Yet Another Best States For Retirement Article (single, family, travel)
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Good find, and a fairly sophisticated analysis. My thought is that over the years we posters in this Retirement Forum have pretty much made those same points regarding the limitations of "best places to retire" lists. The best among us are pretty good analyists, I think.
Ain't seen where we retired on any "best" list and it's precisely where we wanted to be and are. Better that it keeps off any "best" list. It discourages the riff-raff from wanting to come and mess the place up. Growth is not always your friend.
This is especially true in "best retirement" small towns. You get a real influx of people who are not necessarily suited to town living or that particular location. Then the wealthier people want to build bigger and better public libraries and schools (instead of sharing these resources with adjacent towns), burdening the locals with taxes they hadn't imagined paying in their lifetime. Then the improved roads, highway, trucking, etc. In one of our small towns here the greedy corporate eyes have their sights set on building a casino. This is supposed to be the answer to Mass. revenue needs. This little sleepy town, formerly a mill town, is quintessential New England. Its misfortune is that it happens to lie near the state Turnpike. All kinds of riffraff and crime may infest the town. Growth like this is seen as good.
This is a helpful forum, as it seems hard to find the area with the right mix for retirement. Due to some direct hits from the ecomony, we are down sizing and have been searching for an area to move to,
We live in central Va., which I would recommend for many people. However for my husband and I, the humidity is just too high and we would like some snow in the winter if possible, 15" to 30" or so. I moved here from up north many years ago, but still am not generally accepted by the many of every walk here, who prefer deep southern roots. I am also mostly liberal minded, which is also considered unusual where we live.
My husband's sales territory is probably suddenly changing to MD, Va, NC and SC. I was just honing in on areas in the Finger Lakes area of NY state to move to, which would not be reasonable anymore, if he gets this new position. Though we would love to be close to water for sailing, or even just nearby watery vistas to enjoy.
Also we are 60. We hope to not have to retire for several years but...?
I have done hundreds of searches on Sperling's Best Places for climate comfort level, air quality, voting etc., but cannot find an area in the states of his probable new territory that even have a reasonably good comfort level (based on humidity) and air quality. I really like to be out of doors, away from big cities and big developments.
Lower humidity, good air quality and people that are generally open minded and friendly are the basic needs...
We can work where ever there is high speed Internet.
Does anybody know of areas that may be like what we seek? I would appreciate any directives, or even areas of reasonable compromise. Thank you!
This is a helpful forum, as it seems hard to find the area with the right mix for retirement. Due to some direct hits from the ecomony, we are down sizing and have been searching for an area to move to,
We live in central Va., which I would recommend for many people. However for my husband and I, the humidity is just too high and we would like some snow in the winter if possible, 15" to 30" or so. I moved here from up north many years ago, but still am not generally accepted by the many of every walk here, who prefer deep southern roots. I am also mostly liberal minded, which is also considered unusual where we live.
My husband's sales territory is probably suddenly changing to MD, Va, NC and SC. I was just honing in on areas in the Finger Lakes area of NY state to move to, which would not be reasonable anymore, if he gets this new position. Though we would love to be close to water for sailing, or even just nearby watery vistas to enjoy.
Also we are 60. We hope to not have to retire for several years but...?
I have done hundreds of searches on Sperling's Best Places for climate comfort level, air quality, voting etc., but cannot find an area in the states of his probable new territory that even have a reasonably good comfort level (based on humidity) and air quality. I really like to be out of doors, away from big cities and big developments.
Lower humidity, good air quality and people that are generally open minded and friendly are the basic needs...
We can work where ever there is high speed Internet.
Does anybody know of areas that may be like what we seek? I would appreciate any directives, or even areas of reasonable compromise. Thank you!
You might consider Delaware. It will get a touch of snow. Air quality is a little less humid than VA. Taxes and COL are good buy most accounts. It is also close in area of your DH's sales area in MD.
Maryland is considered liberal and my DD who lives in Rockville, confirms that. Rockville has a nice small downtown with restaurants and shops. They periodically have snow. The people seem nice when I've visited there. It's within reasonable metro distance of Washington, D.C. DD likes it a lot. However, I think taxes may be high in MD.
In the 4 states you mentioned, I don't think you'll find low humidity, especially in NC and SC. Don't know about the air quality in general.
You can read on this message board about the many 55+ communities in Delaware. There are lots of threads.
This is a helpful forum, as it seems hard to find the area with the right mix for retirement. Due to some direct hits from the ecomony, we are down sizing and have been searching for an area to move to,
We live in central Va., which I would recommend for many people. However for my husband and I, the humidity is just too high and we would like some snow in the winter if possible, 15" to 30" or so. I moved here from up north many years ago, but still am not generally accepted by the many of every walk here, who prefer deep southern roots. I am also mostly liberal minded, which is also considered unusual where we live.
My husband's sales territory is probably suddenly changing to MD, Va, NC and SC. I was just honing in on areas in the Finger Lakes area of NY state to move to, which would not be reasonable anymore, if he gets this new position. Though we would love to be close to water for sailing, or even just nearby watery vistas to enjoy.
Also we are 60. We hope to not have to retire for several years but...?
I have done hundreds of searches on Sperling's Best Places for climate comfort level, air quality, voting etc., but cannot find an area in the states of his probable new territory that even have a reasonably good comfort level (based on humidity) and air quality. I really like to be out of doors, away from big cities and big developments.
Lower humidity, good air quality and people that are generally open minded and friendly are the basic needs...
We can work where ever there is high speed Internet.
Does anybody know of areas that may be like what we seek? I would appreciate any directives, or even areas of reasonable compromise. Thank you!
Just about anywhere it snows in Eastern U.S. is going to be humid. Being right on the coast can bring some relief in Maine, but necessarily in the Carolinas. Also, even within a state there can be wide variance - one of our eastern Mass. posters (in_newengland) says her end of the state (the coast) has different conditions than where I live, in a valley (valleys = more humidity, colder in winter, more snow).
Is he going to be traveling throughout all the states you mention, or just one? If just one, you won't be able to hone in until you know which. On City Data, there are forums for each state, great for reading many different things about each.
[quote=Phebe;30427133]
I have done hundreds of searches on Sperling's Best Places for climate comfort level, air quality, voting etc., but cannot find an area in the states of his probable new territory that even have a reasonably good comfort level (based on humidity) and air quality. I really like to be out of doors, away from big cities and big developments.
Lower humidity, good air quality and people that are generally open minded and friendly are the basic needs...
Thank you for the helpful replies!
I am surprised that outdoor comfort is not taken into consideration somewhat in the Best Places To Retire lists.
My DH will be driving from where we currently live in central Va. to major cities and towns in MD, DC, NC, SC and in VA. He probably will not have to travel too frequently, but he will be driving, when he does.
It makes sense to move, as we are now empty nesters and our house and mortgage are too big. So the desire is to move to the most reasonable area for us, re: temperature, air quality, humidity and friendliness etc., and in proximity to DH's travel. So we need to stay in one of those states, or very close by.
We hope to be able to stay through retirement, but perhaps that is asking too much. The job my DH is probably leaving serviced the whole US, but we have stayed here to be close to family. We were just readying ourselves to put the house on the market and move to a better climate, close to water etc., when this new job opportunity came up, which we are thankful for.
DH for example had considered the Asheville, NC area, until we saw the air quality. Western VA area may be where we end up, but I have been searching for other options.
I will definitely check out the link provided by Rebek56.
Thanks for everyones consideration! ��
I was wondering when someone would publish such an article. I went to high school in Mariposa County, California because my parents had it in mind to retire there in about ten years and built a house on the side of a pine covered mountain (I was their last kid and was a teen when they were in their 50s). They moved there because they liked it. Its pretty, the people are friendly, the climate is mild but had four seasons and it was only a four hour drive to where my siblings lived. Taxes on my dad's private pension or other decisions made in Sacramento didn't figure in their choice. They would have enough regardless where they lived. They decided on Mariposa because the cute little gold rush town suited them and their personal needs for a retirement spot (such as being close to family). I know, how audacious!
I was wondering when someone would publish such an article. I went to high school in Mariposa County, California because my parents had it in mind to retire there in about ten years and built a house on the side of a pine covered mountain (I was their last kid and was a teen when they were in their 50s). They moved there because they liked it. Its pretty, the people are friendly, the climate is mild but had four seasons and it was only a four hour drive to where my siblings lived. Taxes on my dad's private pension or other decisions made in Sacramento didn't figure in their choice. They would have enough regardless where they lived. They decided on Mariposa because the cute little gold rush town suited them and their personal needs for a retirement spot (such as being close to family). I know, how audacious!
What a delightful and uplifting story. I am always glad to hear of other people who are happily retired in California, the state that so many love to hate and demonize. I appreciate your common-sense, rational approach.
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Lower humidity and good air, Md to SC ?
I was wondering when someone would publish such an article. I went to high school in Mariposa County, California because my parents had it in mind to retire there in about ten years and built a house on the side of a pine covered mountain (I was their last kid and was a teen when they were in their 50s). They moved there because they liked it. Its pretty, the people are friendly, the climate is mild but had four seasons and it was only a four hour drive to where my siblings lived. Taxes on my dad's private pension or other decisions made in Sacramento didn't figure in their choice. They would have enough regardless where they lived. They decided on Mariposa because the cute little gold rush town suited them and their personal needs for a retirement spot (such as being close to family). I know, how audacious! 
