What do you like/love about where you live?

[TripleLindy]

I know a LOT of people who have to plan their lives around traffic patterns. That is the definition of madness in retirement, IMHO. While you are working, you tolerate what you have to, but why spend your retirement dealing with that?

Different strokes. We live in the 4th largest metro area in the U.S., but I don’t plan anything around traffic patterns. I’m just rarely driving during rush hour, but not because I plan for that. The funny thing is that while we’re in the middle of 8m people, it doesn’t feel that way at all. And the reality is that we really commute within a pretty tight radius - maybe 20 miles max - for 99% of our driving. But within that radius, we have TONS of variety - multiple parks, lakes, golf courses, pickleball venues, restaurants, concerts, cinemas, plays, musicals, high school, college and pro sports, any entertainment you can think of, grocery stores, retail shops, international airport, world-class healthcare, etc. Whenever I consider relocating, this is my baseline, and I just can’t seem to find another place that delivers like it. Those are the reasons we tolerate the heat and other negatives. But we value the options and conveniences while others prefer more space and distance. Both work.

 

[Ronstar]

Although we live in Illinois, we are luckily about 30 minutes outside of the fringe of Chicago traffic. I haven’t been to the heart of the city in 9 years, and only get to the outer suburbs once every couple of months. Closest town of 13,000 is 12 miles away with a hospital and limited restaurants. Hospital is ok and has handled all of my emergencies, broken bones, operations, and procedures since birth and I’m still alive.

I like the peace and quiet of our wooded 5 acres- only neighbors I see live more than 600’ away across a lake. Weather isn’t too bad. My only complaint is the amount of yard work.

Decent hiking nearby, good local running and bike routes, kayaking in my backyard.

Eventually we’ll have to downsize, but it’s difficult to find anything nice for a decent price.

 

[flyoverstate]

Although we live in Illinois, we are luckily about 30 minutes outside of the fringe of Chicago traffic. I haven’t been to the heart of the city in 9 years, and only get to the outer suburbs once every couple of months. Closest town of 13,000 is 12 miles away with a hospital and limited restaurants. Hospital is ok and has handled all of my emergencies, broken bones, operations, and procedures since birth and I’m still alive.

I like the peace and quiet of our wooded 5 acres- only neighbors I see live more than 600’ away across a lake. Weather isn’t too bad. My only complaint is the amount of yard work.

Decent hiking nearby, good local running and bike routes, kayaking in my backyard.

Eventually we’ll have to downsize, but it’s difficult to find anything nice for a decent price.

To each his own, but having grown up in No. Ill. but far from Chicago and the lake, possibly very close to where you live, very few people would say "the weather isn't too bad", although I know it has become much warmer in Winter, and there is much less snow than when we grew up there. We were back in November and had the extreme displeasure of having to work outside for two days. Nope. Nothing would get me back to that climate, especially the relentless winds. Summer there is its own glory, and there are times when the heat index is way higher than summer in FL, which I also had the misfortune of occupying for several years.

For those who have never experienced it, the weather away from large bodies of water on the northern plains is very different than anywhere near a coast, and that includes any of the Great Lakes. Once you hit the flat dry plains, the wind is a whole 'nother element, and combined with scant sun filtered through a thick atmosphere, plus the cold and humidity, it is brutal. At least in WI and MN there are hills and trees, but flat cornfields block nothing. Brrrr.

With that said, there are some beautiful areas in No. IL/NE IA/SW WI/ So. MN, especially the driftless areas, and real estate is very reasonable. But nope, I can't deal with that climate.

 

[FD1000]

Unfortunately, hardly traffic means no choices of stores, restaurants, museums, shows, sports, dealerships, and especially health care.

 

[Koolau]

I know a LOT of people who have to plan their lives around traffic patterns. That is the definition of madness in retirement, IMHO. While you are working, you tolerate what you have to, but why spend your retirement dealing with that?

This is us to a degree. We avoid rush hour and it's worth it because we never shovel snow, rake leaves, worry if we have an umbrella, replace an AC unit, buy heavy blankets, etc., etc. In short, it's a trade off that we've been willing to make. It's not perfect, but nothing is. YMMV

 

[flyoverstate]

Unfortunately, hardly traffic means no choices of stores, restaurants, museums, shows, sports, dealerships, and especially health care.

This is what people who live in the city think, and thank goodness, otherwise they would move here!

Here is the mystery to me. People will spend hours each week stuck in traffic to justify "easy access" to things, but the access is often not easy. To pay for that "access" that they use maybe once a week or even once a month, they waste hours and hours on a day to day basis stuck in traffic doing regular things, and actually rearrange their lives to have that "access" since traffic is so bad. Meanwhile, if you flip that, you can waste zero hours stuck in traffic, and drive a couple of hours to the city when you need to see something in person. I personally haven't been to a live sporting event in years. There is great local music here, so I haven't been to a "big name" show since 2022. We have free, uncrowded access to every outdoor activity we ever need. We have good health care minutes away, and great health care 1:15-2:00 away, traffic free, thanks to Aspen, Vail, and Telluride attracting elderly billionaires. Dealerships? We have a local mechanic who is way better and half the price of a dealership that has the revolving door of barely trained mechanics. I could call him today and have an appointment tomorrow.

I'm going to shut up now. People, we have bears, mountain lions and rattlesnakes, oh my! No Starbucks, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, or even Costco. Stay far away.

 

[Lorenzo]

Here is the mystery to me. People will spend hours each week stuck in traffic to justify "easy access" to things, but the access is often not easy. To pay for that "access" that they use maybe once a week or even once a month, they waste hours and hours on a day to day basis stuck in traffic doing regular things, and actually rearrange their lives to have that "access" since traffic is so bad. Meanwhile, if you flip that, you can waste zero hours stuck in traffic, and drive a couple of hours to the city when you need to see something in person.

Similar logic could apply to other cost and benefit tradeoffs of living in a particular location. For years I lived in an expensive coastal area yet rarely actually visited the water. My most recent move was to a part of a metro area that has almost nothing in the way of amenities--few parks or walking paths or other public spaces, interesting stores, restaurants, bars, etc.--and DW and I based that decision on the reality that although all that sounds appealing we rarely availed ourselves when we lived close to such things. If something is appealing enough, we're willing to drive there.

 

[flyoverstate]

Similar logic could apply to other cost and benefit tradeoffs of living in a particular location. For years I lived in an expensive coastal area yet rarely actually visited the water. My most recent move was to a part of a metro area that has almost nothing in the way of amenities--few parks or walking paths or other public spaces, interesting stores, restaurants, bars, etc.--and DW and I based that decision on the reality that although all that sounds appealing we rarely availed ourselves when we lived close to such things. If something is appealing enough, we're willing to drive there.

When we lived on the Front Range of CO, we knew many, many people who never visited the mountains, even for just a drive. To me, that was crazy, but then, we ourselves lived in Florida for six years, 20 miles from the beach, and the last 18 months we lived there, we never even saw the ocean. We were trying desperately to leave though.

Inertia is a real thing, especially when family is involved. I know a lot of people who live in places they dislike, just to be near the family they see once every six months. That is what airplanes are for, IMHO. YMMV, etc.

 

[Music Lover]

When we lived on the Front Range of CO, we knew many, many people who never visited the mountains, even for just a drive. To me, that was crazy, but then, we ourselves lived in Florida for six years, 20 miles from the beach, and the last 18 months we lived there, we never even saw the ocean. We were trying desperately to leave though.

We have a lake house and go to the beach about once a year.

 

[Original Wally]

We are in Sacramento, CA. LOVE the climate. It DOES get hot in the summer, a dry heat, but that is ok. If it gets TOO bad we just head over to the coast. ALWAYS cool there. In the winter if we WANT to, we can go up into the Sierra and see LOTS of snow. Even in the summer, it GENERALLY cools off in the afternoon/evening. Right now we are in the midst of a cold snap - highs in the low to mid 50's - about 5-10 degrees lower than normal.
In particular, we are in a 55+ gated community. LOTS of activities: DW Molly &/or I participate in: Pickle ball, bowling, water volley ball (indoor pool), bocce, shuffle board, pinochle and more. Our schedule is JUST AS BUSY as we want it to be. This is ALSO an HOA where the HOA takes care of all of the front yard landscaping - I do not even OWN a lawnmower. Molly sez it is like living in a resort.

 

[flyoverstate]

We are in Sacramento, CA. LOVE the climate. It DOES get hot in the summer, a dry heat, but that is ok. If it gets TOO bad we just head over to the coast. ALWAYS cool there. In the winter if we WANT to, we can go up into the Sierra and see LOTS of snow. Even in the summer, it GENERALLY cools off in the afternoon/evening. Right now we are in the midst of a cold snap - highs in the low to mid 50's - about 5-10 degrees lower than normal.
In particular, we are in a 55+ gated community. LOTS of activities: DW Molly &/or I participate in: Pickle ball, bowling, water volley ball (indoor pool), bocce, shuffle board, pinochle and more. Our schedule is JUST AS BUSY as we want it to be. This is ALSO an HOA where the HOA takes care of all of the front yard landscaping - I do not even OWN a lawnmower. Molly sez it is like living in a resort.

Sacramento is nice, but don't forget about California taxes, California insurance rates and fire risk, California traffic and crowds, California electric bills, California water issues. California with 10 Million people would be a paradise, but at 40 Million?

No place is perfect, of course.

 

[Gumby]

If you live on the shore, no need to go to the beach to see the water. You can just look out your window. To be fair, I look at the harbor. The actual beach is about a half mile walk.

 

[Original Wally]

Sacramento is nice, but don't forget about California taxes, California insurance rates and fire risk, California traffic and crowds, California electric bills, California water issues. California with 10 Million people would be a paradise, but at 40 Million?

No place is perfect, of course.

Some points are valid. Others (electricity - we have a muni that is 25% BELOW PG&E) not so much.
In the valley our home ins is not bad at all. Being retired, don[t GENERALLY have to worry about traffic. I know when to avoid things. We are happy and it works for us. We do have kids + g'kids in the area, but would not move away anyway. Shrug.

PLUS "someday" the Sacramento Kings will actually have a GOOD YEAR!!!! LOL

 

[FD1000]

This is what people who live in the city think, and thank goodness, otherwise they would move here!

Here is the mystery to me. People will spend hours each week stuck in traffic to justify "easy access" to things, but the access is often not easy. To pay for that "access" that they use maybe once a week or even once a month, they waste hours and hours on a day to day basis stuck in traffic doing regular things, and actually rearrange their lives to have that "access" since traffic is so bad. Meanwhile, if you flip that, you can waste zero hours stuck in traffic, and drive a couple of hours to the city when you need to see something in person. I personally haven't been to a live sporting event in years. There is great local music here, so I haven't been to a "big name" show since 2022. We have free, uncrowded access to every outdoor activity we ever need. We have good health care minutes away, and great health care 1:15-2:00 away, traffic free, thanks to Aspen, Vail, and Telluride attracting elderly billionaires. Dealerships? We have a local mechanic who is way better and half the price of a dealership that has the revolving door of barely trained mechanics. I could call him today and have an appointment tomorrow.

I'm going to shut up now. People, we have bears, mountain lions and rattlesnakes, oh my! No Starbucks, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, or even Costco. Stay far away.

The problem of the above is the fact you discussed 2 extremes.
I don't spend hours driving, especially in retirement.
When I was working it took me 30 minutes at most to get to work.
Most years it was about 15-20 minutes. Then, I worked from home for years, driving time was zero.
All my kids and their partner or spouse have been working from home.
Actually in retirement I drive more to my bridge, 4 times per week about 10-15 minutes

 

[flyoverstate]

Some points are valid. Others (electricity - we have a muni that is 25% BELOW PG&E) not so much.
In the valley our home ins is not bad at all. Being retired, don[t GENERALLY have to worry about traffic. I know when to avoid things. We are happy and it works for us. We do have kids + g'kids in the area, but would not move away anyway. Shrug.

PLUS "someday" the Sacramento Kings will actually have a GOOD YEAR!!!! LOL

Right, so you have to arrange your life around traffic patterns.

Not something we want in retirement. YMMV.

As for the Kings, get them to draft an unheralded Euro center who can't jump over a water bottle, late in the second round. It worked for the Nuggets.

 

[mh]

Traffic is what drove us out of the Denver area, and it was one the major factors on our list of where to retire. We now live 17 miles from the nearest stoplight, and even in the "Big Town" we go to once a month or so, traffic is nothing. Whenever we go to an urban/suburban area, I instantly recognize what a complete waste of time it is to live in those places. 20 miles to the hospital here. Following the speed limits - 21 minutes, any time, any day. Grocery store, clinic, dentist, hardware, restaurants, gas, all are six miles - OH NO, how do I tolerate that?!?!! Well, I am there in under 10 minutes, any time, any day, with no stress.

I know a LOT of people who have to plan their lives around traffic patterns. That is the definition of madness in retirement, IMHO. While you are working, you tolerate what you have to, but why spend your retirement dealing with that?

not all suburbia is created equal. i live in an area that's had a master plan since the early 60's that they have mostly stuck to. so my traffic environment is similar to your ideal. and i've got a nice set of bike paths to reach most of those things also. not saying its common place , but you can find places like that.

 

[bonvoyage]

New Jersey. Born and raised in Bergen County (northern NJ, close suburb of NYC) where we still live. Family (daughters and grandchildren) and friends all still here except for those with 2nd / winter homes in Florida, who we go to visit when they are there (leaving Saturday for a short trip to Florida).

Don’t particularly like much about the area as Traffic sucks, weather is extreme (almost zero now) it’s overcrowded, people are rude and much of the infrastructure is old and in need of repairs/upgrades which are constantly going on and making life more inconvenient. But, We have all the services we need and proximity to NYC and the Jersey shore (where we own a 2nd home, an hour away).

Would I move now being retired? No Way! It is home and where our family is!

We also live in Bergen county in NJ. We have lived here for over thirty years and have no intention of ever moving out of the area. We go into NYC frequently to meet friends and eat out. We travel a lot so being only a 25 minute drive from Newark Airport has been big plus for us.

 

[bloom2708]

The cold weather and long winters was supposed to keep the riff raff out. Not working. Nort Dakoda den dere.

 

[sparky08]

Although we live in Illinois, we are luckily about 30 minutes outside of the fringe of Chicago traffic. I haven’t been to the heart of the city in 9 years, and only get to the outer suburbs once every couple of months. Closest town of 13,000 is 12 miles away with a hospital and limited restaurants. Hospital is ok and has handled all of my emergencies, broken bones, operations, and procedures since birth and I’m still alive.

I like the peace and quiet of our wooded 5 acres- only neighbors I see live more than 600’ away across a lake. Weather isn’t too bad. My only complaint is the amount of yard work.

Decent hiking nearby, good local running and bike routes, kayaking in my backyard.

Eventually we’ll have to downsize, but it’s difficult to find anything nice for a decent price.

Good for you!

My first job was in Chicago's western suburbs. We settled in Warrenville, which felt rural at the time (mid 1980's). But within a few years, it was swallowed up by the Chicago fringe. We left Illinois and haven't lived in a city since.

 

[imjustawarrior]

What do I love about where I live:

Hiking
Mountains
Birds

Hiking (showing drive time)
5 minutes: 45 mile long river trail
12 minutes: many miles of trails on first row of hogbacks
25 minutes: state park with pine forests and mountains
25 minutes: multiple national forest trails in the canyon
1 hour: Rocky Mountain NP
2 hours: more trails than one could hike in a lifetime

Mountains
Every morning I open the bedroom shades and look at the mountains. I can be in the canyon in 15 minutes heading up. There are so many things one can do in the mountains. There are so many locations to explore. One can be isolated or around people. Somewhere for everyone.

Birds (I have seen from my house)
bald eagles
golden eagles
american pelicans
ospreys
canada geese (I love watching them as long as they don't walk through our neighborhood)
great blue herons
great horned owls
too many to list all of them

 

[Music Lover]

No place is perfect, of course.

Correct. So there are two feasible options:

1. Find a place as close to perfect as possible, likely it will be a VHCOL area. That's unaffordable for most.

2. Find a place in a lower cost area that checks off most of the boxes. Then rent a second place for part of the year that has what the first place doesn't have.

That's affordable for many.

 

[flyoverstate]

Good for you!

My first job was in Chicago's western suburbs. We settled in Warrenville, which felt rural at the time (mid 1980's). But within a few years, it was swallowed up by the Chicago fringe. We left Illinois and haven't lived in a city since.

That mass has grown another 20 miles to the west now. There are whispers of building a "Far West" beltway down what is now IL-47 through Elburn, where the commuter trains now reach.

My question is: if Illinois and Chicago are shrinking, why are the fringes still swallowing thousands upon thousands of acres of some of the best farmland on earth? The latest is that almost an entire section (one mile by one mile) of prime black dirt is going to paved over for a data center out in DeKalb. I'm sure the 25 people employed there will be worth it. At least until the AI data center fad implodes, and there are millions upon millions of square feet of empty buildings. What people don't get is that data centers can be built ANYWHERE ON EARTH. As soon as our powers-that-be cave to the pressure from the Mag7 to allow US data to reside in <insert 3rd world country here>, the massive buildings in the US will be vacated within the lifecycle of an Nvidia card. Game over.

 

[AudiDudi]

Correct. So there are two feasible options:

1. Find a place as close to perfect as possible, likely it will be a VHCOL area. That's unaffordable for most.

2. Find a place in a lower cost area that checks off most of the boxes. Then rent a second place for part of the year that has what the first place doesn't have.

That's affordable for many.

Kind of like snowbirds (or reverse snowbirds) Works for us.

 

[Ronstar]

That mass has grown another 20 miles to the west now. There are whispers of building a "Far West" beltway down what is now IL-47 through Elburn, where the commuter trains now reach.

My question is: if Illinois and Chicago are shrinking, why are the fringes still swallowing thousands upon thousands of acres of some of the best farmland on earth? The latest is that almost an entire section (one mile by one mile) of prime black dirt is going to paved over for a data center out in DeKalb. I'm sure the 25 people employed there will be worth it. At least until the AI data center fad implodes, and there are millions upon millions of square feet of empty buildings. What people don't get is that data centers can be built ANYWHERE ON EARTH. As soon as our powers-that-be cave to the pressure from the Mag7 to allow US data to reside in <insert 3rd world country here>, the massive buildings in the US will be vacated within the lifecycle of an Nvidia card. Game over.

The "Far West" beltway used to be known as the future Prairie Parkway in the 1990's and early 2000's. To be built near Il 47 from I-80 to I-88. It was very close to being built when local congressman Dennis Hastert was speaker of the house. But the plan died several years ago. I haven't heard about any plans to resurrect it. My former company is doing work on making Il 47 four lanes in the Yorkville - Sugar Grove area.

The farmland on the western fringe has been in the process of being consumed by warehouses, rail terminals, and intermodal centers for the past decade or so. Now solar farms and data centers are being added to the mix.

 

[skyking1]

@Ronstar and @flyoverstate I have been acutely feeling that pain here in the Seattle area.
Unlike the midwest, there are narrow good strips of farmland in a few valley bottoms.
Because they are also travel corridors and the Almighty profit dollars drive everything, they get paved over with concrete tiltups .
We are crappy stewards for mother earth.
The surrounding hills are bony glacial till and clay deposits that can grow trees but not for farming.
In this farmboy's eyes, this is not progress.