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Ann Arbor is a great town, but expensive by my standards. Marietta, Ohio, is a small college town with milder winters, though it's harder to find work. It does have a good Learning in Retirement program, lots of free festivals, and decent biking/walking/hiking trails. The local hospital is not bad and has a very good cancer center.
College towns can be a mixed bag: some have lots of entertainment venues, but can be pricey. Housing will be high in many cases, at least close to the center of town, and the cost of goods and services may be elevated due to a captive market. In some towns, students dominate the entire culture, and downtown areas can seem overrun with students with few older adults.
Part time jobs are hard to get since students want them too, and the coffee places, small retail boutiques, etc., will hire students over retirees (even for the same $$), since the shops themselves are geared to students. It can be charming, but be ready for loud parties (if you live in neighborhoods with student housing) and high rents, if you are renting. There is a certain amount of energy from large student populations, but depending on whether the city or town has an identity beyond the college or university, older residents can feel "pushed aside" and not really integral to the town, rather than part of that energy. Each college town has its own personality, but the cost of living isn't low, unless you literally live like a student.
I think it depends on the type of college towns. Many college towns have virtually nothing aside from the campus and amenities geared towards college students. However, there are some college towns that I think would be great places for retirees, such as Madison, Ann Arbor, Berkeley, Boulder, or Chapel Hill.
The MAJOR problem with the large college towns above is that the housing becomes unaffordable and often the tax burden is tremendous.
Personally, more affordable college towns would include Reno, Bowling Green, Cookeville, TN and the like.
Austin is reasonably priced ... but is probably pretty expensive compared to the towns surrounding it. As is Denton, for that matter.
However, the towns noted above - such as Madison, Ann Arbor, Berkeley, Boulder, or Chapel Hill- are pretty darned expensive as you are competing with college students for housing.
We retired to East Lansing (Michigan State University) because of the medical care, arts, festivals, unique restaurants, proximity to airports (for getting out of town), housing costs, cost of living, cultural offerings, and family. My only dislike has been the gray/dreary/cold weather of this past winter.
We both found part time jobs that we like, DH even gets health benefits. Jobs are flexible schedules~month to month, we pick our schedules and let supervisors know when we are available able to work. Public service positions, pay is not great, but the working conditions and no stress/no pressure environments are a luxury we didn't have during our years of working 40+ hours a week.
We're in our late 50's~thankfully in good health, financially stable to retire early and have "encore careers".
College towns can be a mixed bag: some have lots of entertainment venues, but can be pricey. Housing will be high in many cases, at least close to the center of town, and the cost of goods and services may be elevated due to a captive market. In some towns, students dominate the entire culture, and downtown areas can seem overrun with students with few older adults.
Part time jobs are hard to get since students want them too, and the coffee places, small retail boutiques, etc., will hire students over retirees (even for the same $$), since the shops themselves are geared to students. It can be charming, but be ready for loud parties (if you live in neighborhoods with student housing) and high rents, if you are renting. There is a certain amount of energy from large student populations, but depending on whether the city or town has an identity beyond the college or university, older residents can feel "pushed aside" and not really integral to the town, rather than part of that energy. Each college town has its own personality, but the cost of living isn't low, unless you literally live like a student.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jayp1188
I think it depends on the type of college towns. Many college towns have virtually nothing aside from the campus and amenities geared towards college students. However, there are some college towns that I think would be great places for retirees, such as Madison, Ann Arbor, Berkeley, Boulder, or Chapel Hill.
Many good responses. Thanks. I have found that it is very student oriented where most of the
activities are directed for the students (jobs, volunteering, restaurants) Meeting people close to your
own age is difficult unless you are employed by the college or university.
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