<p>emilybee - I grew up in western NC not far from Asheville. It has always been my plan to return there when I retire. Now I just have to convince my Yankee H to make the move with me!</p>
<p>We are planning on staying in Portland. </p>
<p>My mother moved to Florida not long after my father died (until then, they’d stayed in Philadelphia, but in a smaller house). I think she liked it, but I know she felt very isolated and was hurt that her old friends never came to visit, except for a few who also retired to Florida. </p>
<p>I think the best places to retire are those with huge big deal attractions that mean people will WANT to come to see you! (New York City comes to mind. So does Washington, DC.) I want good doctors and a good cancer center (most big cities). I want good public transportation, good public libraries, lots of young people (that I can hire to do odd jobs), good restaurants that deliver, and a place to grow tomatoes.</p>
<p>dmd77,</p>
<p>you lost me on the tomatoes…it is hot enough in Portland to grow tomatoes?</p>
<p>I am in the process of downsizing in Marin County in Nor Cal.</p>
<p>I want great weather…a place where I can walk everywhere, good public transportation…I am sick of driving. 
If I have to drive…the freeway is close by. I can now walk to grocery stores…movie theaters…restaurants. There is a hospital close by…my dentist is close by…and there is natural beauty…</p>
<p>And …I think my oldest daughter will live close enough so I can see her and her future kids. It would be a bummer if she moved away.</p>
<p>I guess one question I have is if I downsized enough…won’t know that for many years…</p>
<p>Can’t predict the future…</p>
<p>Be very careful not to plan a retirement where you vacation. One of the reasons you like that vacation spot is because you are on vacation. My folks made this mistake. They initially retired in a house on the beach at a sleepy coastal town where, years before, they would spend long weekends. They discovered that the “sleepy” part wears off pretty fast.</p>
<p>dstark: I do grow tomatoes in Portland. I have concrete raised beds (they hold a LOT of heat); I use hot caps (cloches) in the spring to start the seedlings; I grow varieties that do well with cooler nights (Sungold cherry tomatoes, Oregon spring). I also plant several varieties of heirloom tomatoes because I’m an incurable optimist. This week’s 85-90 degree weather is ripening those this year; last year I got about three Brandywine tomatoes in mid-October. I’m contemplating creating a small greenhouse over that bed next year.</p>
<p>Nice…</p>
<p>
I think we’ll have a heck of time selling it, and because the market is so bad, we’ll have to spend a lot of money putting it into tip-top shape–no purchaser will be willing to overlook even minor flaws when there are 25 other similar homes to buy. So we won’t dream of committing to another home until this one is sold, and will likely have to store some possessions and live in an apartment for a time until we can arrange for a new place. I don’t have the stomach to do it any other way. As for trying to agree on a location, after 37 years of marriage, we think alike about most things, so I don’t think it will a problem. In fact, H will be more eager to move than I will, as his connections to our town are less intense and sentimental than mine–maybe that’s true of most males?</p>
<p>Lexington, KY. For the poster who asked…I would rather camp under a bridge, but then I’m the UK anti-fan!</p>
<p>Did someone mention Winston Salem?</p>
<p><a href=“Home - Preservation NC”>Home - Preservation NC;
<p><a href=“Home - Preservation NC”>Home - Preservation NC;
<p>I really don’t know what asking prices mean these days.</p>
<p>If one can manage it, I think the thing to do is to move to the retirement location, or very close to it, before the kids are in HS so the kids will think of that area as ‘home’, establish their friends and potential future spouse there, possibly have their families there, etc. so that when it comes time to retire it’s more a matter of downsizing the house (like ‘musicamusica’ mentioned) and maybe moving to a different part of the county but still nearby. The location needs to be appealing enough to the kids to actually want to return there after college and also have a reasonable employment base for them and obviously appealing enough to you to want to spend leisure and down time there. </p>
<p>Once again, I think I’m in the ideal location but of course we all have our own unique desires.</p>
<p>re Lexington: if you have any interest in ever being able to ride a bike, pick another town. Small curvy roads with no shoulders do not make for any kind of a safe riding experience, and there are few bike paths. </p>
<p>Reliable and efficient senior transportation is a must – I know I’ll need to give up driving at some point, and I don’t want to be stuck in suburbia at that point.</p>
<p>I have had two different families from KY live next door to me over our 29 years in this house (NC). Neither has been eager to return to KY. It’s not that they really dislike it that much but just don’t see themselves going back.</p>
<p>We did take the huge leap of going ahead and building the retirement home last year. It’s on the Inner Banks of NC. It’s a rural area (there is a university town with huge medical facilities 25 miles away) but after thirty years in suburbia we’re ready for that. Our S2 is a senior at the nearby univ. town so we hope he might end up staying in that area of the state after graduation. S1 is in the military so there’s no telling where he will end up. We’re lifelong NC’ers and never contemplated living anywhere else.</p>
<p>We’re in the NOVA suburbs of DC. Retire in place is a distinct possibility.</p>
<p>My criteria:
Good transportation systems
Little or no snow
Good cheap ethnic restaurants
Nearby karaoke
Active tennis community</p>
<p>Her criteria:
Water
Cheap eats including blue crabs (oops not so cheap those crabs)
Good medical care available
Snow</p>
<p>Guess we’re a match made in DC!!!</p>
<p>We might opt for a city retirement. No car at all. Good, safe public transit. Lots to do. Good food. The problem is most of those placed have tough winters. So we think a lot about San Francisco. Of course we’d probably only be able to afford a shoe box . . .</p>
<p>^^ San Francisco in summer can be a tough winter.
(said tongue in cheek - nothing compared to most parts of the country and no snow)</p>
<p>Or, as has been attributed to Mark Twain - </p>
<p>“The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco.”</p>
<p>alh, I’ve seen one of those houses…there are MANY homes in Winston Salem that are modestly priced…the Ardmore area is where we would look first…lots of neat old craftsman style homes…small, one story…nice…lots of character. It’s nice to dream.</p>
<p>^^ took a tour in Alcatraz yesterday, first time in 12 years since we have moved here. MORNING FOG worried me, glad the sun came out after 11ish… But just walk around is cold, about 50f, need a wind breaker.</p>
<p>But we are going to retire here in the suburbs, cool in the summer and warm in the winter…</p>
<p>^^ You don’t need to go far from SF to hit warmth - just a few miles and sometimes only a half mile. It’s truly a microclimate there. People can adjust the distance from the ocean to find the right microclimate for them and still be fairly near it all.</p>
<p>Speaking from someone in the DC area, I can’t wait to retire and get OUT of here! It’s way too stressful, crowded, etc., for me to contemplate living here voluntarily. Metro is great, as long as you don’t need it on the weekend when they are always doing trackwork and it moves at a crawl. We also learned recently that this area has the most accidents per car in the country (about one per person every 4 years).</p>
<p>My parents considered retiring to NC but chose against it for some tax reason (which may have changed). They went for Virginia Beach instead and loved it. The local airport in Norfolk is not all that convenient and there’s perpetual tunnel traffic but they’re still happy.</p>
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<p>Good to great medical care, relatively low cost of living, some things to do, couple of big airports nearby (Cincy and Louisville), and if you’re into college sports a good place to be… But Ann Arbor or Austin it is not, alas :-)</p>