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Hi - I am in the military, looking at retiring within the next 2 years, and starting to look for my retirement home. Hopefully, I am not being unrealistic. I would like someplace green, good schools (I have a 7 year old). I don't mind snow or cloudy days (I've lived in the UK for the past 5 1/2 years). I would like somewhere with a "town center" - perhaps an historic downtown area. I would like to be able to walk to the shop, have a small town atmosphere, yet be able to drive to a walmart or mall within about 30 minutes. Don'r really like humidity, but dont mind rain. I'd like to be near some body of water, lake, river, ocean or canal - doesnt really matter. A beach within driving distance would be nice, but not required. Here's the kicker - I will only have my retirement income, and dont really want to work that hard to live....so I'd like something under 150k. Is it out there? I've been looking for quite a while, and the Lyons, NY area, seems to be what I can afford. Help, please?? You can e-mail me directly at katr0713@yahoo.com, since I may not be able to check this often. Thanks in advance.
South of Buffalo has a ton of green space, lake erie, chautauqua lake, tons of recreational opportunities, good schools and it is very cheap. In chautauqua county you can easily get a house for under 150k. Lots of historic homes and historic downtowns. There are two walmarts in the county, both jamestown and fredonia/dunkirk have all the stores you would need. If you need to travel to a bigger area, Buffalo, NY and Erie, PA are both within an hour, Niagara Falls a half hour further. Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Rochester and Toronto are all within 3 hours or less.
Most importantly its safe, green, has recreation opportunities, good schools and is EXTREMELY CHEAP!
You might like Plattsburgh, NY. It is on Lake Champlain, and is about 60 miles south of Montreal, Canada. You can take the Ferry from cumberland head to Vermont and the Adirondacks are only a few miles to the west.
You might like Plattsburgh, NY. It is on Lake Champlain, and is about 60 miles south of Montreal, Canada. You can take the Ferry from cumberland head to Vermont and the Adirondacks are only a few miles to the west.
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Check into upstate NY (Saratoga County); NY state exempts military pension from state tax.
We just got back from vacation in west central PA in the State College/Altoona area. It was absolutely beautiful country with virtually every town being historic or having an historic core. We stayed at Raystown Lake, the largest recreational lake in PA, which was 10 minutes to historic Huntington, which also has a Walmart Supercentre. State College is about a 45 min. drive away, which has extensive shopping, sports & cultural amenities - and a Wegmans! The area is quite rural with rolling mountains (Alleghenies), many state parks & forests, caverns, waterfalls, hiking, hunting (regrettably) & fishing - green, green green. As for real estate, we were looking at listings, and saw many homes for under $100K that looked remarkably good, particularly around Altoona. Lower taxes than NY too.
But hey, WNY is great too, for all the reasons mentioned in previous posts.
You owe it to yourself to check out the Syracuse area. The area offers all that you list and more. Do a search under user "Bellafinzi" for great pictures and feedback.
Gary
Either Upstate New York or Pennsylvania would be fine candidates for you to consider. I've grown very fond of both areas. Each state has its upsides and its downsides---NY has a cooler climate, and PA has more complainers. I've heard nothing but great things about Corning, NY, and I plan to head up there for my next photo tour of Upstate NY. It isn't far west of Elmira or Big Flats, where most of your chain stores will be, and supposedly Corning is very affordable. Just south of this area is the Sayre area of PA, which is also nice (although the downtown area isn't quite what you had in mind). Ithaca, NY probably has one of the best downtowns I've seen in Upstate NY (perhaps save for Cooperstown or Saratoga Springs), but the cost-of-living there is relatively high. There are a lot of small towns in Northeastern and North Central PA that meet your criteria, such as Honesdale, Montrose, Towanda, Wellsboro, and Troy.
Health insurance is an issue to consider. NY, MA, ME and one or two other states have laws that a person cannot be denied health insurance due to pre-existing conditions and cannot be charged more because of any such conditions. It makes health insurance more expensive in these states, but guarantees that you can get it.
You didn't mention how important access to base facilities shopping/medical are. If your going to use Tricare I would find out the availability of service providers. You will probably find less avaible if your choosing Tricare Prime rather than Tricare standard. If you do locate near a base how well do they receive retirees and their dependents and don't count on the VA.
I too am retired but chose to stay in Virginia. I relocated away from the bases and we use Tricare Standard for our medical needs. Under Tricare Prime I would lose almost all our doctors because they receive too little from the program and won't accept it. Even worse I could be assigned to Fort Lee Army Base, no way.
Look into Oak Harbor, Washington. It's on Whidbey Island and there are plenty of retired military people living there and also active duty. Naval Air Station Whidbey Island is in Oak Harbor also. Housing can be expensive on the island but Oak Harbor has some type of housing unit for all income levels. The climate is also mild and if they get snow it melts pretty quickly. If you haven't been there, there are many nice websites. Give yourself a few hours on the computer though because once you see it you're gonna want to see more and more....
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