<p>I love walkable/bikeable cities, racial and cultural diversity, seasons, snow and lakes and mountains. </p>
<p>So I think this means the dream is Northern urban condo plus lake house and sell the lake cottage before real old age sets in. Most people say tolerance of cold decreases with age but I am >50 and really haven’t noticed it. Any thoughts on when/if this will kick in?</p>
<p>My ideal city may well be Toronto but that may not be realistic as we are US citizens. So I’m thinking DC (okay but too warm), Boston, NY, Minneapolis, Chicago… Dreams are fun but in the end I think moving as close as possible to adult children is the most considerate thing to do and who knows where that will be!</p>
<p>While I would love to think that living near adult children is ideal…the reality is my kids are currently “moving targets”…and I want to consider this retirement location soon. I suspect my kids will not have set down permanent roots by the time we really consider moving. That being the case, I hope wherever we choose is near an airport and in a pleasing enough location that THEY will consider either moving there or visiting frequently.</p>
<p>You’re right Thumper- it may not work to wait for the kids to grow up and settle down before choosing retirement locations. But if at all possible… My parents aged in a city about an 8 hour drive away and it was very hard on all of us. We showed them many nice places near where we lived, but they were really too old to uproot and move. It just wasn’t emotionally possible for them. Getting the timing right will not be easy!</p>
<p>In this day and age, families seem to be pretty mobile. When my s’s “settle down” we may look at where they are, and if they end up on the other coast, we may have to think about that. I would love a condo in Napa. Sounds good to me Having had to take care of an elderly parent long distance for 7 years and now having to deal with the repair/sale of the house, I can tell you it is no picnic. I dont want to be intrusive in our s’s lives, but if they both end up across the country, when its time to retire, being close to family is an important variable.</p>
<p>I don’t know how you can count on your kids staying in one place with the workforce so mobile. People switch jobs or get transferred all the time. That wasn’t the case with my parents or even with H and me (until 5 years ago) but at this point I could not count on either of my kids remaining where they are right now. That’s part of why we chose Nashville for our retirement because we can travel easily from here and lots of places are an easy car trip.</p>
<p>Welcome to Napa!!! The home value there is at the best right now. However, don’t buy into a house that can be flooded! Do you believe that? Its true, flood in Napa…</p>
<p>Great thread. We live in the SF Bay Area and truly love it here. Public transportation is tough but it meets the weather, good medical care, culture, etc. requirements. The one thing I have always wanted (but have yet to have) is to be by the beach with WARM water so as people suggest parts of the east coast, I am a little envious although I doubt we’d ever move…maybe a second home. We’re probably 15 years from retirement though so we have time.</p>
<p>The one thing I haven’t seen mentioned is the implications to one’s social life when moving to a new locale at the age of 60, 65 or older. Having lived here for almost 25 years, our whole life/community/friends are here. The thought of starting over in a community where we know no one is truly daunting–even if it did mean lower costs or, for me, a beach with water I’d enjoy.</p>
<p>I mentioned exactly that in #12! We’d never want to leave family, our wide circle of friends and community interests to start over in a place where we knew no one. It just doesn’t make sense to us.</p>
<p>^^^ I see this happen all the time, though, in my work with seniors, and among people who are in their late 70s and older. It’s remarkable how many times human beings can start over, and how resilient the survivors truly are.</p>
<p>IME, seniors often move to be closer to family members in older old age, not when they first retire. And although there are always cliques and mean girls (and senior duplicate bridge players - don’t ask :rolleyes:), seniors appear to be more welcoming and inclusive than many other demographic groups, maybe because aging is an equal opportunity challenge and no one is above it.</p>
<p>^^ One thing about church involvement is that, at least in our denomination, there is usually an older set of folks who are quite active. That helps you in a new community. That even helped us a lot 5 years ago when we moved to TN.</p>
<p>It also depends on your need for socialization. Mine is high, but H could go for weeks without interacting with people. He enjoys them when he IS in a social setting, but he can be happy in his garage or computer room.</p>
<p>Oh, I understand that it can work, frazzled. I just wouldn’t want to do it! We’re very happy where we are and have long-standing ties to the community and a wide circle of old, old friends. We also have four of our five Ds who are settled here, so it makes no sense for us to move.</p>
<p>One thing that is highly undesirable to me about condos is the management fees that can be higher around here than some folks’ mortgage payment (north of $1000/month). It is also something to factor in. If you just rent, you run the risk of having the owner sell the place & having to move when you don’t WANT to move. I have friends who were forced to move many times because the owners of the units they were renting were selling. They finally were able to buy something so they didn’t have to keep moving again and again.</p>
<p>One thing that is highly undesirable to me about condos is the management fees that can be higher around here than some folks’ mortgage payment (north of $1000/month)</p>
<p>Here too.
My mom sold her 5 bedroom house with large yard because she was tired of paying for someone to cut her grass ( before I went into landscaping).</p>
<p>I can understand that living in a suburban development she wanted to live more centrally located but still in the suburbs. She moved to a condo that not only had nothing but problems related to the construction ( but too late for builder to fix), but they had high maintenance costs for plantings- new rug in the hall etc constantly.
Fees were constantly being raised- much more than having someone do the yard.</p>
Having had to take care of an elderly parent long distance for 7 years and now having to deal with the repair/sale of the house, I can tell you it is no picnic. I dont want to be intrusive in our s’s lives, but if they both end up across the country, when its time to retire, being close to family is an important variable.</p>
We’d never want to leave family, our wide circle of friends and community interests to start over in a place where we knew no one. It just doesn’t make sense to us.</p>