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Somebody already mentioned San Luis Obispo, but maybe either the Santa Rosa or Monterey areas, though I'm not sure about housing costs in these places.
Would you be willing to live outside the country? From your description the city of Porto in Portugal sounds like a good fit for you and your wife, though I'm not sure about the music scene or availability of local golf courses.
Just a quick “thank you” for all the new responses since I last posted! We are studying them all and we greatly appreciate everyone providing such valuable input. We already have learned a ton.
We definitely do want to stay in U.S., to answer the above post.
If you didn't mind Buffalo, then some small towns in the Ann Arbor area and the western suburbs of Detroit might be an option. Our climate is pretty much identical to Buffalo, but with half the snow. The cost of living is low here and you still have all the big-city amenities.
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Originally Posted by SlideRules99
Housing budget - max $750K 3 bdr/2 bath, ~1600 sq ft. (preferably lower cost, but this is max)
You could easily find a house that size for a thirdof that money here, and save the half-million for other things.
Unfortunately, the weather is only like this in May and September. Summers here are only a few degrees warmer than Portland, though.
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Charming (maybe historic) main street/downtown. Bistros, shops, wine bars/brewpubs, live music venues. But not constantly over-run by tourists.
Clean, safe streets.
Political climate that is mixed. OK to lean left or right, but tolerance/acceptance key.
A bunch of choices that fit the bill here. Northville, Plymouth, Farmington, Milford, South Lyon, Brighton, Saline, Chelsea, Dexter, Howell...
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Some aspect(s) of Nature nearby (river, lake, mountain, forest, etc...). Active/outdoorsy. Clean air.
Kensington Metro Park is close to all of the above towns and features all but the mountain. And then there are the Great Lakes, and three of them are only a few hours' drive away. The air is clean because there's very little industry nearby.
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Organic grocery.
We have Whole Foods, and you can probably find some independent organic grocers in Ann Arbor.
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Access to good medical facilities within ~40 miles or so, including naturopath/holistic.
Easily 10 hospitals within that radius of the towns I mentioned, can't speak to naturopath/holistic.
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Music jam circles (old timey, bluegrass, or folk, etc.)
Ann Arbor has Folkfest every year in late January. Probably won't happen this January of course, due to COVID, but that could be said of anywhere in the U.S.
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At least 1 golf course within ~25 miles.
Michigan is the land of golf courses. There are at least a dozen golf courses within 25 miles of the towns I listed above. Maybe even two dozen.
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Nearby University would be a bonus.
The world-class University of Michigan, along with Michigan State and Eastern Michigan.
If you didn't mind Buffalo, then some small towns in the Ann Arbor area and the western suburbs of Detroit might be an option. Our climate is pretty much identical to Buffalo, but with half the snow. The cost of living is low here and you still have all the big-city amenities.
You could easily find a house that size for a thirdof that money here, and save the half-million for other things.
Unfortunately, the weather is only like this in May and September. Summers here are only a few degrees warmer than Portland, though.
A bunch of choices that fit the bill here. Northville, Plymouth, Farmington, Milford, South Lyon, Brighton, Saline, Chelsea, Dexter, Howell...
Kensington Metro Park is close to all of the above towns and features all but the mountain. And then there are the Great Lakes, and three of them are only a few hours' drive away. The air is clean because there's very little industry nearby.
We have Whole Foods, and you can probably find some independent organic grocers in Ann Arbor.
Easily 10 hospitals within that radius of the towns I mentioned, can't speak to naturopath/holistic.
Ann Arbor has Folkfest every year in late January. Probably won't happen this January of course, due to COVID, but that could be said of anywhere in the U.S.
Michigan is the land of golf courses. There are at least a dozen golf courses within 25 miles of the towns I listed above. Maybe even two dozen.
The world-class University of Michigan, along with Michigan State and Eastern Michigan.
I have always had my eye on Michigan, but a friend who lives there said in the rural parts it's super conservative
I have always had my eye on Michigan, but a friend who lives there said in the rural parts it's super conservative
Yes, in the rural areas it is very conservative. But not in the towns I mentioned, which are located on the fringes of the Detroit-Ann Arbor area. Farmington, Plymouth, Saline, Dexter, and Chelsea all lean left. The latter three towns especially since they have seen an influx of people from Ann Arbor. In contrast, Brighton, Milford, South Lyon, Northville, and Howell all lean right. But all of these towns are still quite moderate, though Howell is the furthest right of the bunch.
Berea, KY: Small, but has a liberal arts college, nice scenery, and is 40-45 minutes from Lexington. Can be quite hot and humid in the summer but not as bad as places to the South or East. Overall has a pretty nice four-season climate.
Asheville, NC: Quite liberal but North Carolina as a whole is conservative, but not quite as much as other southern states. Mountainous, very artsy, and has an unique character. May be one of the preetiest places in the Eastern or at least Southeastern USA. Not too far (a weekend trip) from both mountains, other cities, and even the beach. Asheville isn't quite as hot and humid as surrounding areas.
Smaller Cities in the Midwest such as Rochester, MN; Grand Rapids, MI; etc: A lot of these cities are charming and are more moderate politically.
Morgantown, WV: A growing college town that is not too far away from Pittsburgh. Has some of the characteristics that Berea and smaller Midwest cities have. Pittsburgh may be worth a check out as well.
Thanks all! One last follow-up before I migrate to the local/regional forums.
Current thinking has us narrowing to Asheville, or to one of the Puget Sound towns (Whidbey IS, Port Orchard, Mt Vernon...), as the temperate climates are appealing, in addition to checking many of the boxes in my original post. We've been to both areas, so not totally unfamiliar.
We like the CA coastal towns, but we both have lived in CA and we left mainly for cost-of-living reasons. And potentially political reasons (see further below)...
The colder climate cities in the NE and Midwest are not totally out of the question, just lower on the list based on the winters.
Nobody mentioned Blacksburg. Is that too much centered around the college crowd?
Finally, I mentioned we like political balance and tolerance. Left leaning is fine...and in fact we like the arts, culture, culinary scene etc. that often seems to come in those towns. (I didn't mention this but I'm vegetarian...and love vegan restaurants). But we get uncomfortable when there is no counter-balance, and policies go too far left, to the extent they affect local quality of life (they have in Portland, OR, IMO). For this exact reason we ruled out Bellingham, WA, for example.
Do we run this risk in Asheville?
Also saw Brevard as cute WNC town, any comments on that as relates to our criteria and comments above?
Knoxville TN is good. Areas outside of Asheville NC would be good as well. The city of Asheville itself is becoming "extremely" liberal, but their not hostile like many out west. But their politics will significantly raise your cost of living over time. BUT, the areas surrounding Asheville (Hendersonville, Black Mnt., etc.) are more affordable and more moderate. Waynesville is more conservative. But ALL of these areas (including Asheville city) have very friendly people and have people of different political persuasions who get along very well; much better than most other areas of the nation. We day trip to Asheville a lot a love it.
Northern Nevada area has all of your criteria. Not sure about the dry climate as being temperate though and we do get wind/snow/sun.
Carson City, Genoa, Minden are all well-run cities with beautiful mountains nearby, river, alpine lakes and excellent medical care in Carson City or Reno. Reno has vegan groceries and restaurants...lots of brew pubs around. Historic preservation in Genoa, Carson City, Virginia City is really nice. Lake Tahoe 20 minutes away...
Retirees with your budget tend to settle in Douglas County which is Genoa, Gardnerville and Minden and outlying areas.
Reno is a bigger city nearby with a good airport and any type of shopping.
Knoxville TN is good. Areas outside of Asheville NC would be good as well. The city of Asheville itself is becoming "extremely" liberal, but their not hostile like many out west. But their politics will significantly raise your cost of living over time. BUT, the areas surrounding Asheville (Hendersonville, Black Mnt., etc.) are more affordable and more moderate. Waynesville is more conservative. But ALL of these areas (including Asheville city) have very friendly people and have people of different political persuasions who get along very well; much better than most other areas of the nation. We day trip to Asheville a lot a love it.
We are very similar to you. Let's face it, its easy to love some of the progressive aspects of liberal cities (urban planning, public transport, health forward restaurants, outdoorsiness, made from scratch, etc.), while disliking some of the politics.
I'll echo the other poster and say the surrounding towns are more moderate.
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