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Old 08-30-2007, 05:31 PM
 
Location: Home is where the heart is
15,402 posts, read 28,837,588 times
Reputation: 19090

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We will be retiring in a few years, and like many of you have begun searching for a new home. I'm hoping to get some ideas from this forum.

My parents lived in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas for more than 20 years and I have been consistently impressed by this facility. Before they moved there, they were retired in Germantown, TN (a fairly affluent suburb of Memphis) and were bored out of their gourds. After they moved to HSV retirement became much more fun--they became very active in a number of clubs, and they particularly enjoyed boating and hiking and going to shows at the HSV theater. They lived in every phase of Village housing, and received particularly good care at the end of their lives. I would LOVE to live in a place like that...

but...

There are two things I don't like about Hot Springs Village. It's very far from an airport or even a medium sized town. And, there are ice storms in the winter and extremely hot temperatures in the summer.

Despite this, I am absolutely sold on the benefits of living in a retirement village. Any suggestions on other places? We will be checking out the Villages in Florida, but I'd like to know what else is out there.

Important to us:
1. Social activities, lots of clubs
2. Watersports (being near a large lake or beach is very big on our list)
3. Being relatively near an airport, as well as near medium-sized or big towns
4. Attractive surroundings. Mountains, rolling hills, beaach, whatever--but it needs to be pretty.
5. Low crime. Doesn't have to be a gated community, but we don't want to be afraid to go out at night.

We aren't wealthy but could afford a place like the Villages in Florida. We don't need a big house or property--a townhouse would be just fine. We would like to avoid high taxes (which, sadly rules out Cape May, NJ) We also want to avoid desert areas, although we might make exceptions.

Any thoughts?
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Old 08-30-2007, 06:01 PM
 
Location: Knoxville, TN
2,171 posts, read 7,632,746 times
Reputation: 1536
Look at Fairfield Glade, near Crossville, TN
[urlmod cut[/url]
It's a retirement community but there's also a huge resort there.
Gorgeous area on the Cumberland Plateau and in the middle of wilderness areas and state and national parks.
45 minutes from Knoxville and about an hour to Nashville's airport.
Fairfield Glade has it's own newspaper:
Crossville Chronicle, Crossville, TN - Glade Sun

Last edited by Waterlily; 08-31-2007 at 12:58 AM.. Reason: ad site
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Old 05-20-2008, 12:03 PM
 
9 posts, read 27,886 times
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How about Hickory, North Carolina? Lake Hickory is here, it has a community theatre and lots of stuff to do yet, Charlotte, Asheville, and Winston Salem are within 1-2 hours.
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Old 05-20-2008, 12:10 PM
 
Location: Home is where the heart is
15,402 posts, read 28,837,588 times
Reputation: 19090
Wow, how funny to see this old post again. This was back when I first joined city-data. Back when I thought retirement was a few years away! It seems so long ago now. Funny how things change.

And BTW thanks for the suggestion. I wound up in north Georgia, not all that far from Hickory.
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Old 05-20-2008, 06:52 PM
 
Location: home...finally, home .
8,797 posts, read 21,198,469 times
Reputation: 20050
How about retirement villages for single women? Or are they only appropriate for couples?
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Old 05-20-2008, 07:27 PM
 
Location: Home is where the heart is
15,402 posts, read 28,837,588 times
Reputation: 19090
Reality is that men die younger than women, so I would think most retirement villages have plenty of single women.
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Old 05-21-2008, 11:17 AM
 
Location: out in Midland County, Texas
60 posts, read 187,942 times
Reputation: 23
Default Thanking You!

I'm glad to see this thread resurrected.

Normie, how are you liking your place in Georgia? Anywhere near Peachtree City? We are considering it...it's very hard to research all the places we find. I find it very helpful to hear from people who actually LIVE in the places or who have relatives in these villages and towns.

We are looking ALL over for a mild climate, affordable, village-style living. It's the "affordable" that seems to nix so many places for us. Agree with you on the weather in Hot Springs Village...
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Old 05-21-2008, 03:26 PM
 
Location: Home is where the heart is
15,402 posts, read 28,837,588 times
Reputation: 19090
Quote:
Originally Posted by HoneysuckleHobo View Post
I'm glad to see this thread resurrected.

Normie, how are you liking your place in Georgia? Anywhere near Peachtree City? We are considering it...it's very hard to research all the places we find. I find it very helpful to hear from people who actually LIVE in the places or who have relatives in these villages and towns.

We are looking ALL over for a mild climate, affordable, village-style living. It's the "affordable" that seems to nix so many places for us. Agree with you on the weather in Hot Springs Village...
Dahlonega's way north--up in the mountains. We like it, the people here are great. But to tell you the truth we may be moving again next year. We live in a unique house and someone is interested in buying it. And I discovered I miss my cookie cutter house. Unique architecture isn't as thrilling as I thought it would be. Meanwhile, my girlfriend moved to South Carolina. I helped her buy her house and in the process fell in love with Greenville and a little town called Clemson. So... things may be changing. We'll see.
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Old 05-21-2008, 06:46 PM
 
Location: out in Midland County, Texas
60 posts, read 187,942 times
Reputation: 23
Good luck in your next move, Normie! I used to go to summer camp right near Greenville and it was just a gorgeous area, incredibly lovely really, and altho people are always going on and on about people in S.C. being hicks or something everyone I dealt with was quite sophisticated and fun! The college kids were sharp as tacks, very witty.

My husband used to build/live in those geodesic domes...talk about your unique homes...UGH!!! I like flat walls and dinky box-shaped houses, LOL.
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Old 05-22-2008, 07:05 AM
 
Location: Florida
56 posts, read 211,286 times
Reputation: 53
I did a double take when i saw this post for "retirement villages". The term is more of an Australian, New Zealand, and British idea. In practice they seem to be a type of CCRC - Continuing Care Retirement Community - a place that combines independent living, assisted living, and a nursing home. In New Zealand in particular there appear to be retirement villages in each NZ state. They differ in type and are tightly regulated. It appears that people generally buy into these "villages" and thereafter have certain clearly identified rights and privileges.

That said, i wonder if "The Villages" will tend to make this term more common (and with a different meaning) here in the U.S.

Normie, you have been discussing/researched 3 of the biggest and most popular active adult communities - The Villages, Hot Springs Village, Peachtree City. Anybody else care to weigh in on what the rest of the "top 10" might be? I am with you on Clemson, seems like a great little town.
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