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Dubuque, Iowa...you can even get married there. It's a beautiful town. Galena, Illinois is just about 20 minutes across the state line and it's really a treasure.
Another very nice, very in-expensive small town is in the Southern Minnesota area. Minnesota Lake, offers very liberal and quiet living. Cost of living is ridiculous, weather is beautiful and the view and design of this small town is very gorgeous.
You might want to check out the Hendersonville NC area...it's got lots to offer. The nearby Flat Rock Theater is one of the top small theaters in the U.S. Also nearby is the college community of Brevard. Hendersonville has a great restaurant scene, is not too high in the mountains to get huge piles of snow, and has a lot of culture.
Recreation-wise, the close-at-hand Pisgah Forest and Dupont Forest have incredible hikes to waterfalls...then there's Chimney Rock, Lake Lure (where part of Dirty Dancing was filmed) and other small mountain towns with a rich arts and crafts and music heritage.
I think you can find pockets of acceptance wherever you go. My parents retired from New York to a small town in western Michigan, population about 3000, a conservative area, but there were some gays there. A male couple joined my parents' church (Episcopal) and regularly held hands in church. One of them got elected to the vestry (church governing body). The town now has a gay mayor who I think is pretty closeted although he acts like a real screamer.
I'm in Albuquerque and find it very accepting. My 89-year-old neighbor who lives alone likes the gay couple next door (us) and another one across the street, we keep an eye on her and her children (who live out of town) appreciate it. Santa Fe and Taos are arts communities with an "anything goes" kind of attitude. When I retire I would prefer a smaller, more manageable city with less car dependency and less crime. We're considering Eugene or Corvallis, OR. Can't afford the trendier places like Boulder or Durango. Places like Ithaca, NY and Brattleboro, VT also have an attraction but moving back east at this point would feel like stepping into the past for us.
I think you can find pockets of acceptance wherever you go. My parents retired from New York to a small town in western Michigan, population about 3000, a conservative area, but there were some gays there. A male couple joined my parents' church (Episcopal) and regularly held hands in church. One of them got elected to the vestry (church governing body). The town now has a gay mayor who I think is pretty closeted although he acts like a real screamer.
I'm in Albuquerque and find it very accepting. My 89-year-old neighbor who lives alone likes the gay couple next door (us) and another one across the street, we keep an eye on her and her children (who live out of town) appreciate it. Santa Fe and Taos are arts communities with an "anything goes" kind of attitude. When I retire I would prefer a smaller, more manageable city with less car dependency and less crime. We're considering Eugene or Corvallis, OR. Can't afford the trendier places like Boulder or Durango. Places like Ithaca, NY and Brattleboro, VT also have an attraction but moving back east at this point would feel like stepping into the past for us.
I have a very strong feeling your going to end up in Eugene or Corvallis. They are nice smaller more manageable cities. I can see how you would be attracted to them. Corvallis I think is very nice. Just make sure the climate is something you will want as you get older. Also make sure you completely understand your entire pension will be taxed in Oregon at about 9%. You may want to look into smaller cities in Washington to avoid the Income tax on your retirement. Olympia, Bellingham, Mt Vernon. Rather nice communities within range of Seattle but an hour and more away. Many Oregonions that prefer to stay in the NW, opt for Washington over the Oregon tax on pension income. It is June 15th and it never got beyond 55 wet degrees today, and this has been going on for a very long time. Only a day or two of 70 a couple of times a month. This can go on all summer. No real feeling of what season it is in Oregon many years.
It can be Summer and have the weather of late winter or early spring off and on thru the short summertime.
I think you can find pockets of acceptance wherever you go. My parents retired from New York to a small town in western Michigan, population about 3000, a conservative area, but there were some gays there. A male couple joined my parents' church (Episcopal) and regularly held hands in church. One of them got elected to the vestry (church governing body). The town now has a gay mayor who I think is pretty closeted although he acts like a real screamer.
This sounds like Saugatuck, Michigan which is actually kind of popular with Chicago gays. We go there for long weekends etc. It's quite a beautiful little town.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aries63
I'm in Albuquerque and find it very accepting. My 89-year-old neighbor who lives alone likes the gay couple next door (us) and another one across the street, we keep an eye on her and her children (who live out of town) appreciate it. Santa Fe and Taos are arts communities with an "anything goes" kind of attitude. When I retire I would prefer a smaller, more manageable city with less car dependency and less crime. We're considering Eugene or Corvallis, OR. Can't afford the trendier places like Boulder or Durango. Places like Ithaca, NY and Brattleboro, VT also have an attraction but moving back east at this point would feel like stepping into the past for us.
My partner and I are looking at Santa Fe, or the East Mountains between Albuquerque and Santa Fe for retirement. We really love the area. But of course it may be a little while before we retire - we're still in our early 40's.
One thing I have noticed, and I don't know if this is universally true or not, is that the higher the degree of "Gayness" of a place, the more expensive it is to live there.
Yeah, I've noticed that, too. I was going to mention Palm Springs, but it is expensive (although people from coastal California tend to think it's reasonable--but they're minds are warped by the super high prices near the coast).
Exactly, its something you have to watch for if these so called gay friendly places are what someone is after. Most retirees not all but many are concerned with their retirement dollars, and the more gay the population the more the cost of living in the area. I have crossed basically all the gay areas of the country off my list because of the ridiculous cost of living in the places. I don't know about Bisbee arizona though, I hear some gays retire there, but I don't think Im cut out for something that remote. Truthfully I find the USA very limited for gay people to begin with, and that is why I feel it is much more difficult to find places than a st8 person. Im retiring to where it is cheaper and warmer and at least some semblace of strength in its economy. I hope it will be gay friendly but Im not one that would want to live in a place that was excluseivly gay to begin with.
Tucson, Arizona might be a reasonable alternative to Bisbee. Not a small town by any means, but not a metropolis, either. I went to college there. Although not a "gay" town, it was reasonably gay friendly then.
If you can handle a larger metropolis, there's Phoenix. It's actually supposed to be quite gay friends. Personally, I don't like the endless concrete suburban sprawl of Phoenix (and the resultant hot nights because of all the concrete holding in the heat)....but that's just me.
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But of course it may be a little while before we retire - we're still in our early 40's.
