<p>Right, I know there are no basements in SoCal - this particular house had absolutely no storage with no garage either. I can live without a basement! Just need somewhere to store the suitcases!</p>
<p>Martha’s Vinyard and Nantucket to Boston is almost like Carmel/Monterey is to San Franciso. Only problem is their are off the coast in their own islands.</p>
<p>Lake Washington in Seatle is beautiful except I couldn’t stand the thought of Bill Gates lurking on the other side of the lake. That thought alone might make me want to strangle somebody.</p>
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HaHa - that’s because there’s no need for a ‘storm cellar’ in California. </p>
<p>The San Diego area isn’t on the San Andreas fault which is the proximity for most of the larger quakes so we tend not to have too many larger ones. In the >20 years I’ve been living here we’ve never had a quake that even knocked a book off the shelf although there have been some I’ve felt. I did feel a couple of larger ones when I lived in the San Jose area. Those also didn’t knock any books off but they sure got my attention.</p>
<p>Hayden – If you haven’t looked at prices lately, you might want to take a second look. There have been some major drops recently and there’s a serious over-inventory on condos so bargains could be had. </p>
<p>Williamsburg is lovely but it’s at least 2 1/2 hours south-ish of D.C. I would personally stay out of Virginia (though I love the Mt. Vernon area…you’d never know you are that close to a major city) because the housing tends to be much higher than MD, plus I’m not crazy about the state’s legislative actions…though they have overruled those Draconian ‘aggressive driving’ laws when they figured out that if they kept them as is, <em>everyone</em> was breaking the law. </p>
<p>A charming community just outside the Beltway is Kensington, MD or just inside the Beltway is Silver Spring, MD. There’s a lot of revitalization going on, many older houses are being rehabbed and there are trees everywhere. However, there’s also traffic everywhere and it’s not going to get better. At $4 a gallon, people might start driving less but probably not. </p>
<p>You might consider looking at Poolesville, which is in the country and has been named one of the Best Small Towns. Darnestown, in the same area, is more quaint but there are some new developments. They are both near Gaithersburg/Germantown which has just about everything anyone could want. We even have a couple small theatres as well as a massive community college. The Kentlands is a development just up the road from me that is a mix of <em>very nice houses</em>, apartments and retail. You could walk to everything if you lived in the Kentlands. The houses are expensive but less so than a year or so ago. </p>
<p>If you are coming from, say, the Midwest, you’ll experience sticker shock. Land is expensive and having the Federal Gov’t here means there’s always movement in the housing market. One administration leaves, a lot of inventory appears on the market, and the members of the next administration (not just electeds but all their staff) buy. It will be even more so this year since so many of the Congress are not seeking reelection. This means the houses hold value well. Personally, we’ve had a drop in what would be our asking price of about 10 percent. Sounds like a lot until I tell you this house has way more than doubled in the 10 yrs we’ve owned it. We bought at 300K and an identical one (actually, mine’s nicer) sold down the street two weeks ago for 775K. </p>
<p>For the rest, whether you are looking for in-town, ocean, horse farms, no maintenance or what, MD pretty much has any type of landscape except big mountains. We have lakes (take a look at Deep Creek or Lake Anna for a vacation feel all year round), rolling countryside, and big city. Hmmm…maybe I don’t really want to move after all.</p>
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Bad neighbors can ruin a good location. Gates travels a lot, maybe you can pretend he is not there.</p>
<p>I have long roots in Maryland,and one place I love is the Chesapeake Bay area. My family is from North Beach, about 20 minutes from Annapolis, right on the bay, a sleepy town that is starting to build up. Small town America and a beautiful setting, but close to Annapolis and Washington DC.</p>
<p>No way Texas (they would run us out for our feelings about certain presidents), not into SW/Hispanic culture. Also the overall state attitudes towards sports and education seem reversed in importance and the weather is too hot. How are the libraries in NC and MD cities? Why can’t the Pacific NW have more sunshine???</p>
<p>^^ That’s a pretty narrow view of Texas. Gasp- there is a huge percent of the population that no longer supports the president. There are many areas that are downright liberal! I’m with you on the “too hot” part, but Dallas and Houston are major metropolitan areas with pretty normal “big city” cultures. San Antonio is lovely, but does have much more of a Hispanic/SW culture.</p>
<p>I am not Hispanic, but I must say I felt an “ouch”. How can an entire culture be dismissed like that?</p>
<p>Our country is becoming more Latino/Latina by the day, and I think something warm and rich is being added to the mix.</p>
<p>I do know that my daughter’s roommate was from Texas, and she is a lovely, funny girl. And many of my favorite CC posters are Texans.</p>
<p>My ex-mother-in-law from Lubbock? She was a different story.</p>
<p>Hayden,</p>
<p>I don’t have first-hand experience with Williamsburg, but from looking at real estate listings, the houses are considerably cheaper than the DC area. Also, according to the latest issue of Where to Retire magazine it is extremely tax friendly.</p>
<p>Novelista and fundingfather: thanks, both of you. I really like the idea of Williamsburg, and if the prices are in line, that’s a bonus. I have visions of me working at Williamsburg dressed as a colonial. My ancestor was a member of the House of Burgesses, and I’m in the DAR, so I’m really into it. (My H thinks I’m crazy, of course. I say I was born in the wrong century. And sometimes he agrees . . . )</p>
<p>But Maryland sounds terrific, too. I think I’ll keep both of them on the list. </p>
<p>BTW, Novelista, I copied your post and emailed it to myself for long-term reference. Thanks so much !</p>
<p>Lynchburg, VA is just under three hours from DC, has lots of charming old homes for still reasonable, but quickly increasing prices. All brick two story in a good area will run around $250K and be very nice from slate roof to updated kitchen. Only minutes from the mountains and an hour to C’ville at half the price.</p>
<p>Also in Maryland, very close to DC, is Takoma Park. If you want a liberal, quirky little town-in-a-suburb that’s a nuclear-free zone (not kidding), this is one to consider.</p>
<p>Takoma Park is still fairly crunchy granola and Birkenstocks…but the area seems to be getting kind of run-down. I have friends who lived there in the '90’s when it was booming so maybe that’s subjective. The older communities around D.C. tend to have beautiful trees, well laid-out streets, and quirks that make them individual. Kensington, for example, is an antique lover’s dream and Chevy Chase is pricey but gorgeous. I get whiplash every time I drive into C.C. because there’s a magnificient house on almost every street…sometimes more than one. </p>
<p>I’m going to give away a secret…if I had to choose one community to live in the Greater D.C. area, it would be Garrett Park, Md…the other side of Connecticut Ave from Kensington. This is truly a hidden gem with Rock Creek Park running through it and only a short, short way from both the Strathmore Performance Center (music, art, and a must-do tea), Metro, and the largest shopping street in America, Rockville Pike. Sssh…</p>
<p>A good idea is to re-visit a house you are interested in at different times during the week. What seems like pure tranquility on a Saturday morning maybe grid-lock h*** on a Monday evening. When it snows, all bets are off. I’m not sure why everyone freaks around D.C. when it snows…something to do with the drinking water, perhaps. </p>
<p>I didn’t mention the Eastern Shore (other side of the Chesapeake from the rest of Maryland) where the beach is because it’s more than 3 hrs from D.C., esp. during the summer when everyone from Baltimore/Washington goes ‘down the shore’. However, if the ocean is your thing, there are pleasant coastal communities from Delaware to Assateague. Like most coastal towns, it gets busy in the summertime…I wouldn’t buy in Ocean City (main party mecca) but Rehoboth, DE and Bethany Beach are great. Beautiful views and a real sand beach. Colder water, though, than farther south. I’m probably wrong on the year but I believe the last major hurricane came through in about '32, when it created a bay. Now there is beach-side and bay-side housing…bay-side is cheaper. </p>
<p>Also on the Eastern Shore are several beautiful Chesapeake-side communities…perfect if you are into sailing. St. Michaels is rather upscale and Easton is charming, and of course, Annapolis itself on the Western side. If you aren’t much for sailing (seasick?), these may not be great because much of the social life tends to revolve around boats. Annapolis is beautiful and historic with fun things to do all the time but I wish they’d ban cars in downtown. Seriously tiny brick streets never intended for the automobile. Maybe one day.</p>
<p>To those of you who are waxing eloquent about the beautiful Carolina coast (esp Charleston) - visit in July/August before you decide. My parents have a shared ownership there, and the area is beautiful, but you don’t know hot and humid until you’ve been in Charleston in August. And don’t forget about watching the Hurricane Trackers on the news every day for 4 months out of the year.</p>
<p>My parents are 1000 miles from me in a milder climate, but both of them are having health problems. I worry about them and there’s not much I can do to help. I watched my MIL fly back and forth to FL for 3 years, calling doctors long distance, before persuading her widowed mother to return to assisted living in NJ near her kids as her health declined. Also, when DH and I first moved to this area 20 years ago it took us a long time to make friends. For those two reasons, I tend to think in terms of the people I’ll be around in retirement, rather than the geography of the place.</p>
<p>I grew up in coastal NC (without air conditoning for a long time) and will be returning as soon as I possibly can. It’s funny how wherever you come from, you consider the weather to be the norm., not horrible (to us), just how it is. I can’t imagine living somewhere with lots of cold and snow but plenty of people do. I guess it’s just what you get used to. </p>
<p>My in-laws also moved to a resort area (about 400 miles from us). They were in good health when they moved there but that quickly changed and the area has little specialized health care. We took that into consideration when making our retirement location choice.</p>
<p>I recently visited Frederick, MD, and I noticed that there is quite a bit of revitilization going on there, and the center of town is being built up - lots of charming/ethnic restaurants, shops, theatre, etc. - definitely worth a look.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your input. I think hub and I will be snowbirds.</p>
<p>I forget whether anyone posted this link, but here are a series of reports on college towns that make good retirement spots:</p>
<p>[College</a> Town Life :: Retire to a College Town](<a href=“http://www.collegetownlife.com/college/ct_retire.htm]College”>http://www.collegetownlife.com/college/ct_retire.htm)</p>
<p>It is not narrow minded to not be enamored of a culture, just because there is an increase in immigrants from a culture it doesn’t make it more desirable than another- I prefer blues/greens, woods and lakes to earth tones et al; Asian cuisine (both SE and Indian) to SW and Mexican, like French as a language. I’m tired of living in a conservative blue collar area, want to be in the majority again. Scandinavian design over traditional… Definitely don’t want the “Bible belt”… And want good local libraries. Not all colleges are the same- so having a college/university locally does not mean a town is intellectual. Feeling like Kermit (ie different).</p>