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We have way too many folks on here that have not experienced life living in all the diverse places ,all over North America.Yet , I see so many very determined ideas take root when someone retires to wherever. What develops is one or the other, they can't promote their choice enough, or they complain about being stuck in a place they hate.
Those of us who have sampled nearly all areas over our life time are considerably better equipped to file a real unbiased opinion. crossing off those things on our long list and our short list ,like it or not, have left those of us better, more well rounded and informed as well as happier people. I have been reminded of this in such great detail after watching again last night one of the best all time movies ever made,"The Bucket List" . I really think everyone over 60 should take the time to look it up and rent it. Actually is only 4 years old, and stars two of the most celebrated actors of all time, Jack Nickielson and Morgan Freeman. To top it off in real life, they both are still living ! Do yourself a favor, health means everything.
We have way too many folks on here that have not experienced life living in all the diverse places ,all over North America.Yet , I see so many very determined ideas take root when someone retires to wherever. What develops is one or the other, they can't promote their choice enough, or they complain about being stuck in a place they hate.
Those of us who have sampled nearly all areas over our life time are considerably better equipped to file a real unbiased opinion. crossing off those things on our long list and our short list ,like it or not, have left those of us better, more well rounded and informed as well as happier people.
The problem in general is that it's different strokes for different folks. Retirees move for about maybe four reasons or a combination of four reasons: better climate, lower cost of living, a special interest (church, golf, the arts, boating,, skiing), or to be nearer (or farther) away from family.
There is no way that anyone, no matter how experienced in living in different places, can make a sure recommendation. But sharing stories such as "I always wanted to move South and now I am dying of the heat," or "Living in a mobile home park in tornado country is just not for me," or "OK, I moved north to be near the grandkids but I cannot deal with the winters" does help for some folks wondering where to move.
A Bucket List may include living in a tropical paradise, but you can live in Paradise and for any number of reasons find out that it's not for you. We have to examine our deepest needs at our age to determine the best fit in a location. As I've said, I think I'd rather live in a ghetto with lots of great friends who care about me than in a Paradise where I know no one and am completely alone. Of course the best of both worlds would be ideal--Paradise plus lots of caring friends.
I truly feel one can make friends anywhere. If I've made many friends in Texas, a place that frowns on Californians, one can make them anywhere. Therefore, I'll choose paradise over the ghetto. I know it's important to some, but it doesn't exist on my list of worries in moving elsewhere and for that, I'm very pleased.
We have way too many folks on here that have not experienced life living in all the diverse places ,all over North America.Yet , I see so many very determined ideas take root when someone retires to wherever. What develops is one or the other, they can't promote their choice enough, or they complain about being stuck in a place they hate.
Those of us who have sampled nearly all areas over our life time are considerably better equipped to file a real unbiased opinion. crossing off those things on our long list and our short list ,like it or not, have left those of us better, more well rounded and informed as well as happier people. I have been reminded of this in such great detail after watching again last night one of the best all time movies ever made,"The Bucket List" . I really think everyone over 60 should take the time to look it up and rent it. Actually is only 4 years old, and stars two of the most celebrated actors of all time, Jack Nickielson and Morgan Freeman. To top it off in real life, they both are still living ! Do yourself a favor, health means everything.
I thought it was just the opposite. Seems like a lot of folks on this forum have lived lots of different places. I know I have! As an adult I've lived in AZ, OR, NV, MI, AK and ID so have a pretty good idea of what I like/don't like, can/cannot tolerate. I tend to promote where I live because I love it here and, evidently, lots of others do too and more keep moving here! lol
I've never seen that movie but then I don't watch movies much so that's no big surprise. lol Maybe I will rent it though.
I truly feel one can make friends anywhere. If I've made many friends in Texas, a place that frowns on Californians, one can make them anywhere. Therefore, I'll choose paradise over the ghetto. I know it's important to some, but it doesn't exist on my list of worries in moving elsewhere and for that, I'm very pleased.
I agree with you! I have never had a problem making friends, if I wanted to. These days I just really don't care so much. When I was growing up my dad moved us around quite a bit for his job so I got used to being the 'new kid in class' and, sometimes, going to three different schools in one year. I just didn't make long term friends. Although I DO have friends in Phoenix that I've known my whole life so it's six of one and half a dozen of another. lol Also people in the town I live in that I've known since grade school. We just don't 'hang out'.
I don't live in the "ghetto" OR "paradise" but I'm not the least bit unhappy here either.
It wasn't a bucket list. Nor was it a whim. Compliments of a career military father, my own mini-career of 12 years and schooling, I had lived in eight states, three other countries and crossed the continent a number of times traveling through many of the other states. My wife's father was also a military careerest and through him and prior marriage, she had lived in five other states and one other country.
There was one area in which she had lived for seven years and it was also one I had been interested in since my youth. In retirement we wanted a different climate - four distinct seasons - than what we had, lower taxes combined with a lower overall COL, an affordable home on water and what we considered a far more sane governance than what we left behind. We also wanted a society with overall better values, including family values, as determined by us, unapologetic patriotism, less crime and more civility. Proximity to family, which was scattered anyway, was not a concern nor deciding factor.
After much research we made the move to near where my wife had lived before in the early to mid-70s and the place I'd been interested in for so many years and we've never looked back. Nor have we ever, in any way, regretted our move; especially not the transition from an urban existence to a decidedly rural one. It was a knowing decision and not a whim. A little research can go a long was and I recommend it highly.
Does the "perfect" place exist somewhere? Probably, but most of us will never know because we can't keep moving around to try to find it. But if we're happy and content where we are there is really nothing more we can ask.
In retirement we wanted a different climate - four distinct seasons - than what we had, lower taxes combined with a lower overall COL, an affordable home on water and what we considered a far more sane governance than what we left behind. We also wanted a society with overall better values, including family values, as determined by us, unapologetic patriotism, less crime and more civility. Proximity to family, which was scattered anyway, was not a concern nor deciding factor. .
This sounds like Nirvana to me. My husband and I live near Atlanta and we are stuck here for now, but I am constantly researching on line and looking for somewhere to go and spend our retirement. Your criteria is the same as ours. We have thusfar limited ourselves to the east coast, but I think it may be time to start looking toward the midwest.
Mexico! Travel the Baja!
I'm like you - I love the ocean. Florida is too humid and so is Texas, California is too expensive - but the Baja - oh my, what a rare find that is. It is skinny enough to enjoy the Pacific Ocean side and the same day the Sea of Cortez side. It is glorious! I am tickled pink we found it.
I go to Baja several times per year. I was in San Felipe for a 5 day weekend just a couple of weeks ago. It's about a 5 hour drive from my area. The week after Thanksgiving, I'm going to Loreto and Mulege. It is about a day and a half drive from my place, but a great place to relax and unwind.
I'm guessing your place in Baja is near Los Barrilles (the windsurfing place) south of La Paz? I might drive down to La Paz in the Spring, but I would need a bit more time set aside for that trip. I bring along my fat tire mountain bike and explore back roads, beaches and towns along the way. I speak Spanish fluently (lived in South America for many years) so it's easy to get around.
What's your point with gun laws? If you want to be gun-totin', go West....or Maine. Lot more room to shoot around.
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Originally Posted by newenglandgirl
Many many years ago, when I first learned I had move to the Midwest the first time (D-ex's job), I sat down in the middle of my living room and nearly cried. I had never been out of the Northeast. All I could picture was dusty unpaved roads, saloons, and gun-toting outlaws and Wyatt Earp types. I nervously asked friends if I too should acquire a gun. As we traveled across the endless state of Ohio to Missouri I kept wondering why we were still on a paved highway, with regular looking cities and towns, even gas stations. When was I going to hit the Wild West just before Kansas?? Imagine my surprise when I arrived in a progressive place where ATMs and mega markets were open 24/7, where suburbs were sprawling with mcMansions, and new building going at a dizzying pace. Where were the cowboys? lol
Those who want liberal gun laws should live where gun laws are liberal. Those who want low taxes should move where there are low taxes. Those who need to be in a place that have neither, but who want these things, will have to put up and shut up.
Once upon a time there were some folks in Massachusetts who learned that the government, King George's government, was planning to invade a couple of towns there to seize the guns and ammunition. They didn't care for the idea. One of them, a local silversmith, went up from Boston to spread the warning.
The next day when His Majesty's troops reached a place called Lexington there were some very unpatriotic men waiting for them. They fought their masters and kept their guns. The same thing happened a little while later at Concord. That was the start of the American Revolution. It started over guns. The leading men in Massachusetts, men like Samuel Adams, James Otis, and John Hancock were joined by artisans like Paul Revere. They gave us a country free of despotism. Without guns they couldn't have done it.
I think I would have been very happy in Massachusetts if I'd lived in those times. These days when I go there I just skitter in and out. The food and museums are great. On Sunday morning I can buy a Sunday Telegraph (London) in Harvard Square. But the people are empty and resigned.
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Originally Posted by Curmudgeon
Just don't go too far west. Washington, Oregon and California aren't very friendly in that respect. Kinda like most of New England. It's amazing how being on one ocean or another seems to warp the collective minds the same way. Better to stick with Middle America.
The problem seems only to be on the coast near the big cities in the West. The parts of Oregon and Washington, even of rural California, away from the effete cities are as much a part of the heartland as Utah and Texas.
The system wouldn't let me rep you again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by darstar
We have way too many folks on here that have not experienced life living in all the diverse places ,all over North America.Yet , I see so many very determined ideas take root when someone retires to wherever. What develops is one or the other, they can't promote their choice enough, or they complain about being stuck in a place they hate.
Show me the demographics and the climate of a place, what the tax and guns laws are of that state, and how that state voted in the last couple presidential elections, and I'll know whether I could be happy there.
When I moved to Wyoming nine years ago I came home. I'd never lived here before nor even spent that much time here, but when I moved here I came home. I've met people here from California, Georgia, even New York City; they came home too.
If you love freeedom, if you want room to breath, if you're sick of current academic and media mush, maybe you should come home too.
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Therefore, I'll choose paradise over the ghetto. I know it's important to some, but it doesn't exist on my list of worries in moving elsewhere and for that, I'm very pleased. 
When was I going to hit the Wild West just before Kansas?? Imagine my surprise when I arrived in a progressive place where ATMs and mega markets were open 24/7, where suburbs were sprawling with mcMansions, and new building going at a dizzying pace. Where were the cowboys? lol
Better to stick with Middle America.
