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Hi all,
What cities/towns would you consider meet the following criteria (listed in order of importance)?
- Beachfront (no more than 10 minutes from the ocean - preferably right on it)
- Somewhat vibrant with a semblance of a downtown (read: not a retirement town, but doesn't have to be a major metro)
- Not completely geographically stereotypical (i.e. open to those that aren't lifers from that area - even better if there is already diversity in the area)
- Warmish year-round (daytime lows in the 50s at the lowest)
- Somewhat secure (won't be underwater) for the next 50 or so years minimum
- Not outrageously expensive (nice 1600 - 2000 sq. ft. single family for under 700k)
I don't know much about the towns on the East Coast. The cheapest area on the West Coast is probably southern Oregon/far northern California, like Brookings/Crescent City, and it's not a super culturally insular area, nor is the climate extreme (but it doesn't get that warm either).
Would the Great Lakes work? That opens up a lot more options.
I don't know much about the towns on the East Coast. The cheapest area on the West Coast is probably southern Oregon/far northern California, like Brookings/Crescent City, and it's not a super culturally insular area, nor is the climate extreme (but it doesn't get that warm either).
Would the Great Lakes work? That opens up a lot more options.
Their post screams Southern Beaches. Definitely not West Coast, Great Lakes, or Northeast.
I would suggest the Florida Panhandle. Maybe the Mississippi or Alabama Gulf Coast.
Hi all,
What cities/towns would you consider meet the following criteria (listed in order of importance)?
- Beachfront (no more than 10 minutes from the ocean - preferably right on it)
- Somewhat vibrant with a semblance of a downtown (read: not a retirement town, but doesn't have to be a major metro)
- Not completely geographically stereotypical (i.e. open to those that aren't lifers from that area - even better if there is already diversity in the area)
- Warmish year-round (daytime lows in the 50s at the lowest)
- Somewhat secure (won't be underwater) for the next 50 or so years minimum
- Not outrageously expensive (nice 1600 - 2000 sq. ft. single family for under 700k)
Thanks much for your thoughts!
Can't say this is the best option but the place I know is Jacksonville, FL. You can definitely find nice homes under 400k about 10 minutes from the beach. It is warm most of the year although for a week or two you might have daytime temps dip below 50. Not sure what the 50 year forecast is for searise in Jax but it's perhaps not as dire as NYC or Miami. There's a semblance of downtown. Several. Semblance being the operative word.
Somewhat secure (won't be underwater) for the next 50 or so years minimum
At this moment, the Great Lakes are setting record water levels with beach inundation and significant shoreline erosion. However, as the already significant warming in the Great Lakes region continues, higher evaporation rates are expected to lower the Great Lakes, especially in periods of lower precipitation (precipitation is at very high levels currently).
In coming decades, accelerating sea level rise will afflict ocean coastal areas with the same conditions now prevalent in the Great Lakes. The difference is that the ocean sea level rise will continue to accelerate.
At some point in this century, increasingly so in coming decades, the only beaches left in the U.S. may be in the Great Lakes region.
Americans are oblivious to the reality that only in the past decade did temperatures increasingly rise above the melting point of ice in the cryosphere.
A recent PBS Nova special, still available online, investigated what the earth was like the last time atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were at those present today.
50-80 years, or 20-40 years? Here are some discussions by Harold Wanless, professor emeritus and former chairman of the Univ. of Miami's geological sciences department and a leading Florida expert on sea level rise.
I’m from a little Massachusetts coastal village next to New Bedford. The private beach is a mile from my house. I have access to the really good private beach in town with a mile of sand and no people but it was donated to Mass Audubon and membership is closed. I have a mooring in the harbor for my sailboat and my inflatable dinghy sits on a float at the boat yard walking distance from my house. The village a 10 minute walk away has restaurants but it’s not full service like when I was a little kid. The New Bedford waterfront is 4 miles. It has a dozen good restaurant options, live music, and the fast ferry to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. New Bedford is a blighted failed city but the downtown waterfront has gentrified. Commuter rail to Boston is supposed to show up in 4 years.
In my leafy middle class neighborhood, a 1,600 sf Cape on a 10,000 sf lot is about $450k. Closer to the village, prices go up. My house is at 50 feet MSL. I’m not going to flood. I swim from mid-June to late September. People are in the water before Memorial Day but it’s too brisk for me. Summer high temperatures rarely get over 90f near the water. It doesn’t get much snow in the winter. My rose bushes are usually hanging in there mid-November.
Hi all,
What cities/towns would you consider meet the following criteria (listed in order of importance)?
- Beachfront (no more than 10 minutes from the ocean - preferably right on it)
- Somewhat vibrant with a semblance of a downtown (read: not a retirement town, but doesn't have to be a major metro)
- Not completely geographically stereotypical (i.e. open to those that aren't lifers from that area - even better if there is already diversity in the area)
- Warmish year-round (daytime lows in the 50s at the lowest)
- Somewhat secure (won't be underwater) for the next 50 or so years minimum
- Not outrageously expensive (nice 1600 - 2000 sq. ft. single family for under 700k)
Thanks much for your thoughts!
I second the Jacksonville FL area which is not forecasted to be impacted as much as the rest of the east coast in terms of sea level rise. Amelia Island on the north side (just south of the GA state line) is beautiful and it's downtown area (Downtown Fernandina Beach) is historically well-preserved and thriving.
Thanks everyone. Good suggestions/feedback. I did notice Jackonsville mentioned in many of my online searches, so that's definitely something we're going to check into. I've been to FL a number of times, but never Jacksonville, so looking forward to making that trip.
Regarding the NE, I live in Philly, so I'm intimately acquainted with NJ beaches. They're not really what we're looking for due to weather, winter ex-migration, and crazy Jersey taxes. Although if AC is ever able to clean up its local gov't and reduce some of the rampant corruption, it could be a consideration as it's got more of a city than the other beach towns.
I never really thought about the Great Lakes as we're more ocean people, but it's possible. I'm just not sure about the weather up there - lake effect systems and general fall/winter cold.
The Carolinas are also certainly in mind. Please keep suggestions coming so I can continue to build out our "visit list."
Thanks!
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