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Its great that you have so long to research and decide. I am looking at NC and SC and have been for the last 2 years. Have been here in AZ for 11 years and retired for the last two. There just isn't enough to do here for me. Am not a hiker, don't like the color brown, love love love Fall trees and their colors, need some water around me, and SO tired of the cookie cutter housing developments here. The summer heat, which by the way, seems to be getting worse each year, is the topper. From May until November, it is AC and in the house. And, I love to garden. Not desert gardening either. So, I have been doing alot of research and hope to move from here really soon. Have already packed stuff up. Just need to go. Either Charleston or Raleigh, just need to decide.
Highly recommend the url golfingduo suggested, and of course City-Data. I particularly like being able drill to different censusdata segments, even to the street level. Very helpful, as are the city/state forums. City-data has done a nice job with enabling seraches too. You just have to know a general are or topic and you can find it. Me? 9mtns/22days/12hrs/3min/....sec.
Thanks. There are many places but that one there has aspects like drilling down to particular streets and blocks for census data (crime stats, income level, homes neighborhood). All of that makes for good research. Still once you have picked out some areas nothing beats boots on the ground. Even better move there temporary and see what life is really like.
The area I was considering at one time was near Seneca ( very close to Clemson and Clemson University)
Summers there are milder than farther east and years ago many people with money headed to that area to avoid the extreme summer heat and humidity.
I scratched Seneca because I already had Dekalb County AL at the top of my list.
It was my #1 choice due to topography, scenery,weather, cost of living and location. ( about 55 miles SW of Chattanooga on I-59 )
The only reason we chose Cherokee Village over Dekalb County AL was it was 4 hours closer for trips back to MN and the weather , scenery, and cost of living are quite similar to where we are now.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Originally Posted by Grubasek
Wow, great information! Thank you everyone. I am curious what Sedona, AZ is considered more expensive. Is the housing market high? What about the cost of living and purchasing the things you need?
I will take you advice on visiting places to get a feel for them. I will be planning a few trips of the next couple years. I look forward to hearing more from everyone!
There is a poster on here who bought a very inexpensive Mobile Home in a 55+ park Sedona, that avenue is often the least expensive, and actually not bad in the right park. I would certainly look for a resident owned park (which are few, but VERY worthwhile seeking out). value of homes and parks is much more reasonable and probable to increase. ROC USA : Home
For AZ, I like Prescott (and valley), Jerome / Cottonwood, Williams, ShowLow, Tucson / Oro Valley
NM is quite a good choice as well, Both ABQ and LC, as well as some cities north.
Colorado (decent taxes) (Loveland and Colorado Springs)
SD (tax free) I like Spearfish / Sturgis
For SC, I can only do the Mtns (lower humidity / cooler / breezes), so Greenville and west. Check with mzfroggez (PM her, tho she is not an everyday poster, she recently examined VERY thoroughly and bought in Western SC.). She is very diligent and well informed and will save you some searching. I flew into Greenville and did my SC, NC, TN, GA search last fall. I will still stay focused on Tri Cities TN (probably Kingston for senior centric since I intend to build a senior village) http://www.city-data.com/city/Kingston-Tennessee.html
Its great that you have so long to research and decide. I am looking at NC and SC and have been for the last 2 years. Have been here in AZ for 11 years and retired for the last two. There just isn't enough to do here for me. Am not a hiker, don't like the color brown, love love love Fall trees and their colors, need some water around me, and SO tired of the cookie cutter housing developments here. The summer heat, which by the way, seems to be getting worse each year, is the topper. From May until November, it is AC and in the house. And, I love to garden. Not desert gardening either. So, I have been doing alot of research and hope to move from here really soon. Have already packed stuff up. Just need to go. Either Charleston or Raleigh, just need to decide.
Barb you and I are alike in the gardening area and loving the fall color. One thing I absoutely hate about where I am now Seattle area is I cannot grow beef steak tomatoes. Our growing season is way tooooooo short. You can grow the little tomatoes but they are not my favorite. Would really love to be somewhere to grow the big ones. I like to mess around in the garden and when that sun in AZ is so darn hot how does one do any of that. Cactus is not my idea of flowers. We have beautiful Rhoddies here and other beautiful trees and shrubs we can grow. I however, have passed the point of no return as far as spending all the time in the garden. Give me a small backyard for a few things and room to plant tomatoes and have some containers full of pretty flowers and I will be good to go. This year we have hired someone to do the lawn and yard upkeep because I just can't do it anymore -too much work. Hubby has a ruptured disk he is dealing with right now so his wonderful lawn upkeep is kaput for this year. I have so many friends that moved to AZ. They think being in that blazing sun is the end all. I have had skin cancer on my face 3 times now so the sun is not my friend, especially that dry heat. I would rather have the humidity - at least it will be good for the complexion LOL.
Would love to hear where to finally settle and what you think of it.
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