Retirement Places, in General

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

At elwood’s suggestion, I am looking at real estate in Traverse City Michigan. My you get a lot for your money! Of course there is the whole snow thing to deal with.

Anyway, I am playing my periodic “Where to retire to?” game. What should one look for in a retirement local? I am not tied, nor blessed, with family ties. I speak a little English and less Spanish. I hate paying taxes, but accept I must.

So what to look for? So far I got:

Nice weather
Low overall cost of living (including taxes)
Good air connections
Good local hospitals
Good shopping, especially grocery stores
A local college. Nothing keeps a person young better than being near young people.

What are your thoughts?

2

An European favorite is “not having to worry about hospital bills”, but we’re just lazy that way.

Since I’m expecting to have no descendants to dump my old ass on when it starts breaking apart, I intend to look for an area with assisted care available (ideally, both at home and as AC facilities).

3

This coming Spring I will be retiring and the Baracuda and I will move to Cedar City, Utah. We bought a house there four years ago for $105,000 (five years old, three bedrooms, 2 baths, attached garage on a quarter acre of land).

Advantages:

A population of about 25,000 and growing fairly rapidly (Iron County is the 30th fastest-growing county in the US.

Home of an internationally-recognized Shakespear Festival.

Home of Southern Utah University with 6000 students.

Nestled at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains on I-15, the city is 45 minutes away from Brian Head ski area, and an hour from Zion and Bryce National Parks.

Las Vegas is two and a half hours away down I-15.

A modern new medical center has recently opened.

The local airport has scheduled connections with Las Vegas and Salt Lake City.

There is an Albertson’s, Smith’s and a Wal-Mart for food shopping.

Drawbacks:

Very conservative and Mormon-dominated.

At nearly 6000 feet up, winters are nastier than they are at Saint George, the nearest neighboring town, 2300 feet lower and 45 miles to the south.

No IKEA or Trader Joe’s.

No used book stores.

Housing prices are going up, as they are everywhere. Our $105,000 house now would probably sell for over $200,000.

But we are looking forward to retiring there. Check it out.

4

I am considering* Saint George. Best thing is your pizza never gets cold en route due to the radiation. Cedar City also sounds nice.

*This is a game I play from time to time. I still have my heart set on Mexico.

5

[QUOTE=movingfinger]
This coming Spring I will be retiring and the Baracuda and I will move to Cedar City, Utah.
[/QUOTE]

I know this is harsh, but I noticed from a picture that Paul is white. This is a good thing if you want to move to Utah.

I’m as American as apple pie, but I’m Asian in heritage. I own a condo in Park City and when driving through small towns in Utah, people look at me like I have 3 eyeballs. It’s cold in Utah, I just got back from being there for two weeks and it never got above freezing. It was -18 degrees Fahrenheit at one point. I’m sure Cedar City is warmer though, but I’ll bet it gets hotter than fuck during the summer.

The liquor laws in Utah are ridiculously anachronistic. You have to belong to a “club” to go to a bar. While this is not extremely inconvenient, it is is STUPID, and is a deterrent to proper pub crawling. Most alcohol can only be bought in state liquor stores at outrageously inflated prices. Beer in grocery stores is 3.2% alcohol. A bizarre advantage of the draconian liquor laws is that you buy said 3.2 beer 24-7 at the Albertson’s. I guess with Vegas an hour away, this might not be that much of a problem.

I gotta admit, the National Parks around Cedar City are spectacular.

There is a place that I was looking to buy some property recently. It is a state north of here and is increasingly populated by old fat Californians. Residents of this place will steadfastly deny the desirability of the area, but they are just trying to keep out old fat Californians. I will not name it in deference to those poor natives, but will mention that the biggest problem with it is that everyone drives 10mph below the speed limit.

6

[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi]
So what to look for? So far I got:

Nice weather
Low overall cost of living (including taxes)
Good air connections
Good local hospitals
Good shopping, especially grocery stores
A local college. Nothing keeps a person young better than being near young people.

What are your thoughts?
[/QUOTE]

I lived in Las Cruces, New Mexico for about four years when I graduated from college. The city is easy on the eyes – much easier on the eyes than Albuquerque or El Paso, with relatively little visual pollution compared to those two cities – and the variety of people living there is amazing for a city its size (about 85,000). I’d like to retire to Cruces, and I’m hoping a curling club forms there before that time comes.

Nice weather: check. Four very gentle seasons. Well, summers get very hot, in the 35C+ range, but temperatures fall dramatically at night.

Low cost of living: housing prices are going up, but they’re not unreasonable; $200K will get you a new three bedroom, two bathroom starter house. Property taxes and utility rates are very low. You don’t need refrigerated air; evaporative coolers do a great job at keeping homes cool during the summer, and they’re very inexpensive to operate.

Good air connections: meh. It’s an hour drive to El Paso. Flights out of ELP resemble third world bus rides.

Good local hospitals: well, there’s two hospitals in Las Cruces now, and doctors relocating to the city to serve the booming population of affluent retirees and telecommuters.

Good shopping: You won’t find Wegmans, Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods there, but it’s not just Wal-Mart either. Most mid-end national retail and restaurant chains will be in Cruces, and some regional high-end chains are in the city. Some supermarkets are open 24 hours. Mesilla Valley Mall is quite large for a city its size, but it’s not bustling; people would rather be outdoors. The west side of El Paso is about 35 minutes away, where you’ll find some higher-end shopping; nothing too upscale, but it’s an option. (Actually, high-end restaurants in Cruces tend to be more upscale than those in El Paso.) Cuidad Juarez is about a 45 minute drive away.

Local college: New Mexico State University.

Basically, Las Cruces is to El Paso what Boulder is to Denver. Good blending of Anglo and Hispanic culture, lots of churches and synagogues along with proud atheists and Wiccans, a variety of residents ranging from young to old, a large counterculture and arts community, liberal hippies and conservative gun-nuts … there’s something for everyone there, IMHO.

What’s wrong with Cruces? It’s very isolated, it’s quite suburban in feel (although that’s changing), and the presence of some colonias give parts of the area a third-world feel. It’s not as bad as the Texas Rio Grande Valley, though; Cruces and the immediate surrounding area are more-or-less comfortably middle-class, with a few barrios (not really that dangerous) and a staggering number of new high-end subdivisions.

7

Hot summers? I can deal with it.

Draconian alcohol rules? I am already acclimatized.

You know, Los Cruces sounds nice, but gee, that is a poor air travel thing you got going there. For some reason that is pretty important to me.

8

I live in Middle Tennessee. The weather isn’t too bad - very rarely snow, enough cold in the winter to cut down on the bug population, but still have seasonal changes. In my town, Murfreesboro, we have a local state university. If you go 30 miles into Nashville you have Vanderbilt University as well as other colleges. There is no state income tax. The local economy is thriving. There are many very good local hospitals. Housing is much less than in many parts of the country, and is less in the surrounding counties than in Nashville itself. Nashville just built a world-class symphony hall. There’s professional football and hockey, if you like that sort of thing. If you like history there are plenty of Civil War battlefields.

It’s hard to get used to the way people speak, but after a while you acclimatize.

StG

9

[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi]
At elwood’s suggestion, I am looking at real estate in Traverse City Michigan. My you get a lot for your money! Of course there is the whole snow thing to deal with.

Anyway, I am playing my periodic “Where to retire to?” game. What should one look for in a retirement local? I am not tied, nor blessed, with family ties. I speak a little English and less Spanish. I hate paying taxes, but accept I must.

So what to look for? So far I got:

Nice weather
Low overall cost of living (including taxes)
Good air connections
Good local hospitals
Good shopping, especially grocery stores
A local college. Nothing keeps a person young better than being near young people.

What are your thoughts?
[/QUOTE]

My thoughts are too mutherin’ cold. I’m freezing my ass off in Chicago and it’s got to be quite a bit worse there.

http://weather.yahoo.com/climo/USMI0829_f.html

Actually, it’s warmer there today, but…brrrrrrr! Move south!!

10

[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi]
You know, Los Cruces sounds nice, but gee, that is a poor air travel thing you got going there. For some reason that is pretty important to me.
[/QUOTE]

For some strange reason, though, despite the so-so air service, it seems like every fifth person in the city is an aviation geek. NMSU’s engineering heritage, the presence of White Sands Missile Range and NASA just outside of town, X Prize flights, the location of the New Mexico Spaceport and Virgin Galactic in the region, and having Holloman Air Force Base an hour away in Alamogordo (yuk!) seems to create an environment that is just right for breeding aviation geekery.

11

Lord knows I’m starting to sound like a broken record about this, but I can’t suggest Charleston, South Carolina enough! To wit-

**Nice weather ** - Oh, man, it’s got gorgeous weather! You can go swimming in the ocean starting in April/May. No snow. Not many freezing nights, either. The summers aren’t extreme at all, esp. compared to Saudi!
Low overall cost of living (including taxes) Yep, yep. I just bought a half acre for 55K, 5 miles from Folly Beach, one of the nicest and most popular beaches in the US. My last apartment was about 1000 sf and was $545. Gas is usually the cheapest in the US due to the military and ports being there.
**Good air connections ** - Charleston Int’l Airport is small but busy and there’s a small executive airport on James Island as well.
Good local hospitals - At least 2 that I can think of off the top of my head and a teching hospital downtown
Good shopping, especially grocery stores - Love the Publix! Also, Whole Foods and Harris Teeter, which is posh and well-stocked. There’s the lower cost Piggly Wiggly and Food Lion as well. Many malls.
A local college. - College of Charleston, Citadel, many branches of various public universities, Trident Technical College, etc. Far too numerous to list.
The cherry on the sundae is the historical aspect of Charleston; name a war in the States and some of it was fought there. It is the birthplace of American Reformed Judaism. Stephen Colbert’s from there, along with several popular writers. There’s art, music, a hell of a cool new bridge…Someone stop me, I’m getting dizzy with it all!

12

[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi]
Hot summers? I can deal with it.
[/QUOTE]

Tucson might work for you. It’s got everything your want:
[ul]
[li]It’s absolutely gorgeous[/li][li]Trader Joes, great shopping[/li][li]Decent air service both through Tucson and Phoenix (only 100 miles away)[/li][li]University of Arizona[/li][li]Lots of hospitals, doctors, dentists[/li][/ul]
It isn’t dirt cheap, though. Housing prices have gone up miles over the last few years, but the real estate market is beginning to tank, so perhaps by the time you’re ready, it’ll be half way reasonable again.

Downside: traffic, sprawl and lot’s 'o crime.

13

Traverse City is nice, if a bit touristy. Lots of awesome wineries there, and the scenery is absolutely breathtaking. You will deal with Michigan winters, and a LOT of lake-effect snow.

14

[QUOTE=elmwood]
I lived in Las Cruces, New Mexico for about four years when I graduated from college. The city is easy on the eyes – much easier on the eyes than Albuquerque or El Paso, with relatively little visual pollution compared to those two cities – and the variety of people living there is amazing for a city its size (about 85,000). I’d like to retire to Cruces, and I’m hoping a curling club forms there before that time comes.

Nice weather: check. Four very gentle seasons. Well, summers get very hot, in the 35C+ range, but temperatures fall dramatically at night.

Low cost of living: housing prices are going up, but they’re not unreasonable; $200K will get you a new three bedroom, two bathroom starter house. Property taxes and utility rates are very low. You don’t need refrigerated air; evaporative coolers do a great job at keeping homes cool during the summer, and they’re very inexpensive to operate.

Good air connections: meh. It’s an hour drive to El Paso. Flights out of ELP resemble third world bus rides.

Good local hospitals: well, there’s two hospitals in Las Cruces now, and doctors relocating to the city to serve the booming population of affluent retirees and telecommuters.

Good shopping: You won’t find Wegmans, Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods there, but it’s not just Wal-Mart either. Most mid-end national retail and restaurant chains will be in Cruces, and some regional high-end chains are in the city. Some supermarkets are open 24 hours. Mesilla Valley Mall is quite large for a city its size, but it’s not bustling; people would rather be outdoors. The west side of El Paso is about 35 minutes away, where you’ll find some higher-end shopping; nothing too upscale, but it’s an option. (Actually, high-end restaurants in Cruces tend to be more upscale than those in El Paso.) Cuidad Juarez is about a 45 minute drive away.

Local college: New Mexico State University.

Basically, Las Cruces is to El Paso what Boulder is to Denver. Good blending of Anglo and Hispanic culture, lots of churches and synagogues along with proud atheists and Wiccans, a variety of residents ranging from young to old, a large counterculture and arts community, liberal hippies and conservative gun-nuts … there’s something for everyone there, IMHO.

What’s wrong with Cruces? It’s very isolated, it’s quite suburban in feel (although that’s changing), and the presence of some colonias give parts of the area a third-world feel. It’s not as bad as the Texas Rio Grande Valley, though; Cruces and the immediate surrounding area are more-or-less comfortably middle-class, with a few barrios (not really that dangerous) and a staggering number of new high-end subdivisions.
[/QUOTE]

I’m really glad you posted this; my Darling Marcie has fallen deeply in love with Las Cruces as a retirment place; this without ever laying eyes on the place. She spends hours pouring over real estate ads; she regales me with each bit of new information she comes by. We plan to visit sometime this year and I wouldn’t be surprised if we buy a house while there.

Sorry for the hijack, but grateful for the info.

15

Why not go with Panama. One of my uncles retired there and he likes it. He grew up there but left when he was 17 and hadn’t lived there since. He retired there and he says that his money goes a lot further than it would in the States.

When I was there a few years ago, I was surprised by just how many people spoke English. I understand that this is a result of having had the Canal and all the Americans living there for so long, but for a retiree this would be pretty good.

Also, the climate is nice.

16

If you’re going to come to Michigan, don’t pick Traverse City. The traffic is absolutely nuts in the summer, and you’re a long drive from anything you can’t get locally. Their weather isn’t as cold as you might think due to Lake Michigan acting as a big heat reservoir. The summers are cool and pleasant but it is quite isolated. Better try areas around East Lansing and Ann Arbor- much more convenient to get to Detroit and each a cool town in its own way.

17

Fort Collins, CO. Voted best small city in the US. CSU is there as well as other cultural scenes. Plenty of shopping and it’s pretty; not many tall buildings and a lot of trees. I believe there are income and sales taxes there.

It’s about 1.5 hours from Denver Airport and an hour from Cheyenne’s airport. Poudre (“pooter”) Valley Hospital is there.

This winter notwithstanding, it’s historically temperate there with the snow falling but then melting quickly.

Check out rentsclicks.com for property info. There is a lot of new building so you could get a deal on an existing home.

18

You might want to check out Pensacola, Florida. Weather’s great–they get snow like once a decade or so, big military town with the local navy base (home of the Blue Angels), great naval aircraft museum, and a military hospital. Think there’s both a junior college and a 4 year college nearby. Beaches, fishing, etc.

19

[QUOTE=koeeoaddi]
Tucson might work for you…<snip>
[/QUOTE]
My parents looked at Tuscon when they retired, in the end they settled on Phoenix, in part just because they were interested in their particular retirement community. They liked Arizona for all the reasons you gave: dry climate, affordable, beautiful scenery. I wasn’t to thrilled about it when they moved, but I visit them a few times a year and now I really like it out there. The air is fresh, weather is great, and you can go hiking in December. Phoenix is as spread out as everyone says, but they have all the usual big city stuff – restaurants, shopping, hospitals, hub airport, and one real big university (ASU). Now I kinda want to move to a retirement community in Arizona, and just play tennis all day. Someday, I guess.

20

I recommend Bend, Oregon (Wiki Bend) or Flagstaff, Arizona (Wiki Flagstaff). Both are high desert midsized towns with four seasons but no extreme weather, lots of outdoor actitivities, a reasonable cost of living, and great local stores and restaurants. They are also reasonably close to more touristy towns that really get a lot of visitors – Sisters, OR, and Sedona, AZ. Not incidentally, both Bend and Flagstaff are booming as retirement destinations. Of the two, I prefer Bend, but you said you’d like a school and Flagstaff is home to Northern Arizona University.