Retirement location: Equal to climate, easy access to everything (relocate, relative, cousins)
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Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Equal to climate, easy access to everything
for USA...
tho heritage puts me on the great plains (Pioneer homestead), and in Colorado Rockies (Working ranch in Estes Park).
I don't do AC (in car or in home)
I will stick with PNW 'we_tside' summers. I like 50 - 60F sleeping nights. Free concerts in the park every night and LONG days (of sunlight). Can get hot on RARE occasion (3-5 days / summer). That is what the beach /coast is for. Run out at 3pm. enjoy sunset. eat some halibut or Salmon, head inland by midnight.
I will only venture east of Missouri River between Oct and May.
Income Tax free WA makes an EZ domicile, and Sales Tax Free Oregon is 5 minutes across Columbia River bridge,
PDX voted Nicest Airport in USA (again), which I use nearly every week. (if I get stuck in PNW winter). Tough to beat a $23.10 direct flight to San Diego. Airport is downtown! and near coast / old town... No need for car / taxi / hotel. How far can you drive on $23 fuel? My Motorhome sits a lot... but it is ready to go to the beach (1 hr) or the Mtns (10 min), or cross country (SW USA National Parks for wildflowers. UT parks for March / Oct. Bay area / NO CA for May flowers and redwoods. Each are only 1 day drive (a long day to SW USA National Parks...!)
MT and WY for late Sept Aspen. I used to go to Yellowstone and Tetons 3x / week, so I still venture there frequently (1 day drive to get there).
Early OCT for NM Balloon fiesta (usually fly... 2.5 hrs, $100)
Use Narrow Gauge RR for Aspen while I am in NM
PNW 'we_tside'
No SWELTERING / no water shortage / CHEAP utilities / lots to do / EZ access to international (and USA) destinations.. 2- 3 snows / winter (~2" of snow, rain washes it away by noon).
it is GREEN (at a price) 200+ days of potential drizzle (and a good time to head to San Diego for a 'sun day' every week or two).
I head to Hill Country TX in winter. <$100k place with pond / house / barns / HUGE shop / cabin. 5 min to town. rented for 15% return and I stay for free (whenever I have a hankering to do so). BIG music scene and lots of recreation (TX playground / vacation spot). I can get GOOD rents in summer! while I am sleeping in PNW with windows open, or out on trampoline (great for star gazing)
We are enjoying the mild winter, on a mountain just out of the Asheville city limits. Our family doctor is 3 miles away. The temps are 6 to 10 degrees cooler than downtown. So the summers are also mild. We are on the sunny side of the mountain--in kind of a micro-climate. The organic farms are right down the road. Great restaurants are everywhere. Grass Fed beef, wonderful goat farm products, and Amish foodstuff are readily available. We are considering joining one farm co-op - receiving a box of freshly picked fruits and vegetables for 25 dollars a week. Our only concern is being able to eat it all. Included with each box are recipes for the contents.
We are young healthy retirees, and plan on enjoying ourselves as long as we can. Our son and family love it here and come to visit often. My 91 yr old mom was here for Christmas. My youngest brother is planning on retiring here in about 8 years. We have lifetime friends with vacation homes in the area. My sister in law is also considering moving here in 2 years.
We have been renovating this new to us,house for about a year. We are almost done--so next we will become involved with the community. We already have made friends with many of our neighbors. There is almost too much going on to choose from. Music--art --plays--sunrises/sunsets--pure quiet beauty.
Net is, for one month, it's hotter and equally humid. BUT there are only three months of unsurvivable cold, and this year so far, we have not had any snow that has stayed on the ground. Of course, we did get Snowmageddon in 2010, two storms back to back that left 30" on the ground. And the winter of 2002, we had more snow than New England received.
On balance, weather-wise, Northern VA is way more livable than where I came from in New England, attributable to the cold and snow factor.
I'd still like to live in a small town in the woods, though. Griz has the right idea, lol!
Net is, for one month, it's hotter and equally humid. BUT there are only three months of unsurvivable cold, and this year so far, we have not had any snow that has stayed on the ground. Of course, we did get Snowmageddon in 2010, two storms back to back that left 30" on the ground. And the winter of 2002, we had more snow than New England received.
On balance, weather-wise, Northern VA is way more livable than where I came from in New England, attributable to the cold and snow factor.
I'd still like to live in a small town in the woods, though. Griz has the right idea, lol!
.............Hey Jane_sm1th73................
Your post and several others mention the word "HUMIDITY" as related to weather conditions in several areas and states east of the Mississippi River. Next in line is "HOT" (as in AZ, FL & TX). That is why my "short list" of potential retirement locations ended up with MT, WY & CO being the top three.
I had a job (almost 40 years) that required extensive travel in the western U.S., but I also had to make periodic "job-related" visits to such cities as: New York, Newark, Columbia S.C.; Atlanta, Jacksonville, FL; New Orleans; KC, KS; Chgo; Dallas, Corpus Christi & El Paso. It didn't take long for me to realize that I COULD NEVER live in areas that had "high humidities" , and also areas that had high temps like Tucson. These conclusions were formed not just after 1 or 2 visits, but after many, many visits over 20 to 30 years.
The area in MT where I decided to retire is classified as "Semi-Arid" (annual precip is 13 inches and an average TOTAL snow fall of 37 inches) & humidities from 10 to 40%......with average daytime temps ( May thru Oct ) that vary from the 60's to 80's; October into Dec are from the 40's to the 60's (as are March and April). The more severe winter months are usually Jan & Feb...HOWEVER, this season has been MUCH MILDER than average:...Example(s): I have NO snow on the ground and haven't had any for about 2 months(we had a couple of inches around XMas) ...it has been in the low SIXTIES (61/63) for several days in the last 8 to 12 days. Living on the "lee" side of a Mountain range that runs parallel to another mountain range 5 miles to the east (and forms the Bitterroot Valley (ele 3650')....this situation "moderates" our weather to a great extent....thus the colloquial 'nick-name' : The Banana Belt of Montana.
And yes, I do enjoy "living in the woods": 3 different specie of Pine Trees, mixed in with groves of Aspen and Popular as well as Choke-Cherry, Huckleberry and wild Plum.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,639 posts, read 57,672,293 times
Reputation: 46084
Quote:
Originally Posted by Montana Griz
.............Hey Jane_sm1th73................
...That is why my "short list" of potential retirement locations ended up with MT, WY & CO being the top three.
... Living on the "lee" side of a Mountain range that runs parallel to another mountain range 5 miles to the east (and forms the Bitterroot Valley (ele 3650')....this situation "moderates" our weather to a great extent....thus the colloquial 'nick-name' : The Banana Belt of Montana.
....
Bitterroot is a GREAT choice, and hopefully the Senior Housing Coop in Hamilton will eventually take root as an option.
(the first developer was a bit 'high -end' to make it a viable option for most. )
As you have been around for many yrs, you surely must be able to cope with the tragedy of what has happened to MT properties and especially Bitterroot Valley. I disliked having to leave Colorado 30+ yrs ago due to growth / taxes / social / political change,. but some places can no longer be 'home'.
I still hold out for Powell, WY if I ever quit 'flying' internationally every month. I keep my name on the list at WY Pioneer home, just in case I face the same fate as my parents! (early care needs... pre-age 50 - 80+). Currently living on 'borrowed time'!
Nice places, increasingly become 'remote'. I have several friends in Plains and Thompson Falls, MT (another banana belt / fruit / gardening friendly MT location).
I do like your building codes! fits well with my 'alternative' building methods!
Is there any place in America where an old(er) person doesn't have to drive more than 5 or 10 min to get everything? Where say a possibly more frail 85-year-old could get everything right in town? I'd like to hear from those who do live in such a town/small city, or who know of one from direct experience. Is anyone else factoring this in to their relocation plan?
Not relocating because I live in exactly such a place - been here since the late 60's. Quiet residential suburban neighborhood established in early 1900's, surrounded by everything - and I mean everything. Great central location - six minutes from downtown (where I worked for decades), theatres, restaurants.
A very short list includes half a mile from three grocery stores including the organic coop where I shop weekly, branch bank at another grocery store on the opposite side of the street where I bank, several restaurants, Walgreen's, plus beauty shop, coffee shop, favorite Italian restaurant, cobbler, and much much more; just a block and a half away from a beautiful, wooded huge park spanning an entire mile, with skating rink, playground, picnic area - walk there often; 3/4 mile away from great gourmet Italian (and many other) restaurant, book shop, one mile from City Hall. Major teaching hospital two miles away which I can easily access via a straight shot down main road located 1.5 blocks from my house. Church 3/4 mile away, several auto repair places half mile in the other direction, including more restaurants, etc., etc., etc. Foregoing is still a very short list.
Don't drive long distances these days. No need to - for anything. Things too expensive locally or which I can buy in large quantities and store, I buy off eBay. Won't go shopping for anything other than groceries, if I absolutely don't have to. Don't go to malls - hate 'em.
Always did love it here. The older I get, the better it is. Wouldn't dream of relocating. Health or catastrophe may force a move, but it's nothing I'd ever contemplate otherwise.
many people mention 55+ communities as their retirement destination, but i have never felt that this would be a solution long term, depending on how long one lives. even though many are in a village-like setting with shops, recreation, restaurants, banks, groceries on site, my concern is the lack of medical back-up and subsequent care if/when needed. i'm not talking about proximity to doctor's offices or even clinics. i guess, when i worked as a geriatric social worker, and in my own family, i saw so many situations when health changed over night- a stroke, a fall, a coronary, etc. in some of these cases, this medical event, although treated at the local hospital, ultimately required an entire change in residence, as the person had lost/impaired skills needed to live independently. so in these cases, staying in the 55+ was no longer possible, and another move and adjustment were required.
since most people i know are looking for the"final move", not just something interim, this is the reason i question a 55+ as a long term destination. it might be for some, but for others with increasing debility and acute emergency type medical events, this isn't for the long haul.
i'm not trying to be a harbinger of doom, and , granted, some of my past work experience in this field impacts my thinking on this subject. but, i have several friends living in 55+ communities, who have talked about some long term neighbors who are now home bound with in-home care and are generally isolated from community events, as well as finding it increasingly difficult to pay the escalating costs of in-home care.
what's the answer?? probably for me, it will be ccrc, but one that has leasing as well as purchasing, and has the facility as a part of a 55+ housing complex with combined community events for both groups. i certainly don't think that's perfect plan, and am still hoping that some alternatives might yet be developed.
catsy girl
We have CCRC here. They are part of the community. Don't paint all 55+ with the same broad brush.
Where would you get all of that help if you lived in a regular community? A large 55+ is already set up for those things.
We have CCRC here. They are part of the community. Don't paint all 55+ with the same broad brush.
Where would you get all of that help if you lived in a regular community? A large 55+ is already set up for those things.
i don't know any over 55 communities that have built-in medical/health care based on changing levels of needs. the most that they may offer is preventive health care- blood pressure checks, flu shots, etc. the 55+ communities in this area, of which there are many, offer primarily a clubhouse, calendar of activites, trips, and other socialization opportunities for those in that age group.however, of the communities with which i'm most familiar there are many residents who are in the older end of the aging spectrum-late 70s and 80s. i teach in a local life long learning program and there have always been a number of these residents in classes i have taught for 4+ years.
and of course you're going to have activities, socialization in 55+ communities that you don't have in a regular community. that's one of the main reasons people buy into them. there is certainly nothing wrong with wanting that kind of lifestyle, but the people who choose to stay in such communities, as they become more frail and have deteriorating health, usually have to purchase in-home care through private agencies or depend on family or friends. i have a friend who lives in a 55+ group who picks up the mail each day at the communal mailbox for several neighbors who find it too difficult to walk the distance, several blocks, to retrieve it.
i think 55+ and ccrcs each has a place and fulfills a need, but the services offered are not usually the same. one is primarily a social model , and the other offers socialization but is primarily a healthcare model care based on the expectation that a resident's needs will increase over time.
Unless posters are willing to say the name of these towns and maybe the names of the neighborhoods they are recommending, it is interesting to read, but not really helpful.
Just my opinion.
Yes, some have the name of their current location in upper right hand corner, but for a good number, we have no idea what town and/or what part of that town or neighborhood you are talking about.
Most people probably do not want to say what neighborhood, but the name of the town would be more than helpful.
Last edited by matisse12; 02-07-2015 at 10:30 PM..
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