Men and Women retiring alone to a new city/state -- where will you go and why? (Oklahoma, 55)

[montygarlic]

Originally Posted by Windwalker2

I'd be interested in what others have to say about this too

Looking over many of the posts in this thread having to do with weather, cost of living, environmental concerns, public transportation, taxation, personal safety (low crime), housing costs, shopping, downtown areas, Universities, population, etc., etc. - I would encourage you to check out the City-Data.com for Missoula, Montana - especially those who mention the Pacific NorthWest. Many folks from different regions of the USA don't realize just how far East the PNW extends - right up to the Continental Divide!

My comments are from the male perspective (sorry, I'm working with what I've been dealt ), but I have to tell you that I think you would be very pleasantly surprised at what you'd find in that area.

My wife of 40 years and I live quite happily in an area 70 miles North of Missoula and are originally from the upper Midwest (Illinois and Wisconsin).

Good Luck to all!

mg

[Tesaje]

Originally Posted by flyingscot47

I know this is probably belongs in another thread but today I cut my adult daughter(28) off from my credit cards. Now I feel I can go where my heart leads me--instead of feeling guilty about being there for her.

It probably is for the best. I never had that kind of support from my parents while I was in college, let alone at age 28.

Time to cut the apron strings. Good for you.

[flyingscot47]

I'm eager to sell this place and move to a downtown apartment or condo in the larger city; the stumbling block is finding a handyman who has time to make a small repair to a closet door before this place goes on the market.

Good luck to you in your hunt. If you intend to buy a place in Sacramento, now would be a good time because prices are still low there according to what I hear from friends.[/quote]

Sacramento prices are indeed dropping lots of short sales and foreclosures--probably the Midtown area is the easiest plave to live without a car. I rarely used public transportation when I lived there because of the time involved to get anywhere plus the reliability. Light Rail is great but badly needs to be expanded. I loved living in Manhattan(of course I was a 20 something back then lol)public transportion was readily available. I wish I could afford SF or New York now Regarding a handyman I have seen a certain **** List advertised--I know I cannot post the details here but if you like I could DM you--I have never used it but it sounds interesting--maybe some of our posters here have some tips in locating a reliable Handyman or woman

[flyingscot47]

Originally Posted by loveautumn

since I will be a woman retiring alone to a new city...boy, I'm getting a little discouraged. I've researched and visited quite a few places (and gotten alot of good information thanks to this forum). Every place that seems to meet even my most basic criteria is still quite expensive to live. Course my 1st choice is New England, around Boston area, and NH since it's close by. Even the Providence area is someplace I would consider. I have always felt drawn to NE so I wonder if I should just go for it, when I'm ready. I just don't know if I can handle those winters again, especially as I age.
And since I have about 3 more years to go, who knows what the economy will be like.

I mean, places like Charleston, NC, Texas, TN certainly have their own appeal and advantages, but I just don't see myself living there. I would have alot more peace if I really knew where I was headed!

I wish I could decide too--as we get older making a major move and finding out that it was a mistake is not so easy to bounce back from as it was say in our forties. I wish I had the blind faith and courage(more likely naivety and blissful ignorance) that I had when I moved at 20 from a little Scottish town to Manahattan with just a job and knowing not a soul---as the song says " Those Were The Days"

[AcaciaRose]

Thanks, flyingscot. I sent you a DM.


Montygarlic, last month I talked with a former high school classmate who lives in Missoula and loves it. From what she said about the place, I felt I would fit in well there.

[RiverBird]

Originally Posted by isabella20

Which towns in WMass have what you are describing? I'm originally from the Boston area (born in Winthrop), but we moved to the west coast when I was in grade school, so know very little about Boston and nothing about WMass.

There are more affordable places such as Tennessee, but being a northerner at heart I would like to at least research New England before ruling it out as too expensive to consider.

The cold snowy winters are a little scary since the coldest places I've lived as an adult are Oregon, Colorado, and North Carolina. All have some snow, but it wasn't all that cold.

Anyway, I'd love to hear which towns you would recommend in WMass. Thanks!

Boston is only 90 mi from WMass. If you want to go in for the day to the game or overnight it's only 1.5 hrs on the Pike. The middle of the state has an aging city, Worcester, and the Western part an equally aging city, Spfld, with all the inner city problems you'd expect, except both have very fine colleges (Worcester Polytech and Spfld College, etc). The medical establishment is very big here, Springfield is going to develop a lot more of this with its hospital system.

If you live in WMass, within an hour - 1.5 hrs drive you can get anywhere in the state (well, Cape Cod is probably 2.5 - 3 hrs), or into VT or NH.

I rarely go to Conn. but it's very close as well as Providence RI, a very up and coming city with Brown U.

Property taxes are nowhere near what they are in the eastern part of the state.

WMass has five of the finest colleges in the country, including Smith and Mt. Holyoke and Hampshire. It is much more small towns that are closely connected to each other, extremely developed in terms of the arts, education, medical, alternative med, lifestyle stuff (yoga and body work and natural food stores on every corner) of course a Whole Foods and Trader Joe;s. In several of the college towns you could survive without a car, and there is a free bus service connecting some of the major towns and campuses. (Yikes, why did I want to leave??? oh yes, lower property taxes).

From town you can get into a vast network of gorgeous hilltowns for maple syruping, fall festivals and apple picking, arts taking place in barns, etc. Skiiers have some nice places to choose from.

If you give a hint at what you want for housing (rent vs. buy, and what kind) and whta price range I can give you some suggested places to look.

[isabella20]

Originally Posted by newenglandgirl

Boston is only 90 mi from WMass. If you want to go in for the day to the game or overnight it's only 1.5 hrs on the Pike. The middle of the state has an aging city, Worcester, and the Western part an equally aging city, Spfld, with all the inner city problems you'd expect, except both have very fine colleges (Worcester Polytech and Spfld College, etc). The medical establishment is very big here, Springfield is going to develop a lot more of this with its hospital system.

If you live in WMass, within an hour - 1.5 hrs drive you can get anywhere in the state (well, Cape Cod is probably 2.5 - 3 hrs), or into VT or NH.

I rarely go to Conn. but it's very close as well as Providence RI, a very up and coming city with Brown U.

Property taxes are nowhere near what they are in the eastern part of the state.

WMass has five of the finest colleges in the country, including Smith and Mt. Holyoke and Hampshire. It is much more small towns that are closely connected to each other, extremely developed in terms of the arts, education, medical, alternative med, lifestyle stuff (yoga and body work and natural food stores on every corner) of course a Whole Foods and Trader Joe;s. In several of the college towns you could survive without a car, and there is a free bus service connecting some of the major towns and campuses. (Yikes, why did I want to leave??? oh yes, lower property taxes).

From town you can get into a vast network of gorgeous hilltowns for maple syruping, fall festivals and apple picking, arts taking place in barns, etc. Skiiers have some nice places to choose from.

If you give a hint at what you want for housing (rent vs. buy, and what kind) and whta price range I can give you some suggested places to look.

Thanks NEG! WMass sounds very nice.

We are looking for a small house to buy. A 2 bedroom cottage with a basement. No acreage, just a smallish lot. The less to take care of the better. I'm not sure what we'll get out of the sale of our present house, but I doubt that we'll have even $100K, so our price range will most likely be under that. I'm also thinking that the smaller the house and lot the less the property taxes will be.

I know this isn't much to have to spend, but I wanted to at least check it out and not just dismiss Mass as too expensive. So, what do you think is there a town in WMass with housing for under $100K that is a nice enough place to live?

[RiverBird]

Originally Posted by isabella20

Thanks NEG! WMass sounds very nice.

We are looking for a small house to buy. A 2 bedroom cottage with a basement. No acreage, just a smallish lot. The less to take care of the better. I'm not sure what we'll get out of the sale of our present house, but I doubt that we'll have even $100K, so our price range will most likely be under that. I'm also thinking that the smaller the house and lot the less the property taxes will be.

I know this isn't much to have to spend, but I wanted to at least check it out and not just dismiss Mass as too expensive. So, what do you think is there a town in WMass with housing for under $100K that is a nice enough place to live?

I'll check it out. With 100K to spend, that eliminates most of the state including what we call WMass. However, beyond WMass is the "Berkshires" (lovely hills and small mountains) that is for some odd reason not called "WMass" but is simply called the Berkshires, home of Tanglewood (BSO) and many arts. I'm thinking that the farthest northwest corner, next to NY state, may have something in your price range. Pittsfield and North Adams come to mind. Or, the small rural towns in the center of the state.

New England (all states in it) is very expensive in general. You may do better to buy a condo, there are lots of mill complexes that have been converted to condos.

But in all honesty, you would want to live here for a full year before buying. To love New England it has to be in your blood. It is not idyllic in terms of winter weather, though it is very pretty in the small towns and rural. You need to make peace with the long cold winters, unless you can afford to get away in those months. Mostly, you will need a car. Public transport is only available in the bigger cities (there are only 3) and in college towns in WMass.

[isabella20]

Originally Posted by newenglandgirl

I'll check it out. With 100K to spend, that eliminates most of the state including what we call WMass. However, beyond WMass is the "Berkshires" (lovely hills and small mountains) that is for some odd reason not called "WMass" but is simply called the Berkshires, home of Tanglewood (BSO) and many arts. I'm thinking that the farthest northwest corner, next to NY state, may have something in your price range. Pittsfield and North Adams come to mind. Or, the small rural towns in the center of the state.

New England (all states in it) is very expensive in general. You may do better to buy a condo, there are lots of mill complexes that have been converted to condos.

But in all honesty, you would want to live here for a full year before buying. To love New England it has to be in your blood. It is not idyllic in terms of winter weather, though it is very pretty in the small towns and rural. You need to make peace with the long cold winters, unless you can afford to get away in those months. Mostly, you will need a car. Public transport is only available in the bigger cities (there are only 3) and in college towns in WMass.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check out Pittsfield and North Adams on the real estate and job sites.

In a lot of ways a condo sounds nice, but it won't work for us. We need a basement for a little business that gives us a tiny bit of income. Plus, there are condo fees and we can't afford those.

Our goal is for me to get a part-time job (I'm only 58), so typically that means we would need to be close to a town with some type of work. If I could make even $300-$500 a month that would be great.

We're presently living in a remote area with zero jobs and very limited medical care, so we want to move to a place that has good medical care and where I would have a shot at getting some type of work.

Before my megacorp job I had all sorts of jobs. I worked in a fabric shop, was a file clerk, accounting clerk, bookkeeper, waitress, assembler in a factory and worked in a couple of sandwich shops at the counter. Then at the megacorp I was a payroll clerk, writer, editor, and marketing communications manager. It's not that I have to have a job in a particular line of work or make the big bucks. Just a chance to make a little income.

I agree with the suggestion to live some place for a year before committing. It takes at least that long to get to know an area and to figure out if it will work for you. The cold winters are a big question mark for us. I remember playing in snow drifts and my mom yelling about the snow plow pushing the snow back in front of the car she just finished digging out, but I have never dealt with the cold and snow as an adult. It's different when you're a kid and your only concern is if you can go sledding, or not.

As always, you have very helpful input. Thanks!

[brightdoglover]

Do remember that usually, condo fees cover things that you would have to pay for anyway- house insurance, most utilities, exterior maintenance. At least the condo I had did.
A lot of condos/townhouses come with basements. Dunno about under $100K but it can't hurt to look.