<p>Yeah, me too. Now back to the real world. It hits me in the face every now and then.</p>
<p>Downtown St. Petersburg, Fl. on Tampa Bay. Affordable, sunshine, no state personal income tax, lots to do, retiree friendly.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.discoverdowntown.com/”>http://www.discoverdowntown.com/</a></p>
<p>almost forgot to mention: one of the few locations in Florida one could get around to most everything without a car!</p>
<p>My BIL retired to Eugene from LA about 10 years ago. He loves it there. For a small town, it had a lot going on. Not hard to get to Portland, either</p>
<p>St Petersburg looks good. Another mention for Eugene.</p>
<p>We’ve retired in Tuscaloosa…low home prices (easily paid cash for our retirement home), low property taxes, low income taxes (and state doesn’t tax pensions), nice restaurants, lots of shopping (and more coming!!), new developments, lovely area, beautiful trees, good-sized city, very good medical center, good weather most of the time (not too cold, some hot in summer)…mostly sunny blue skies with white puffy clouds. </p>
<p>My sister semi-retired to Eugene around 10 years ago. She lived in Manhattan for 30 years, and I just couldn’t picture it working, but she loves it there and has made me promise to at least consider it as a place to retire. </p>
<p>“Crummy” weather in the Great Northwest? Now just a dadgum minute! The rain does have its purposes. It keeps the number of migrating Californians to a minimum.</p>
<p>Another Eugene person. :)</p>
<p>“One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don’t know.
Then we tried to remove the tusks. The tusks. That’s not so easy to say. Tusks.
You try it some time. As I say, we tried to remove the tusks. But they were embedded so firmly we couldn’t budge them.
Of course, in Alabama the Tuscaloosa, but that is entirely ir-elephant to what I was talking about.
Groucho in Animal crackers (Movie)”</p>
<p>My Avatar… . Have to post the joke . :)</p>
<p>Arizona has long been a retirement mecca for the weather, low cost of living, and low taxes. Huff Post has this to say:</p>
<p><a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost;
<p>We moved to Scottsdale from Boston in '99 and don’t plan to leave AZ. We just want to downsize and lower our costs even further so we can travel during the summer months each year. We don’t want a second home anywhere as we don’t want to deal with property ownership issues when we’re absent, and we want to try living in other parts of country as well as other countries during the summer months. I do have a particular fondness for Maine, though. We spend as much time in Maine (all over) as we can.</p>
<p>My grandparents used to live in Oxford, Georgia (hence the avatar). It was a wonderful place. I think the housing costs are low, there is of course the college, and Georgia taxes are among the most retiree-friendly in the country. Weather is perfect - warm in winter, but still has seasons. </p>
<p>One downside is that it is not particularly walkable. But it’s in the running for us. </p>
<p>The financial calcultor computations look a lot better if we live in one of the places mentioned here. :)</p>
<p>Mt. Tam is near Muir Woods, which are LOVELY and one of my favorite things to do when I visit SF. </p>
<p>Yes, I have heard of many retiring to AZ for lower cost of living. TS is also supposed to have reasonable cost of living–my bro bought his S a condo while he’s in med school–saved a BUNDLE in tuition and he will be considered a resident after his 1st year because he is a property owner. Their real estate costs are a small fraction of ours.</p>
<p>Much of SF, LA and DC area (where my loved ones live) are all high cost areas for living. My sis had a friend who had a lovely home far from town when her kids were growing. After they were launched, she moved to a MUCH smaller place near town and is much happier as things are SO much closer!</p>
<p>Mt Tam is great. Just finished hiking there. Trying to hike there everyday until it starts raining. </p>
<p>The Marin Headlands are spectacular. There is an area there where the Golden Gate Bridge is in your face. You can see the Pacific Ocean and Downtown SF. </p>
<p>The Presidio does have awesome views. Busdriver11 is right. </p>
<p>I have to laugh that SF is being discussed on a thread about places to retire that are affordable for many. </p>
<p>Deborah T, threads flow where they flow. :)</p>
<p>SF is ridiculous… Unless you live in a rent controlled apartment. Then SF is ridiculous. :)</p>
<p>I was going to mention Santa Rosa. About an hour north of SF. Good weather. Nice vineyards in the area. Some nice restaurants close enough. </p>
<p>Housing may be a little too costly for this thread. Eugene, retirement areas in Arizona, St Petersburg have cheaper housing. </p>
<p>My folks live in Santa Rosa. Costs about $55,000 to $65,000 a year. No mortgage. My folks dont cook which adds to their costs. </p>
<p>Santa Rosa does cost more than Eugene. Better weather though.</p>
<p>Anyone know about North Carolina?</p>
<p>There’s a vast difference between SF and Eugene, between SF and just about anywhere else really, lol. CC has primarily one extreme that participates most in the Parent Cafe, high end, and subtleties anywhere else along the continuum tend to be lost here.</p>
<p>CC skews wealthy. CC isnt reality. However, we can bring this thread back. (Not that I was helping 
). </p>
<p>What areas do you like Deborah T?</p>
<p>I like Oregon by the way. :)</p>
<p>Not gonna say. Everyone else will move there and drive the price up. ;)</p>
<p>Just kidding.</p>