# Help my MIL figure out where in the U.S. to retire **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 27, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-mil-figure-out-where-in-the-u-s-to-retire/565539 "2010-12-27T19:00:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-mil-figure-out-where-in-the-u-s-to-retire/565539/41 "2010-12-28T22:06:33Z")
Yes, I have a friend who lives in Austin. Summers are more in the constant 100-degree range, according to him. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-mil-figure-out-where-in-the-u-s-to-retire/565539/42 "2010-12-28T22:33:42Z")
> [@Owlett](#): > > She’s been coming to that conclusion herself. Most of the top U.S. orchestras are in places that are too expensive, crowded, or cold for her. She’s thinking now that being someplace where she could make fairly easy day or weekend trips for her cultural fixes, but live more cheaply and quietly the rest of the time, is the way to go. Whew, good, I’m glad. I see a lot of retirees (my parents are much older) going for that _one special thing_ and paying the price for it. I’m glad she’s willing to compromise. Hey, if she can afford Asheville, go for it. It’s one of the places my parents are looking at, though I think they’ll still end up in Palm Beach. An old boyfriend invited me down there a few years ago; his parents live in one of those intentional communities, where everyone has a town home and does chores around the area and there’s a main house where people’s guests can stay with a theater and ping pong, etc. A simple 3/2 without central air went for 350k. I was stunned. But it is a great little city and they were within walking and biking distance and were in coveted West Asheville. > [@Owlett](#): > > The Smartmoney Retirement pages that **lindsaybluth** linked to have some interesting ideas (though I laughed that one of their suggestions is Chattanooga, but many people love it). They suggest Bloomington, IN, which is definitely worth exploring. I believe their music school is first rate, and it’s a part of the country that my MIL is familiar with. The place that sounded coolest to me and sounded like it met most of her requirements was Bloomington. I don’t know what the weather is like there, though . Do any of the Florida locations appeal to her? ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-mil-figure-out-where-in-the-u-s-to-retire/565539/43 "2010-12-29T01:41:19Z")
“Temperatures between 50 F and 90 F for most of the year” Every place mentioned so far gets colder than 50 degrees including southern FL, southern TX and southern CA. Honolulu is the only place with this kind of temperatures. It also fits her other requirements as well. One can get a small condo for well under $200,000. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-mil-figure-out-where-in-the-u-s-to-retire/565539/44 "2010-12-29T03:53:30Z")
> [@Owlett](#): > > … > Ideally, she would like to find somewhere with all or most of the following qualities: > > [ul] > [li]Generally liberal social culture[/li][li]Good climate for gardening[/li][li]Temperatures between 50 F and 90 F for most of the year[/li][li]Sunshine[/li][li]Access to cultural events—especially classical music (she’s a former violinist), but also art museums, lectures, plays, classes, etc. (a university town might fit the bill, or somewhere within easy train ride of a city with a major orchestra)[/li][li]Smallish houses (2 br/2 ba) available for less than $200,000[/li][li]A walkable downtown area with some good dining options[/li][li]Bonus points for proximity to beaches or beautiful parkland for walking[/li][/ul] > … Chapel Hill, NC or its near neighbor Carrboro should meet the majority of these. I don’t know what housing costs are like there these days (we owned a townhouse there that was in the mid 60s when we bought it in 1985). It can be hotter than 90 in the summer, and cooler than 50 in the winter, but not much colder for the most part. Transit was pretty decent when we lived there, obviously downtown is nice and has lots of restaurants, there are a lot of plays etc.; It’s near Durham and Raleigh and what Chapel Hill doesn’t have, those cities do. it’s 3ish hours by car to the beach however, and a bit longer to the mountains. Forgot to mention: Chapel Hill is a bastion of liberalism in an otherwise fairly conservative state (admittedly I’m out of touch with the current statewide political atmosphere but it’s the South, so not likely to be on the Blue side politically). Asheville NC is also on the liberal side. A bit colder as it’s in the mountains, but it’s very gay-friendly (i.e. not especially conservative) and **Typo Knig** ’s uncle/aunt retired there from the Richmond VA area some years ago, and they love it there. I don’t know about the cultural options there, or what’s walkable, or what housing prices are like. Also it’s obviously quite a bit further from the beach, ---
**Author:** ![foxymoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d26b3c/32.png) [@foxymoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foxymoron)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-mil-figure-out-where-in-the-u-s-to-retire/565539/45 "2010-12-29T05:02:58Z")
Your MIL might want to spend some time at [http://www.findyourspot.com/](http://www.findyourspot.com/) . She can answer multiple choice questions about her location and lifestyle preferences, and at the end there will be fairly detailed suggestions of cities for her to check out. (I think this hasn’t been suggested yet. If it has, sorry for the repeat.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-mil-figure-out-where-in-the-u-s-to-retire/565539.md?page=2)