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I want to retire from living in the Midwest (St Louis MO.) most of my life. Looking for a better weather conditions away from the humidity of the summer. My main concern is affordable housing and health care. What about social life and activities? I do enjoy college sports and being able to be close to an airport. I also enjoy having college’s close by for attending classes for interest.
I enjoyed a week that I spent in the Albuquerque area last year and just wondered about the retirement in that area.
If it is not Albuquerque is not the area, what area would you suggest - an extremely hot summer is something that I want to avoid?
Thanks
David
Last edited by max99s99; 07-30-2007 at 03:17 PM..
Reason: spelling
> I want to retire from living in the Midwest ... Looking for a better
> weather conditions away from the humidity of the summer.
Anyplace in site of the Western mountains to the Pacific coast
has better summers than St. Louis. In addition, the winters
will also be better.
Some places have harsher winters than others, but nothing like
what you endure in St. Louis. Phoenix temperatures are higher
than St. Louis, but having lived both places, (well, OH, really,
but what's the difference?) I can say that I'd rather spend a
summer in Phoenix than in St. Louis and I hate the heat.
> I enjoyed a week that I spent in the Albuquerque area ...
I recommend that you continue to do just that. I moved here
soon after college and spent extended times in Denver, Phoenix,
Albuquerque and shorter times in other places just to see it.
You are an old retired person (or soon will be). What have you
got better to do? Visit Boise (similar in climate to ABQ), Boseman,
Cheyenne, Colorado Springs, Tucson, check it out. Have some fun.
Why commit?
You are an old retired person (or soon will be). What have you got better to do?
Obviously written by someone young who forgot to engage his brain before putting his mouth in gear. LOL
Just kidding, but be careful who you call old these days. Retirement doesn't mean our lives are essentially over ("what have you got better to do?"), and we don't consider ourselves "old" just because we're in our 60s. Heck, I'm in the prime of my life, you young whippersnapper!
From max's list of desirable things to do, I'd say his/her life looks to be pretty full for the foreseeable future.
Having said that, travel is enlightening and fun and I concur that it's not a bad idea to do some of it. I'd avoid Tucson, though; the summers are nasty hot!
In Arizona, I'd take a look at Sierra Vista. Better weather than Tucson, lots of retirees, plenty to do, and close enough to Tucson for whatever you need from a big city. Also check out Prescott, near the middle of the state.
-- Roses are red, violets are blue
-- Ha! Ha! Ha! I'm younger than you.
Unfortunately, the day when I could claim to be
in the lower-half of the country age-wise are
long gone.
> Retirement doesn't mean our lives are essentially over ...
HEY!!! Just a minute! I NEVER said that. ... never
> ("what have you got better to do?"), ...
--- and you wrote: ---
> written by someone young who forgot to engage his brain
> before putting his mouth in gear.
Nope. Nope. Nope.
I said that on purpose. What could be better than a road
trip? What? Unfortunately, I don't have the vacation time
to do it, but if I was 'freshly retired' you BET I would be
throwing some clothes in a car and doing EXACTLY what I
suggested to max99s99.
Nope. The brain was fully engaged.
> ... and we don't consider ourselves "old" just because
> we're in our 60s. Heck, I'm in the prime of my life,
I'm glad to hear it. When will you be taking your next
road trip?
BTW, my 80-year-old father still goes out and drives
a big tiller in his garden to keep himself young.
Don't knock retirement, it's an institution thats rapidly disappearing from the social landscape here in the U.S.. Us folks that post-date the baby-boomers have a new system (actually, its the old system all over again)...it's called "work till you die". Kinda makes one nostalgic for the age of the defined-benefits plan, doesn't it?
You could pick a lot worse place to retire than ABQ. The hospitals here are good, the airport is decent, the cost of housing fairly reasonable to those coming from out-of-state, and the weather is mostly benign. The summers do get hot, but not St. Louis hot! Our hot and muggy days are that, days...not months. The snow here is usually gone by the afternoon, maybe a week later if it really comes down. There are a lot of different kinds of restaurants and plenty of places and things to do within a reasonable drive. The University of New Mexico offers classes specifically for returning students in everything from arts and crafts to gourmet cooking to local history to...you-name-it. If you like hiking and outdoor activities, the climate here usually agrees with your plans, whatever they are.
Of course not everything is milk and honey, ABQ has it's low spots too. The crime rate here is well above the national average, if not quite up to the standards of the really big cities. Gang violence is endemic in spots, and petty crime like vandalism and grafitti are a persistant problem that the city has a hard time getting a handle on. The school system here leaves much to be desired, but thats not typically an issue for retirees. NM does tax pension and retirement income, but then most states do as well. Property taxes here are rising, but still pretty low compared to most east coast states and much of the midwest.
And of course, theres the big issue....water. If you come here expecting to have a big, green lawn and tall trees it's going to limit what part of the city you live in, and its going to cost you. The fact remains that this is still a desert, no matter how much grass people want to plant. It takes a lot of irrigation to keep traditional lawns alive in the summer, let alone happy, and the city is doing its best to discourage that kind of water use. Some people can't get used to the fact that it's just so brown here, when they grew up back east or down south. NM is a state of earth-tones, not verdant green. It's a subtler beauty than most places and sometimes takes some getting used to, a fact that some people just can't adjust to.
Come for a longer visit, or maybe a couple. Try the wintertime and the heat of summer for a few weeks and see if you can live with it.
My parents are in their seventies and retired and live in alb. Of course they've lived there since '78 but we moved from chicago. Niether of them can take scorching heat nor bone chilling cold like that anymore. They can't take the heat, humidity and cold winters of Tulsa, where I live. Frankly neither can I and I'm a younger whippersnapper.
Both of my parents are very active outdoors and socially.
My sister has been in the medical field for many years there so they get help with that but overall they tell me they are happy there.
Albuquerque sounds like a wonderful place if you like a sprawled city environment. I'm thinking of a smaller town. I am a baby boomer and I expect to have to work until I drop. The difference will be that I'll be working for myself. I plan on starting an alternate energy business (combined heat and power installations) and/or getting a couple of small video cameras and a recorder small enough to fit on a BMW motorcycle with me and making videos of 'Great Rides in the US" tapes.
In any case we plan on visiting new Mexico this summer to experience the heat in the places that interest us.
My husband and I want to retire in the Albuquerque area (perhaps Placitas). We want to live in a low-density area. We'd rather drive 20 minutes for groceries than have strip malls close by, although we don't want to live off the grid. We like a natural environment - we don't like things too well manicured, but don't want to live where people don't take pride in their homes and surroundings either. We've learned that people can't be measured by their income level, education level, the kind of work they do, etc. and don't want to live where people are judged by that. However, we're both well-traveled professionals and enjoy socializing with people who can keep up their end of the conversation. We're moving from an area where home prices are comparable with Santa Fe, so price isn't too big of a factor. We'd appreciate suggestions for areas that may be suited to us. Thanks!
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retirement
Us folks that post-date the baby-boomers have a new system (actually, its the old system all over again)...it's called "work till you die". Kinda makes one nostalgic for the age of the defined-benefits plan, doesn't it?
Our hot and muggy days are that, days...not months. The snow here is usually gone by the afternoon, maybe a week later if it really comes down. There are a lot of different kinds of restaurants and plenty of places and things to do within a reasonable drive. The University of New Mexico offers classes specifically for returning students in everything from arts and crafts to gourmet cooking to local history to...you-name-it. If you like hiking and outdoor activities, the climate here usually agrees with your plans, whatever they are.
