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I live in a small retirement community founded by a group of university administrators. It's populated with plenty of ".edu" types who constantly remind anyone who will listen that they once had some title or tenured position in that past life. In their minds they see this concentration of intellectual prowess as the most attractive part of the community. Virtue signaling is an Olympic sport here and IIRC there might even be a HOA rule that each garage must have a Prius parked in it.
We love the architecture and the climate, and those were the main reasons we bought our home. I tolerate the "progressive" stance of the edu crowd and find a lot of humor in their hypocrisy.
My experience with those that have spent years in academia is that those folks often have the least amount of just plain old common sense, and ability to help themselves, compared to more salt of the earth type people.
Like the old adage says, "Those who can do, those who cannot, teach." There is some truth to that.
I neglected to mention in my previous post that Bellefonte PA, which has close proximity to State College and Penn State, might be worth a perusal on your part.
Real estate is significantly cheaper in surrounding areas rather than State College proper.
State College is surrounded by beauty and multiple state parks. There are four seasons although winter goes on at least a month too long.It hosts a celebrated Art fest and enjoys theatre and big name performances.... Paul Mc Cartney last year.
There is an active Osher life learning Institute for older adults and a thriving live music scene.
I want to thank all who have kindly responded to my first post about this topic--some great suggestions were made and I've looked into them, but I'd like to refine my situation further. As I said before, it's probably wishful thinking, but you never know...!
Here are my requirements: liberal, artsy, intellectual (for example, a university town), scenic (I love forests, for example), tax-friendly, reasonably-priced real estate. If they seem a bit picky--they are (lol)! Picking up and moving to a new area without knowing anyone presents a lot of challenges and it's not inexpensive, either. So I think it's very wise to be very careful.
I'm not a fan a big cities, but a smaller city or urban area might work, as long as it's surrounded by well-kept, safe suburban areas--a medium-sized town would be great, too.
Since I'm a liberal, it would be nice to be in an area with like-minded thinkers--even a mix of various political persuasions is fine because you can always seek out your own. Also, an area with a general spirit of intellectual striving.
By "artsy" I mean an area that fosters artists and promotes the arts--I'm into fine arts (painting, etc.), so that would be my preference.
Since I truly hate spring and summer and love fall and winter, I would like four seasons. My favorite weather is about 30-40 degrees--at this point I'd like to stay away from long periods of sub-zero weather (as in Minnesota or Montana, for example). I also despise rain (cloudy days don't bother me at all, but excessive wet does), so that would exclude many areas of the PNW (like Bellingham) and also Bloomington, IN or Champaign-Urbana (lots of annual rainfall).
Tax-friendly would be ideal. Some areas, like Madison, WI, for example, are so heavily taxed that it would be unpleasant to live there (although I might ultimately have to settle for a place like this and just grit my teeth). And reasonably -priced real estate (a decent, two-bedroom house or condo for under 200K).
I want to find a place where I feel I can fit in--where my personal interests would be encouraged and supported by like-minded individuals. I don't know if it's possible with such a low budget, but it's what I have to work with!
As i said, all in all this might be wishful thinking, but maybe the City-Data crowd can come up with a solution! As always, I thank you in advance for your help!
Jeezle Peets!
You find that and I am on the street right behind you
Not sure about expenses and it is a city, but Providence, RI fits the other items on your list.
Stiff property taxes. The liveable parts of the city are expensive. For a retiree, RI exempts $15k of Social Security income and $15k of non-SS income for lower income retirees. There are a few low property tax towns but the housing budget in this thread makes them unaffordable. You could have found something in 2010 but not now. You’d need another recession.
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