I’m amazed at the number of retirees who move to totally different cities / environments / cultures / etc. later in life. On one hand, I totally understand the draw of something new and different. On the other, I can’t imagine uprooting everything I’ve nurtured over the 30 years planted “at home” (which is not where I lived as a child). It was easy to move as a young professional but unless you are moving to an area with many transplants (Florida, Arizona?), I think it would extremely difficult to start a new life as an older adult, in cities where most relationships are already formed - unless you tend to be more extrovert. I’ve also seen so many older retirees move back to familiar places (and families), when life becomes more difficult. I think there was already a thread on this topic, so don’t want to take it too off course. I guess the main question for me, would be what options are available to meet new people, establish new support (friends, churches, hospitals, doctors, mechanics, etc); how easy is it to travel if you can’t or don’t want to drive (airports, mass transit).
For me the deal breaker would be the heat along with the politics of the states. Our company ceased sending people to AZ on business trips when they enacted a law enabling immigrants to be stopped and deported for any reason whatsover.
I have actually been to Phoenix/Scottsdale 2x, once for a conference in 2002 in the spring. There was such limited hotels available for the conference that I had to stay at the Marriott at the Airport, so not really getting a sense of AZ. The I went several years later in early December with my husband and we stayed at what was the brand-new Marriott Desert Ridge, lovey hotel and we did have an opportunity to get to both Taliesin West as well as a day drive up to Sedona. It was early December and very pleasant weather.
Years ago we visited Tucson for H’s conference in Feb. Young son and I visited a friend who was living there at the time. City main thoroughfares were so slow- often below a 35 mph speed limit with seniors going slow. Things must have changed. Most Tampa drivers in areas I go usually only go 10 mph above the speed limit, not 15 (city streets and highways). A few obey speed limits- a friend here is an example. She complained about the average speed of drivers on the main thoroughfare (45 mph speed limit, 4 lanes in one direction-only road from residential areas literally). I’m one of those, am a “left lane”, ie fast, driver on highways- go with the flow around about Chicago.
Common to leave the working years atmosphere when retired. Choose location for job and best place to raise kids. When just the two of you (or one) is the time to go for where things are nice for your stage in life. Not thinking about long commutes, schools et al. Being on the outskirts of big city living means amenities for us. Leaving former city did not meaning leaving people- others had left and we weren’t a great fit either. Church goers usually find their people to socialize with. It can be refreshing to be in an area with more people who think like you do- religiously, politically, ethnically.
It seems to me the “glue” that binds most people to an area is either family or school activities. My family/ancestors typically has left where they grew up while some have multiple generations of extended family in one area. We work where we can find a good job. Once retired those connections go away as well. Not all of us have the same social ties others do. Also nice to try something different, especially when no job/kids’ schools to consider.
Have fun in the desert! Not for me. We had explored the upper Midwest so much it was time for a new area. Plans include driving up the east coast to explore more than have (the Midwest is an ideal location for driving both east and west on one to two week vacations, btw) but we seem to always have other plans when their weather is nice.
Funny, igloo, my next door neighbors (I’m in Denver) moved from the Moab/Colorado western slope area… they were there for over ten years… and say they were chased out by politics (conservative, clannish) and inadequate infrastructure given that the area IS growing.
I personally would take into account access to a major airport wherever I would move to. With so many family members scattered around the country – and my own travel habit – it would be onerous to live far from a major airline hub.
We took a trip around the State of Utah in 2016. We flew to SLC, rented a car to travel to the National Parks of Zion, then over to Bryce, and then up to Arches and Moab and then back over to SLC. One big circle around the state. Utah has beautiful national parks, but the state seems mostly desolate and open highways throughout the state. And I was unimpressed with both SLC and Moab, from the standpoint of a resident. But a wonderful place to visit for a week. Setting aside the politics of UT coming from the SF Bay Area, for me, there’s a zero chance of living there based on that vacation trip.
Distances are LONG west of the Mississippi. We moved to a city with a major airport- so much easier than those small distance flights or hundred plus mile drives to the hub airports to get places.
You still want vacations when you retire. Pick a place for day to day living, not just gorgeous scenery. Pick housing you could hibernate in for days on end- no job to leave it. You may need more space than you think- H and I use different bedrooms for our computers plus a recliner and we have places to migrate to indoors and two TV places.
Have you tried citydata forum? It is more likely to have real information from residents of these areas. Moab in high season has this really great, enjoyable dirty backpacker vibe, that would get really old, really quick when you are not one of those youngsters who can do all that fun stuff, or worse, that you might need a job or ongoing health care.
I can still do all of that fun stuff!! 
Agree that the town of Moab would be tough to take on a permanent basis. While it’s developing quickly, in terms of of real estate right now it is pretty low end. I think as tourist dollars continue to flow the town might eventually get some polish. Although I think that is what a lot of people like about it. You can go into the best restaurant in town in your hiking gear and no one cares. If you are looking for Michelin starred restuarants or 5 star hotels, this is not the place.
There are lots of things to do when you “visit” Phoenix…desert botanical gardens, MIM…but when you actually LIVE there…you might want to do things differently. Maybe you would want to be a docent…or maybe find local things…like the libraries (many have speakers, music programs, etc). Maybe become involved with a house of worship. Maybe take up an interesting hobby (I have a friend who teaches quilting, for example).
If you plan to move there…you want to explore the things you might want to do as a resident. These might be different than a tourist. As an example…if I lived there, I would join a local gym, and a community chorus. I wouldn’t do either as a visitor.
@kjofkw Many people move with their jobs across the years and get used to making new friends. Even for those leaving a 30 year home, if moving to a retirment area there are many new residents looking for friends. Now, having grown up in a small town, it would be an awful place for a stranger to move in retirement if he or she had no ties. Not a problem in AZ retirement areas.
Sandstone rock climbing and mountain biking, Iglooo? I’m a big outdoors fan and even I feel that Moab lacks too many amenities to use as a home base in retirement. Many from the Seattle suburbs retire to the small mountain/rural towns and it gets old fast. Even two hours away gets old. Our next-door neighbor is on a rural lake and can’t wait to move back. She did not realize how isolating it is to live without smart, well-read people.
Also, unless it is a ski house or on a beach, I don’t think location is as enticing as people think it would be.
We just bought a small home in North Scottsdale, after over a dozen trips through the years. Visiting in the summer was helpful, as I decided I couldn’t handle living there during the summer. We will keep a home up north. I always wanted to buy something in Florida, but my husband loves AZ for the golf courses. We also have a son and DIL that decided to live there. The lifestyle is very low key and the people are very friendly, so I think I will like it.
There are smart, well-read people in small towns too. Sheeesh.
The hot summers are not the only negative weather related issue in Phoenix. Spring winds in the SW can be brutal - sending sand and dust flying everywhere and making life pretty miserable. Sometimes the “spring” winds start in Feb. and don’t end until June. I once went on a camping trip in the NM desert in the Spring, and we were stuck on the shore of a lake away from our campsite dealing with some kind of problem, and the wind was so bad and relentless that I crawled into a little trench that was about 1 foot deep to get some relief. I was on the verge of going mad.
Then there are “haboobs”, which mostly occur during the monsoon (rainy season) that begins around July 4th.
I’m wondering if anyone agrees with me about how awful spring can be also. We lived in the SW for many years and there were things I absolutely loved about it, but those darn winds were definitely not a positive.
There are vineyards in AZ too. Grapes hate humidity. If you visit, go to Page Springs along Oak Creek between Sedona and Jerome and there are several vineyards there.
There are also commercial pecan groves, especially in the southern parts of the state. It surprised me, since I think of pecan trees as being more at home along the gulf coast.
Don’t forget that AZ does not do daylight savings time (although the Navajo nation, a big part of the northeast corner of the state, does). I like that but not everyone will.
I can’t say that the winds bother W and I at all. We do notice occasional windy weather, but not so often that it’s an inconvenience. For whatever reason I’ve never been out and about during those heavy winds - do they generally happen in the early evening when the weather is cooling off? Anyway, a couple times a year we might look outside and comment, “wow it’s really windy” but that’s about the extent of our exposure to it. We live in N Scottsdale so maybe location has a lot to do with it?
Haboobs were a bit of a letdown for me, tbh. The first big one that came through, I was envisioning heavy sand-blown winds like in that episode of Mission Impossible or any other desert-sandstorm movie scene. Instead it was just a cool picture on the horizon but not noticeable when it actually passed through. Except there was a nice coating of dust on everything the next morning. There’s only been a few noteworthy haboobs in the past couple decades that I can remember. Again, location may have a lot to do with it. Other phoenix-area residents might chime in with a different experience.
Oh, one non-weather related downside is Spring allergies. OMG life can be miserable for a month or so in Spring even with all the windows closed and several HEPA purifiers running in the house.
We lived in ABQ and location might have been a factor, but my job required me to travel around the region frequently, and during the really windy years, it was windy region-wide. I think we lived there for 16 years, and it seemed like the spring winds were an annoyance pretty much every year for a short period, but every 3-4 years they they were so strong and lasted for months and could just drive you bonkers.
I will say that I worked outdoors so I had to spend a lot of time out in the elements. But I also found it annoying just going about daily life in the city.
And no, if I recall correctly, the winds actually died down in the evening when it got cooler.
And yes, I agree the spring allergies are bad also. I didn’t have allergies until I moved to the SW and they got so bad I had to take shots. When we moved to a city in the NW, I went back to PHX in the spring for a work related meeting and I got the worst allergy attack in my life - I coughed so hard that blood vessels in my eyes burst.
But no place is perfect - I don’t like the area that I live in now because of the horrible humidity. Which makes me fondly remember all the pleasant summer evenings we spent outdoors in ABQ because the temps dropped a lot after the sun went down and there was little humidity - and no mosquitoes.
Note***I just googled both AZ and New Mexico spring winds, and got MANY more hits for New Mexico, so it is probably is a matter of location - although there were definitely several sites that addressed spring winds in AZ.
I would guess everyone here knows that. It is near universal in our neighborhood @TatinG, so easy to interact on that level. We have two retired Microsofties now writing novels. It is rare in her new place to the point that she has not yet met one. Data point of one and I try not to overgeneralize. My parents are in a small town peppered with retired professors and such, not isolating at all. But it’s a risk to consider. Let’s assume Iglooo does not care but it is enough of an issue with our friend I thought it was worth mentioning. I see now that Moab has a USU branch campus, so likely not a big deal.
Winds are strong in SW AZ and feel like a blow dryer in July - but I still think it’s worth the next 7-8 months. Moab can be quite hot as well but I just visited one week in August.