Where to retire...

Parent Cafe
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<p>We’ve been looking for a pre-retirement into retirement location for several years. H is retired and consulting and I’m (involuntary) retired and willing to work again. We’ve researched and visited many areas; usually taking a day with a realtor and looking around on our own for a couple of more days. We look at housing, neighborhoods, stores (both practical and fun), restaurants, JCC’s and synagogues, entertainment, recreation, etc. </p>

<p>We currently live in the Chicago suburbs and don’t really have anything tying us to our family town - it’s strongly geared to schools, churches, and social status. We’re empty nesters with one child in northern CA. Our house is paid for and will be a tear down, so can afford to have it on the market for a while if necessary as long as we delay buying in the new location - based on advice, we’d want to rent for a while anyway to make sure we really like it.</p>

<p>After all these years and research, we’ve narrowed it down to Portland, OR and San Diego. I also like Orange County CA but H is not that thrilled with it. At DH’s insistance, I put together a spread sheet for us to rank and rate each area in each of our criteria. Our criteria include:</p>

<p>-Cost of housing
-Weather - snow, rain, heat, cold
-Cost of living (taxes, utilities, food, gas, etc.)
-Recreation/entertainment/access to body of water, beaches
-Socialization opportunities (JCC, synagogues, universities)
-Major urban access, access to city center
-Employment potential
-Neighborhood, walkability, shopping, etc.
-Ease of transportation - airport, highways, trains
-Safety/crime
-Rental availability - houses? Condos? (We would plan to rent for up to a year before buying)</p>

<p>From my point of view, after determining the importance of each item and then ranking the areas, San Diego comes out a clear winner! (I knew that without the spreadsheet but now I can show DH that I did it scientifically ;).) He’s still working on his numbers then we’ll add them together and I’ll bet San Diego still wins. Amusingly enough, California turns up on both best and worst lists of locations to retire.</p>

<p>I badly want to get away from winter weather and be near water. DH badly wants to be able to afford it. He has trouble leaving a house with only property taxes as the COL.</p>

<p>Maybe we should start a CC house trade thread? If DH keeps procrastinating, can I live on your empty second floor in San Diego?</p>

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<p>We are going to be “snowbirds”, which is a term that Floridians use for the retired people who flock to Florida every winter and leave by the end of March.
We are building a beach house on the South Jersey Shore that we will live in from Memorial Day until late September until we are too old to travel. We currently live in a large home in the suburbs of Florida but will eventually move to a 3 bedroom apartment somewhere in Florida for our fall and winter months. This to me, is the best of both worlds.</p>

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<p>^^ Snowbird is no S. Jersey. Snowbird is in Salt Lake City…^^
lBoy, do I wish to live in Sandy, UT, next to Alta and Snowbird…A great place to ski all season…Until I am too old…^^</p>

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<p>The thing is we really like “temperate” meaning not hot, not cold and just sort of delicate, clean (as in ocean breeze) air plus a really great city with great food and cultural things to do. There’s Seattle. We’ve visited it a lot, I have a sibling who lives there. Somehow despite it’s gorgeous natural environment it never seems to have become a wonderful city to us. Maybe we don’t know it well enough. Portland is just too cloudy most of the year.</p>

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<p>^^ Certain parts of the San Diego area probably have the most temperate climate in the country and it’s seldom cloudy or rainy. Whether it has the cultural aspects you’re looking for depends on what you’re looking for but just in case, LA is 2 hours away. San Diego has planty of restaurants of all types including an abundance of the most important type - Mexican.</p>

<p>The biggest down side to San Diego is the cost of housing. It’s not as expensive as SF or LA or some other areas but more expensive than many parts of the country.</p>

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<p>ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad - We are also in San Diego and although we have lived here for many years and love it I don’t know that we will retire here. Both of our D’s hope to live in NYC after college because of the careers they are persuing. H and I would like to live somewhere closer to NYC (maybe within an 8 hour drive) if both kids settle there. We still have many years until retirement so this could change during the next few years.</p>

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<p>Sewhappy, I’ve lived in Portland and I’ve lived in Seattle and Seattle is far darker and rainier.</p>

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<p>showmom858 - </p>

<p>Being near the kids/grandkids makes sense and can override some of the other attributes. This is why I suggested working on the retirement location way early, before the kids are in HS, to try to coerce the kids into living in a nice retirable place. This is clearly no guarantee though.</p>

<p>Also, I know someone who purposely left SD at retirement to head for elsewhere after researching the ‘ideal retirement locations’. Those locations are usually heavily influenced by the cost of housing so SD usually misses out on those. He headed towards North Carolina which usually pops up on the lists but on the way checked out Missouri which was also on the lists. He ended up stopping in Missouri and I think never made it to NC. He didn’t use his kids’ locations as a factor (at least one of whom is in SD). I think the key motivator was to sell the California house, pay cash for the retirement house elsewhere, and pocket a fair amount of the leftover equity. He’s not the first from California to do this. </p>

<p>For some people all it takes is cheap housing near some kind of water and sometimes not even that. Some people don’t care about the weather either which is less of a factor if you’re not compelled to shovel the driveway to get to work and can sit inside for a few days if needed.</p>

<p>Not me - I’ve lived in lousy weather enough and it’s a big factor for me. I don’t like the cold, gray, dead look (due to the naked trees) some parts of the country have in the winter. I also like the variation in the terrain with the hills, mountains, coast, desert.</p>

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<p>La Jolla is about the most perfect weather I’ve ever encountered. And I agree with ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad : Mexican food is the most important of all cuisines and San Diego does it superbly. The problem is lack of really good public transit. I don’t want to drive. At all. I want to be able to walk to everything and hop the subway to the airport to go see the kiddos.</p>

<p>dmd77, that’s interesting about Portland being less rainy than Seattle.</p>

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<p>Crested Butte for us for retirement winters. Summers are wonderful where we are now but I want some sunshine in the winter months. If I had to move somewhere warm (and I’d have a hard time giving up my snow) I’d move to San Clemente or perhaps Capistrano or south to Oceanside in California…somewhere north of La Jolla but south of Laguna. I think I could live in the Outer Banks or northern Maine, too.</p>

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<p>I suspect our kids will be a moving target…thus the need for a good airport near where we retire…and a pleasing enough location that they will come to US too!</p>

<p>I’d move to San Diego tomorrow and so would my husband…except that we don’t want to live in a tent.</p>

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<p>My Friend, Jim, he bought a large mobile home and travels around the North America whereever his fantacy strikes. He normally stays in one place for 2 month or so. I visited him when he toured Sacramento area, was suprised to see the kind of amenities those mobile home park can offer.</p>

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<p>We are going to leave Southern California and retire to Lynchburg, Virginia, my husband’s hometown. He wants to be near his aging parents and some property he will inherit. The cost of living there is a lot lower than in California, and he can finally have his horses, chickens, duck pond, etc. I will miss Trader Joe’s and Mexican food, but I just want an easier life. Don’t know where my D will end up, but can’t wait for that. Besides, she spent part of every summer of her childhood there, and one day the farm will be hers, so maybe she’ll end up there, too.</p>

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<p>Momofthreeboys- Crested Butte is our intended summer destination in retirement. We love brief winter stays there, but as we age we are less interested in winter sports and bitter cold.</p>

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<p>sewhappy,</p>

<p>There’s the San Diego Trolley light rail for mass transit but it doesn’t make it as far north as La Jolla but of course there are buses that do. I think a lot of people in La Jolla who no longer care to drive just have their chauffeur drive them. :wink: </p>

<p>Actually, a condo in the La Jolla/UTC area, fairly near UCSD, isn’t too bad (relatively speaking for this area - expensive compared to most parts of the country) and it’s a nice area.</p>

<p>They seem to have built a lot of condos in downtown San Diego near the new ballpark, gaslamp district (restaurants/nightclubs), and harbor so that appeals to some people. </p>

<p>I like La Jolla a lot but it’s expensive. I also like Coronado and could see myself there but that’s also expensive so apparently I’m not the only one who likes these places and have some competition for the houses.</p>

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<p>Not planning to move in retirement - I already live where I want to retire - Monterey County, California. Small town, golf courses, hiking, biking, kayaking, top notch arts, decent medical, multiple colleges, great weather with something resembling seasons (I have trees that turn colors) without the work (snowed once in the last 10 years). For a city, I can drive to San Francisco. Only challenge is $$$ so I hope we have paid off the house before we retire (in fact that might be the trigger for retirement).</p>

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<p>I retired a few years ago, H last year, and we’ll be staying in NoVa by default. He’s from Minnesota, my family is in upstate NY…too much snow either place. Our major criterion is lots of bridge clubs, and this area fits the bill perfectly! If we move at all, it would be to an apartment or condo in this area, after D, who has moved back home after graduating in May, settles here or somewhere else…and if/when the housing market (okay here but not great) is right…we may be here a while.</p>

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<p>Snowbirds live up north summers and in Florida/Arizona… in the winter. That may become our game plan, especially if our house doesn’t sell before this winter (even I am tired of winter). H is from India and loves the heat, I’ve had melanoma already… </p>

<p>Something not mentioned in various best places to retire is religion/culture. Many places work if you follow a standard JudeoChristian mythology, but the Bible belt is out for us. Want good weather, liberal, city, intellectual- with major U, lower taxes and cost of living. No deserts- I want a garden or at least greenery. There are books with tons of demographic and climate data but having many “diverse” churches still doesn’t mean true diversity. Helpful to look at books to discover factors that matter most to you, however.</p>

<p>We explored the Pacific Northwest- including Seattle and Portland. The gloomy weather gets to me (SADD?) as does the relative isolation from anywhere but the strip along the coast. Great if we were big into the outdoors. Distances are huge west of the Mississippi. California politics, propositions, costs, earthquakes make N CA out despite many positives.</p>

<p>Considered Maryland/DC region but the weather isn’t that much better than here (WI) overall- hot summmers and icy winters recently. I could step on a lot of toes with other reasons to eliminate possibilities. So many places great for raising a family, but not to be moving to without social ties. Do NOT want retirement communities- sound boring. Learned that having money and being intellectual are not the same when we had a vacation condo- too many rich business people who didn’t read et al…</p>

<p>For us Tampa, FL seems good. Weather (asked about hurricanes- the part of town that most appeals to us is where they evacuate TO), close enough to beaches, many outsiders moving into the state, close to a major state U (know that just any smaller college isn’t the same), good enough libraries (nice one in downtown Portland as well- if it weren’t for the rain…) we can see using, good tax wise and housing costs, enough Indians (groceries and even a temple- M-in-law would like being there) and other ethnic groups. Not worried about schools anymore. We’re relatively rich but hopelessly middle class in lifestyle. Perhaps we’ll live in Tampa and migrate south to richer areas some year… We’re not into the arts scene that seems such a draw to many- can see performances in big cities and travel for top museums. </p>

<p>We want a new part of the country to explore. Distances on the east coast are manageable and we have seen so much of the middle of the country. No reason to stay near relatives and son - who knows where he’ll eventually settle. btw- I have noticed how some families stay in the same are for generations, ours moves. Ancestors from elsewhere each generation and some kids dispersing as well. Relatives on both sides in many parts of the country- people to visit.</p>

<p>Good luck to everyone in finding their “best fit” retirement place. One thing- we can all move elsewhere if/when we get tired of a place or things change- no job/raising a family to consider. This search is a lot more fun than helping a kid visit campuses and research schools.</p>

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<p>Sarasota sounds good to us but only for the winter months. Maybe our plan will be to have a small place here in CT for half of the year and a place in Sarasota for half of the year…although truthfully, I can’t picture myself in FL…Sarasota has most of what I want.</p>

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<p>I have a BIL whose parents have begun the snowbird lifestyle in Sarasota (originally from Chicago). They bought a house there, and planned the whole move with several other couple friends who also bought houses within a short walk of each other. They are all Indian-American and are loving this new phase of their lives together.</p>