[nep321]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I never understood this desire people have to move away once they retire. I honestly believe that people should retire near family (or good friends) so they can be involved in their grandchildren's lives (if they have them) and they are not alone when health issues come up or putting family members in difficult situations.

My MIL lives in Florida and had little involvement in our children's lives growing up. She is now having medical issues and it is very difficult for DW and her siblings to deal with her problems from far away. I made the mistake of asking about this over on the Retirement forum a few months ago when a family member was thinking of doing this. You think I was talking about overthrowing the government the way some people responded. It was to the point where I was ready to start moderating that forum and issuing infractions (I didn't). Jay

I can relate. My 80 and 82 year old grandparents stayed in West Hartford during their retirement. They didn't even THINK about moving away, because family is #1 to them and having family support nearby was critical.

Turns out now, my grandfather has Alzheimer's and is on his death bed in Hartford Hospital as we speak. Fortunately, he has all four of his daughters all living in Hartford County and are able to visit and help take care of him every day. I'm sure he is grateful to be able to see his family every day on his last days of his life. Apparently, he valued that more than low COL and sunshine.

They did just fine. That paid off their mortgage well before retirement. To get through winters, they didn't even really have to shovel snow, because they were RETIRED and didn't need to get up and go to work and remove snow immediately. But they somehow got through winters with no problem.

Contrast that with my grandparents who currently live in Florida. We only visit them maybe once every two years. They have no family support, so they need to hire an assistant, which costs money.

[jp03]

Originally Posted by FunkOdyssey

You went too far south (Florida, Georgia, lowcountry SC). Upstate SC and much of NC has peak dew points just a few degrees higher than ours in July. If that's too much for you, then you've got basically the entire west coast with enviable, year-round comfortable mediterranean climates. Several other areas in the west have hot dry summers but otherwise are comfortable year round. There are no shortage of better options.

Only in the mountains or foothills of Carolina..otherwise its hot. But I do agree the western Carolina area does offer decent weather for retirement. Get a bit of snow but never gets extreme. Summer dew points stay low. But from the plateau east? Forget it.

[FunkOdyssey]

Originally Posted by jp03

Only in the mountains or foothills of Carolina..otherwise its hot. But I do agree the western Carolina area does offer decent weather for retirement. Get a bit of snow but never gets extreme. Summer dew points stay low. But from the plateau east? Forget it.

Not just for retirement: check Charlotte, NC and Greenville, SC for great job markets in that sweet spot foothills/piedmont climate.

[133]

I'm early 30's and my gf is 30 and as mentioned in a separate post; I'm looking to move back. The biggest question is where we'll ultimately end up.

I moved from WHartford to UES, Lower Chelsea/MeatPacking, prime West Village, and now in BK. A large reason to move back is because I come from a big family and would like to be closer to them. Even that aside; and I talk about this A LOT with friends from NYC/Boston and my GF who had always viewed CT as that state that you drive through when going to Boston... Personally, I feel west hartford provides the ultimate balance of work/life balance while being close to obvious major attractions. Sh*t, people commute 1.5hrs on average one way to work in NYC; in WH you're about that distance to Boston, Newport RI, and a tad more to Midtown depending on traffic all the while having community and great restaurants/schools/cheap but nice golf courses/trails with a laid back vibe where you can find PBR's for $3 still but fancy enough to have one of the largest newly built homes in the Country (bigger than bill gates's home). I still work in NYC so I'm looking in FF County but given the circumstance (ie. if i weren't money hungry pig), i'd move back to West Hartford in a second.

Obviously I'm a little biased but for me CT is not a place to be in your early-mid 20's but once you'd rather cook a nice meal on friday/sat night over staying out until 5am, CT is a great spot... And NY is close enough when you want those kind of nights

[nep321]

Originally Posted by 133

I'm early 30's and my gf is 30 and as mentioned in a separate post; I'm looking to move back. The biggest question is where we'll ultimately end up.

I moved from WHartford to UES, Lower Chelsea/MeatPacking, prime West Village, and now in BK. A large reason to move back is because I come from a big family and would like to be closer to them. Even that aside; and I talk about this A LOT with friends from NYC/Boston and my GF who had always viewed CT as that state that you drive through when going to Boston... Personally, I feel west hartford provides the ultimate balance of work/life balance while being close to obvious major attractions. Sh*t, people commute 1.5hrs on average one way to work in NYC; in WH you're about that distance to Boston, Newport RI, and a tad more to Midtown depending on traffic all the while having community and great restaurants/schools/cheap but nice golf courses/trails with a laid back vibe where you can find PBR's for $3 still but fancy enough to have one of the largest newly built homes in the Country (bigger than bill gates's home). I still work in NYC so I'm looking in FF County but given the circumstance (ie. if i weren't money hungry pig), i'd move back to West Hartford in a second.

Obviously I'm a little biased but for me CT is not a place to be in your early-mid 20's but once you'd rather cook a nice meal on friday/sat night over staying out until 5am, CT is a great spot... And NY is close enough when you want those kind of nights

I moved to NYC when I was 22 and moved back to CT when I was 23. Now I'm 30. I guess I matured much faster than most people, who seem to want to party until they're 30.

Word of advice: do NOT move to Fairfield County. It is EXTREMELY expensive and congested. Traffic is horrible. It takes me 40 minutes to get home from Stamford to Norwalk, on average, when it should take 10 minutes without traffic.

Just pursue West Hartford.

[FunkOdyssey]

Originally Posted by nep321

Word of advice: do NOT move to Fairfield County. It is EXTREMELY expensive and congested. Traffic is horrible. It takes me 40 minutes to get home from Stamford to Norwalk, on average, when it should take 10 minutes without traffic.

Just pursue West Hartford.

+1. West Hartford is one of the best overall places to live in the state. Depending on your priorities, it might be THE best.

[jp03]

Originally Posted by FunkOdyssey

Not just for retirement: check Charlotte, NC and Greenville, SC for great job markets in that sweet spot foothills/piedmont climate.

I lived in charlotte for 5 years...nice place...but its hot in summer. Job market is iffy. Lots of people moving in and not a lot of jobs to go around. The foothills have no effect on Charlotte...nada. They are on the piedmont and the piedmont gets HOT. No real elevation.. few hundred feet.

[nep321]

Originally Posted by jp03

I lived in charlotte for 5 years...nice place...but its hot in summer. Job market is iffy. Lots of people moving in and not a lot of jobs to go around. The foothills have no effect on Charlotte...nada. They are on the piedmont and the piedmont gets HOT. No real elevation.. few hundred feet.

I tried living in Charlotte, but thought it was too southern/conservative for me. But overall it is a pretty nice place.

What you said about the job market is very true! For some reason, people think that Charlotte is crawling with job opportunities for everyone, but the truth of the matter is that the market there is SATURATED. Relative to the metro population, there are simply not enough jobs for everyone. Same thing with Raleigh and virtually every city in Florida. North Carolina and Florida have saturated job markets and rising cost of living.

[133]

Originally Posted by nep321

I moved to NYC when I was 22 and moved back to CT when I was 23. Now I'm 30. I guess I matured much faster than most people, who seem to want to party until they're 30.

Word of advice: do NOT move to Fairfield County. It is EXTREMELY expensive and congested. Traffic is horrible. It takes me 40 minutes to get home from Stamford to Norwalk, on average, when it should take 10 minutes without traffic.

Just pursue West Hartford.

Originally Posted by FunkOdyssey

+1. West Hartford is one of the best overall places to live in the state. Depending on your priorities, it might be THE best.

VERY interesting. This has been a dilemma that's kept me up at night. I found a beautiful home in a very sought after neighborhood in FF but these reasons alone are really making the decision extremely difficult.

ty

[nep321]

Originally Posted by 133

VERY interesting. This has been a dilemma that's kept me up at night. I found a beautiful home in a very sought after neighborhood in FF but these reasons alone are really making the decision extremely difficult.

ty

Well, whereabouts would you be living and working? It depends. If you're talking about living in Brookfield and commuting to Danbury, I would say go for it. But if you're talking about living in Fairfield and working in Stamford, just be prepared for some of the country's WORST TRAFFIC EVER!