Women retiring alone to a new city/state -- where will you go and why? (travel, college)

[riverbird]

Thanks for the welcomes. Crazy Town is my kind of place!

Good luck in your search, Wisteria. When I visited Las Cruces, I liked it, but it may have changed a lot since I was there.

[anomoly]

I've been thinking about this lately, because I'm getting ready to move on in the next month or so.
I'm in a motorhome, been traveling for almost 3 years now, which has been great, but still seeking a 'home community'.
This thread sure has tapped into a real, but almost invisible, segment of women in Society, and I thank Wisteria, once again, for starting it.

I see us formulating some real 'factors' that are important to each of us, as we envision what we'd like our future to look like.
I spent some time looking into "intentional communities", and "co-housing" online. I didn't find anything of interest to me, but I learned how simple their formula was:
likeminded people coming together, formulating a common vision, and taking steps.
It gave me a better understanding of what's out there, and helped me get an even better sense of what I consider important, of interest, or not of interest.
I did not see anything resembling 'us', and this thread makes me think there's a real need for options.
Who are we?
Mostly: Women, single, 45+, open-minded, transitioning, pre-retirement/retirement, desire connections and communtiy, etc.

I'd like to take this to the next level, and see where others are in this process.
I think we need to start with the following:

1. determine who's ready to make this a reality in the near future, (maybe a 'poll'?)
2. decide on the factors we consider important,
3. match up with those who have common goals,
4. see if we have enough to actually create a plan.

I think I'd call this step 1, which is a big step.
I'd appreciate feedback on this, from those who might be interested.

[susancruzs]

I wish I would have found this thread before I up and moved to Wisconsin on my own. I would have come here anyway, not too far from my sisters in Iowa, Michigan and my "roots" in Illinois but the support and sounding board would have been a big help.

I went through alot of peaks and valleys in my decision process and because Waukegan was getting worse by the day I left before I was 62. I had a good job with Manpower at Abbott and ideally should have waited. Now I'm a little pressed financially but the main thing is I am very happy where I'm living.

I was on City-Data alot as my initial line of thinking was western Illinois or more cental Illinois. I had no idea that this section was even available until after I moved.

[nancy thereader]

Certainly, we'e all need to powwow before any of did anything drastic (such as move by themselves across country), but anomoly has tons of great points and all of us should use then as a guideline.
Even for us just to meet up would be a first and exciting step. Think of the photos we could post !!!!

[plantlover]

what about sometime this summer?

[riverbird]

anomoly, I agree there's a real but almost invisible segment of women who are thinking about what to do in the next phase of their lives. We're the first wave; there'll be more of us each year. We're the pioneers!

[Tesaje]

Originally Posted by riverbird

anomoly, I agree there's a real but almost invisible segment of women who are thinking about what to do in the next phase of their lives. We're the first wave; there'll be more of us each year. We're the pioneers!

I think this is so true. I've read that nearly half the taxpayers in this country are single filers. Single women are a huge block of the population and the aging baby boomer bubble is arriving at retirement age.

But like any population block, individual wants and desires vary a lot. While lots of people like the south and heat, that is what I want to get away from once I earn my emancipation from working for a living (1.5 years away). The New Mexico sun (intensified by altitude) is not what I want more of. Plus the water situation in the southwest is pretty bad. Very neat place to visit and explore, but not a place I want to live if I have a choice.

Wherever I do end up, these are the things I'm going to need to be able to find:
New friends who will also not be working or working much and without childcare responsibilities - so other retirees will be a plus.
These friends should have some travel experiences or I'm not going to have a lot in common with them. I need to find intellectually bent people so I have something to talk about. Discussions of doilys bore me to death. Moderate physical activities are important. Having a good place for pets and a garden.

For a climate, I want coolish, moderate summers. I am really sick of hide-in-the house-for-AC hot summers. Cold winters bother me less, but being able to moderate fuel costs would be a plus. I want to look forward to summertime instead of dreading the heat.

I, personally, am leary of retirement communities. The fees, rules, and golf courses bother me. I prefer more natural and garden spaces and have zero interest in golf and tennis. The pluses would be automatic community of similar aged people, and not being bothered by people's out of control brats (nice children are fine with me). But would a single middle aged woman find good company? There is still that old bugaboo about couples socializing with single women and the jealous wife even when there is zero chance either her husband would stray or that I would be interested anyway. (Pulezze! ) I love gardening and want to do that until I can't move at all. It just seems too structured and rigid for me.

Having aging services and health care available is not important at first, but I want to be in a place as I get older where I can get them when I need them. I really am intrigued by the downtown Boston model for this where people live in their regular abodes and buy into a cooperative that provides all manner of services as needed. It seems like the best of both worlds. You get the aging services but also get to stay living in a regular community and housing that you had before you needed any help.

Finding compatible new friends in a new place seems to be the biggest hurdle to overcome, but with the numbers of single middle aged women, it ought to be a doable thing. At least I hope so.

[brightdoglover]

I really am intrigued by the downtown Boston model for this where people live in their regular abodes and buy into a cooperative that provides all manner of services as needed

I believe that is a group of people who live on Beacon Hill, which is certainly very compact and frankly, having a car there would be a nightmare (there is a "condo parking garage" where a space costs $150K). I don't know if the model could be replicated without the intense density of the housing.

[HDL]

not drive this one Off Topic !!!! I hope when you get a chance, you will stop by and let me know what you think of my idea !

http://www.city-data.com/forum/retir...n-fund-my.html

Thanks

~HDL~

Originally Posted by HDL

I'm reading along hoping and praying that one day soon, I too will be OLD enough to retire !!!! Anyhow, this thread has got me thinking of a Singles Retirement Community I've been planning to build . When I have some more free time, I will either post more about it here or start a new thread so as to NOT go all OT on you Wisteria !

<snip snip>
Best wishes to you all !

~HDL~

[anomoly]

Originally Posted by nancy thereader

Certainly, we'e all need to powwow before any of did anything drastic (such as move by themselves across country), but anomoly has tons of great points and all of us should use then as a guideline.
Even for us just to meet up would be a first and exciting step. Think of the photos we could post !!!!

Originally Posted by plantlover

what about sometime this summer?

I think that's an excellent idea, Nancy, and glad to see you even suggested a time, Plantlover!

I notice this thread has some natural separations, between east and west. Part of that is me, as I know I'm interested in the Southwest, so anything back east or northeast, doesn't even hit my radar. But, that might be a starting place, if any kind of trip was planned.

There could be a Meet Up West, and a Meet Up East. If both were planned and generated enough interest, we could exchange ideas and what we gained from the experience. Perhaps, this could be an "annual" thing, since everyone's in such different stages, and that allows for new people to join in.

In fact, I really like that idea! An annual 'special interest' gathering, where we could focus on planning, and document the highlights for future use. I don't mean some formal 'convention', but something organized enough to accumulate info/ideas, and to give life to this concept.

A website specifically dedicated to the cause would allow us to include profiles, interests, talents, skills, contact info, and a running log of progress, activities, and updates.

I know there's 'pre-formed' internet communities, where groups can establish a presence. I set one up for a mental health group, after moving to a new area, and realized there was no central information source for local people to find local info/support, and it grew to include resources, referrals, refs, social networking, personal experiences, advocacy, etc. I think it was through Yahoo.

I like organizing these kinds of things, so I'd be willing to take the lead on setting something up, if there's enough interest.
Let me know!