2019/index.html

 

[caninelover]

I'm a while from retirement, but always on the hunt for interesting/unique possible locations and properties (I'm not tied to any particular location.) Sometimes I just stumble on places, but I figured this community be able to help. Primarily I'm looking for places that might have unique(ish) architecture, views, or amenities.

For example,

1) I've never been to the Palm Springs, but am fascinated by the mid-century architecture. I can look at properties on Zillow all day long.

2) The views of Red Rocks near St. George, UT look stunning. I could foresee having coffee in the morning and wine at night while staring at the cliffs.

3) Bentwater - on a lake just north of Houston (not far from the Woodlands). Is a gated community that has a separate gated community within - on an island inside. I've attached a picture.

4) Rendezvous in Winter Park Colorado. Ok, it is not all THAT unique, but it looks great and comes with transportation to/from the lifts along with a club at the bottom of the lifts where you can store skis, change etc. Would make skiing very hassle free.

Looking forward to your ideas

If you like St. George, look into Kanab, Utah. It's nearby but more quaint. Very cute downtown with nice shops and restaurants. Lots of movies made there due it's scenery. Lots of red rock around and many outdoor activities.