Lived in the Ardmore neighborhood of WS for 9 years. Cried so hard when I moved. Lol. My friend recently moved to Raleigh and likes it
There is a nice shopping plaza down the hill from Ardmore. All the trendy shops…do you remember the name?
I moved away 30 years ago and it has changed a lot. There was a pizza place called Rose & Thistle at the bottom of the hill by the hospital, but I don’t remember other shops.
I read several articles in the past that college towns are a great place for active seniors to retire because the culture and learning opportunities. places like Hanover NH, Charlottesville VA because UVA/Dartmouth have programs for continued learning for seniors. Not sure if they are the most affordable though.
Ah @busyparent we were there a bunch from 2007-2009 while DS was a grad student. I’m guessing the plaza I’m talking about wasn’t even in WS 30 years ago. But it had all the trendy shops.
One of the reasons I rented DS a place in Ardmore…I went to the nail spa in that nice plaza…and just asked everyone in it what they thought. I had looked at four places…all over…and every single person said “Ardmore”. I put the deposit down that afternoon.
North Carolina isn’t Blue. Virginia is primarily Blue and has nice weather and the bonus of access to DC, but not sure it’s anymore affordable than where you are now. Virginia and MA really are some great places to live, I’ve lived throughout both, such a nice quality of life (yes, I do wish they were more affordable for retirement).
It’s too bad that New Hampshire has such cold winters – it is the top ranked state (and the only Blue one other than Nevada) of the dozen recommended by the AARP for its favorable taxes, https://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/info-2017/states-best-tax-breaks-retirees-fd.html.
NC, VA, NH, and NV are probably still rather “purple”, though they may be different shades of “purple” and be trending differently.
But remember that “blue” states are not all the same. For example, CA, IL, and VT are different in a number of ways. Similar for “red” states – UT, TX, and MS are different in a number of ways. Of course, different regions or localities in the states may differ from the state as a whole in political leaning.
Not sure “blue” states and affordability for retirement exists.
But you can look here for some numbers:
https://■■■■■■■■■■■■■/edu/best-and-worst-states-to-retire/18592/
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/opportunity/affordability
Yeah. Something like Austin Tx, might fit the bill. A blue metropolis in an otherwise red state.
@fendrock, Setting aside Blue State for a moment (I know, not ideal, I, too, hope to retire to one), Florida received the top ranking in one of the interesting links @yourmomma posted: https://■■■■■■■■■■■■■/edu/best-and-worst-states-to-retire/18592/ – #1 in Affordability and #1 Overall (and top ranks in the important categories of medical facilities and quality of life). How do you feel about not seeing New England snow in the winter?
HI ranks worst in both Cost of Living and Affordability 
We do have beaches though (and highest homeless per capita in the nation) per post in #49, US News article.
We are a VERY blue state and have lots of diversity.
^ and 3rd best healthcare in the country!
Yes, I believe we have a high healthcare rating because such a high % of our state has health insurance. Our laws require employers to offer employees working 20 or more hours/wk at least 3 consecutive weeks health insurance, with some rare exceptions.
Other than that, I’m afraid I wouldn’t peg HI as #3 in healthcare.
I haven’t read the whole thread but I live in Durham. Durham and Chapel hill are very progressive as is Asheville. Raleigh, Greensboro, and particularly Charlotte not far behind and becoming more progressive. I live in the burbs and would love to move to the city but it’t getting expensive. We need better public transit.
Some of you have posted the positives about where you live, but not provided the location - so it would be helpful, iif possible, to identify the place – @BunsenBurner I am guessing you live in Walla Walla?
The link for where liberals can live - mentions “for $200K” – not sure what that figure refers to.
The “Best & Worst States to Retire” has some interesting stats. For example, Vermont is right up there with the highest population of people over 65 (Florida ranks number 1, Vermont, number 4), but Vermont also ranks number 2 in terms of the highest percentage of the workforce aged 65 and over (Florida has one of the lowest percentages of people aged 65 and older still working).
Florida and Virginia are the only two East coast states in the top ten best retirement states.
It’s interesting that all the most affordable places to retire are in Red states. I would hypothesize that most Purple / Blue cities in Red states have Blue state levels of cost of living.
For me, this is more an exercise of “if worse came to worst, where are places I could live as happily, comfortably, and inexpensively as possible?”
I am the kind of person who, if money were no object, would love to live in a nice condo in Cambridge, MA, so you can imagine my dilemma in terms of identifying a low-budget version of that…
I could see a place like Austin, TX being a possibility (I have visited there before), but I am betting it is not an inexpensive place to live.
Most appealing places have been “discovered” and are not cheap.
If you are concerned about whether you could get around by yourself then you probably should think about who would/could check up on you if you should get ill, especially if you should become widowed. My mother has considered moving to Las Vegas because a lot of her friends have moved there due to cost, but I asked my mother if her friends would take care of her if she should get sick. I told her it would be very hard for us to stop working to go out to Las Vegas to take care of her.
If you want to move to new place, I would move while you are still active so you would have time to make new friends. What’s the point of living in an ideal place if you don’t have friends to hang out with. My mother’s biggest (emotional) support system is her group of friends whom she plays majong with every week. She thought about moving to CA to be closer to my brother and also for the nicer weather, but after visiting him for few weeks she was bored out of her mind.
I made a conscious decision to make NYC my retirement home because of walkability, accessibility to public transportation, close to my kids (grandkids some day), best health care, entertainment (free), convenience of getting almost anything delivered. NYC is not cheap and it is not for everyone (too crowded and noisy), but it ticks off a lot of boxes for me.
Someone mentioned Delaware.
I found a very cute condo in Wilmington, 4 beds (clearly small!), 3 baths 1,525 sqft – $230,000, with property taxes of $3,890 (so somewhat high-ish).
Walk score of 88.
I don’t know anything about Wilmington, but it looks like it might be worth checking out.
(As mentioned above, for me at this time this is sort of the retirement equivalent of armchair travel. I have no immediate plans to take action, it is just to see what possible futures could be out there, for some peace of mind … )
Totally agree with @Oldfort, including the pluses of NYC…
Cost of Living in NYC depends heavily on housing … if you’ve been here long enough to have paid off a mortgage or have rent-regulated housing, then cost is not what one sees in current real estate ads … also, real estate taxes, in general, are lower in the 5 boroughs relative to the surrounding areas.
@Fendrock-- Would Western Mass be an option?* I’m familiar with the length of the Berkshires as a tourist & know the area near Williamstown well because I have an Eph. If part of Cambridge’s attraction is the vibrant educational & cultural environment, you might look at Williamstown. Consider the area a hidden gem, as opposed to the diamond of Cambridge. The community, even when I wasn’t known to be a a parent of a student, seems to be caring. It’s definitely sociable & nice. Real estate would be less in adjacent North Adams.
*commented before reading your above post … enjoy the Berkshires for both real & armchair travel
General FYI: NYT has 2 recent relevant articles —
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/01/business/retirement/no-pension-pensionize-savings.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/03/business/retirement/aging-in-the-right-place.html
PS: As for cost, consider the changes in federal income tax
I love Williamstown…for a day or two. But if I were choosing western MA, I would look in Northampton area. Lots more going on there…and a tad less out in the middle of no where.
I read the Forbes list a few times last year. There wasn’t one place on it that I would consider for even one second.
Yes, we’ve considered Western Mass – it is expensive compared to some of the other communities discussed here.
Plus, winters in the area involve snow removal expenses and hair-raising driving along steep roads. There are few possibilities for living in spots with high walk scores.
@ManhattanBoro That NY Times article is right on target. However, it just isn’t always possible to remain employed until you are 70. One needs to be prepared for that as well.
“Best Cities for Successful Aging” is a good read. It makes a lot of sense to break out what is means to be best for retirement into two age brackets, 65-79. and 80+ Durham-Chapel Hill and Austin are highlighted as good spots for the 65-79 crowd.
Ithaca, NY, which is appealing, is also included in the Small Metro list. Again, housing is expensive.