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You might take a look at Prescott, AZ or Reno, NV as these cities are supposed to have a similar climate to Albuquerque. I've heard better things about Prescott which is smaller than Albuquerque but close to Phoenix. I assume they also hardscape or use natural plants in their yards to conserve water. Prescott would be closer to California and the coast, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, etc. so would not be as isolated as Albuquerque. It is a popular retirement area.
We've been to Prescott a couple of times to escape the heat in Phoenix (my brother lives in the Phoenix metro area and we sometimes visit him in the summer). It was originally a summer home/vacation area for people from places like Phoenix. And my recollection is it was more of a large town than a small city in terms of services and the like.
And it is pretty much too far away from most of Phoenix (2 hours - more or less - mostly more) to be convenient if you're a senior trying to take advantage of the services in the Phoenix metro area.
IIRC (might not) - the area had a lot of conifers. Doesn't look at all like Phoenix. There are issues with bark beetles now:
I'm an avid gardener - and I think the part of the country that would perhaps suit me the best when it comes to gardening is the Pacific Northwest. Unfortunately - the cool drizzly climate that makes gardening so appealing there makes golf very unattractive. Suspect that 10-15 years from now - I won't be able to do either - so the issue will be moot. Robyn
P.S. I'd move to the Phoenix metro area before I'd move to Prescott. There's a lot more going on there. The heat in the summer in the afternoons is dreadful (worse than Florida IMO). But if you can wake up early and get your outside stuff done (whatever it is) - say before 11 am - it's doable in the summer.
We're here already. 25-35 years in the humidity of the Deep South had us both ready to go back to the Southwest, where we had each lived as children.
Santa Fe has about 325 days of sunshine per year, four distinct seasons, and very low humidity. The Diurnal temperature variation in the high desert means even a 100 degree summer day will cool off reasonably at night. Weather forecast for this, the first week of July, is high 80s during the day and 60 or below at night. Winters are wonderful. Beautiful fluffy snow will fall, hang around for a little while, then sublimate. No icy slush to navigate through and around. No more worry of tornadoes and hurricanes. Fire is really the only catastrophic possibility, and that depends on where you live.
That does sound like a nice climate and one which I would probably pick if climate was the "only" factor. Enjoy!!
One thing to remember, you will probably have two retirement locations. The first one will be your place to enjoy but the second one will be your last--not your favorite place, but a place to be near family, if you have any--and the climate won't matter because you'll be inside most of the time. (Maybe assisted living or similar--you'll be staying indoors.)
For the more active years, I like New England even though the weather sucks. The summers are pretty nice and if it gets too hot and muggy, you can hop in the car and be in some place like Maine or near a beach. I love history and that's all over the place around here so there's no lack of day trips. Boston isn't too far away by train so I can get domestic or international flights. And, New England is "home."
Looking towards the future it's not going to be practical to stay here in the long run. There is no family left. With a ton of money I could look at the CT coastline where some family still lives. Or I could move to southern VA where my sister lives. It seems to be this second phase that is so confusing. If you wait too long, you could be too old and infirm to move but yet you hate to give up a place you love to move away to something mediocre and unfamiliar. I know I won't like it where my sister lives.
That's why I guess I'm favoring picking my main place and then either snowbirding or traveling during the winter, etc. I just retired last Oct. and my first winter was spent traveling quite a bit. I don't "hate" colder weather, but like travel and prefer to escape the cold at last some during the winter. How much and whether to just take a couple three or four week "vacations" or whether I will actually move somewhere for 3-4 months remains to be seen.
We chose to move here to Salt Lake because there's a real city here rather than just a ski resort with expensive amenities.
Park City - all by itself - is lovely but if you want lower cost services and medical care you have to drive down the summit to the Salt Lake Valley.
Had we moved to a Colorado ski resort - or any of those in California we'd be many miles from reality based life.
Just FWIW - when we were taking ski trips - Utah was always our favorite. For a number of reasons. First - great ski areas. In all flavors. With great long season snow. We went to just about all of them outside SLC (except perhaps for Brighton - which is more of a local day area than a resort destination). Snow Bird. Alta. Park City. Deer Valley. And all were very close to SLC - a real city where you could take a day off from skiing and do other things. The driving was on very well-maintained roads - and the people there knew how to handle snow.
There were other things - like non-stop flights from Miami. But that doesn't have anything to do with choosing a place to live. In all honesty - if I were a relatively early retiree looking for great winter sports and a metro area - SLC would be very high on my list (note that as it turned out - although I was an excellent tennis player and a decent golfer - I was just about one of the worst skiers in the history of the world - guess that isn't unusual when you've spent most of your adult life where it's warm - never snows - and is as flat as a pancake - so we wound up in NE Florida).
When it comes to the Colorado ski resorts - they are mostly not around the corner from Denver. We would fly into Denver - and then always have to worry about getting from Denver to most of the ski resorts. In terms of the major ski resorts in Idaho (Sun Valley) - and Wyoming (Jackson Hole) - and Montana (Big Sky) - none is particularly close to anything. Ditto when it comes to California/Nevada (Heavenly/Tahoe/and the like). Robyn
If I'm going to be realistic, my wife and I will probably move to Arizona when we retire. Preferably with some elevation. We like Catalina Foothills and Oro Valley. Would also like to check out the outskirts of Phoenix metro, such as carefree, Fountain Hills and maybe even Sedona or Wickenburg.
Catalina, eh? I had a house there for a couple of years.
Hope you like spiders!
Cottonwood Az is the perfect climate for me. Low humidity, plenty of sun, mild winters and great summers. Second choice would be Tucson AZ. The summers are a tad warm, but i do love that city. I plan to retire to one or the other.
Since Cottonwood is my hometown, and where I live now, I have to agree with you. Right now it's kind of hot and the Monsoons have started so the humidity is up there some. But the NICE thing about our humidity is that it's usually fairly low, until we get a 100% thunder/rain storm, but then it cools waaaay down and after the sun comes back out the humidity drops. It doesn't stay high 24/7 like some places I have lived. I don't even use my AC all the time...just a few hours a day. My big ceiling fans do run 24/7 though. I like Tucson too. They have the BEST Monsoons!
Right now it is 94 degrees and 17% humidity. Not bad at all! Looking forward to the fireworks tonight!!
We haven't had an ice storm yet- but apparently they do happen. Roads will get icy in spots when snow melts and re-freezes
I lived in Charlottesville, VA for five years in the 1970s, which is in the ice storm "belt" along with Asheville. We would get several ice storms in the winter, and because it was the piedmont, the town was hilly so driving (or even walking) was difficult. Once I went to a movie with a friend and when we got out, the city was a sheet of ice. We had to walk home, slipping and falling every few feet. Don't know about Asheville, but winter days in C'ville in the mid 30s and very damp were common -- and very miserable.
We've been to Prescott a couple of times to escape the heat in Phoenix (my brother lives in the Phoenix metro area and we sometimes visit him in the summer). It was originally a summer home/vacation area for people from places like Phoenix. And my recollection is it was more of a large town than a small city in terms of services and the like.
And it is pretty much too far away from most of Phoenix (2 hours - more or less - mostly more) to be convenient if you're a senior trying to take advantage of the services in the Phoenix metro area.
IIRC (might not) - the area had a lot of conifers. Doesn't look at all like Phoenix. There are issues with bark beetles now:
I'm an avid gardener - and I think the part of the country that would perhaps suit me the best when it comes to gardening is the Pacific Northwest. Unfortunately - the cool drizzly climate that makes gardening so appealing there makes golf very unattractive. Suspect that 10-15 years from now - I won't be able to do either - so the issue will be moot. Robyn
P.S. I'd move to the Phoenix metro area before I'd move to Prescott. There's a lot more going on there. The heat in the summer in the afternoons is dreadful (worse than Florida IMO). But if you can wake up early and get your outside stuff done (whatever it is) - say before 11 am - it's doable in the summer.
True, but Scooby's spouse wanted to move to Greenville, SC which is similar in size to Prescott and almost as far to Charlotte, NC (which I assume is where the better medical facilities and services are) as Prescott is to Phoenix. Obviously every place has heat spells in the summer but the current ten day weather forecast for Greenville is 92 to 100 degrees but only 88 to 90 for Prescott. Scooby lives in Houston so I assume they are deliberately looking for a smaller community for retirement. I have not been to Prescott in many years but was always impressed by its natural beauty.
Just FWIW - when we were taking ski trips - Utah was always our favorite. For a number of reasons. First - great ski areas. In all flavors. With great long season snow. We went to just about all of them outside SLC (except perhaps for Brighton - which is more of a local day area than a resort destination). Snow Bird. Alta. Park City. Deer Valley. And all were very close to SLC - a real city where you could take a day off from skiing and do other things. The driving was on very well-maintained roads - and the people there knew how to handle snow.
There were other things - like non-stop flights from Miami. But that doesn't have anything to do with choosing a place to live. In all honesty - if I were a relatively early retiree looking for great winter sports and a metro area - SLC would be very high on my list (note that as it turned out - although I was an excellent tennis player and a decent golfer - I was just about one of the worst skiers in the history of the world - guess that isn't unusual when you've spent most of your adult life where it's warm - never snows - and is as flat as a pancake - so we wound up in NE Florida).
When it comes to the Colorado ski resorts - they are mostly not around the corner from Denver. We would fly into Denver - and then always have to worry about getting from Denver to most of the ski resorts. In terms of the major ski resorts in Idaho (Sun Valley) - and Wyoming (Jackson Hole) - and Montana (Big Sky) - none is particularly close to anything. Ditto when it comes to California/Nevada (Heavenly/Tahoe/and the like). Robyn
Yup. You're right.
When we were deciding where to live - we were in Colorado and a huge snow storm came in when we were in Frisco, CO.... and we came THISCLOSE to missing our flight the highway was miserable to drive in. This was when Stapleton Airport was still there.
We've been here in the Salt Lake Valley almost 26 years and in retirement it will be time for a change. "Going home" to California to no snow winters. If we want it - we'll drive to it.
Utah's been relatively good to us but we're homesick and miss the Sierras, the ocean, family and real beer.
I like the four seasons myself, so I'd pick someplace I've lived in the past, like around Pennsylvania or Ohio.
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it's not going to be practical to stay here in the long run. There is no family left. With a ton of money I could look at the CT coastline where some family still lives. Or I could move to southern VA where my sister lives. It seems to be this second phase that is so confusing. If you wait too long, you could be too old and infirm to move but yet you hate to give up a place you love to move away to something mediocre and unfamiliar. I know I won't like it where my sister lives.
