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I was pretty happy, for a while, but despite the many wonderful things here in the Denver metro area (relatively dry, warm climate; great scenery; plethora of Open Space parks; etc.), I find myself increasingly longing for a return to my Midwestern roots. Maybe not exactly where I'm from (NW Ohio), but someplace that isn't a boom town. A place or region that is still mostly rural - more fields and woods than shopping malls - and where there are some open spaces (public land) and trails for hiking, running, and Nordic (cross-country) skiing (I feel the need to explain the term "Nordic" because so many folks here seem to think it means "Alpine"). Unlike most retirees, the idea of cold and snow doesn't bother me (I'm a skier). In fact, I long to live in a place with a local system of groomed Nordic ski trails and an active, friendly local Nordic ski community.
Yes, it does snow here in the Front Range area, but it comes in small amounts - usually only 2 or 3 inches of light, fluffy stuff - and the wind blows it away the next day. What the wind doesn't scour away, the sun takes care of. No local, groomed trails. Yes, there are indeed a whole bunch of Nordic ski areas over on the other side of the Divide, but the price you pay to get to them (sitting in the I-70 traffic jam/parking lot for hours and hours) isn't my cup of tea any more.
Now that career considerations are a thing of the past, I think it's time to live the "authentic life" that Dr. Bernie Siegel speaks of. And I can only envision that life in someplace more rural and less populated. Towns like Viroqua, WI and Traverse City, MI seem to be the correct prescription(s).
If you're in a part of the country that competes well globally, real estate is doing just fine as long as you live where the top-20% want to live. If you're somewhere that most of the people are at median household income, things aren't so rosy since those people never saw much of a bounce after the Great Recession. Globalization has caused a huge amount of income stratification and that trend is only going to increase. If we were talking Japan, then yeah. It looks bleak since they're seeing enormous population contraction. Northern Europe has the same issue though not quite to the same extreme. The US population continues to grow. The US economy continues to grow. Towns with mostly dual income college educated households are not going to have a downward slide. Working class towns are going to really struggle.
The US population will not grow forever. What's happened in Japan and Europe will eventually hit here. My own bet is it will start to hit about 10 years from now. Initially there will be a flattening and later outright decline.
The US population will not grow forever. What's happened in Japan and Europe will eventually hit here. My own bet is it will start to hit about 10 years from now. Initially there will be a flattening and later outright decline.
So you're representing pure conjecture as fact. I hate to burst your bubble but the census bureau thinks otherwise. They project a population growth rate of 0.82% this year. It is still projected at 0.46% growth rate in 2060. We will add almost 100 million people. 2060 in Japan projects to be a total disaster. They project to shrink from 130 million down to 86 million in 2060 and that 40% of the Japanese population will be over the age of 60.
I think we are getting two different approaches here - one is people who live somewhere they don't really like that much, but were there for a job or whatever, and are thinking about "settling" for retirement in that location just for simplicity and to avoid a move.
The other approach is what I have done, I live in a place I like, and am still working. I intend to stay put in order to "not try to fix what ain't broke" so to speak.
I think we are getting two different approaches here - one is people who live somewhere they don't really like that much, but were there for a job or whatever, and are thinking about "settling" for retirement in that location just for simplicity and to avoid a move.
The other approach is what I have done, I live in a place I like, and am still working. I intend to stay put in order to "not try to fix what ain't broke" so to speak.
That's how I am, Mitch, and what made me post this to begin with. It just seemed to me sad and impossible that everyone working would rather be somewhere else (I can see the wanting to be somewhere else than the workplace, of course, but not the general area). I do feel that any move would be a trade-off. There would be some things that would be better than where I live now and others that would be worse. For example, I could escape traffic by moving somewhere else, but there may not be much to do, so less populated roads wouldn't really matter!
I was pretty happy, for a while, but despite the many wonderful things here in the Denver metro area (relatively dry, warm climate; great scenery; plethora of Open Space parks; etc.), I find myself increasingly longing for a return to my Midwestern roots. Maybe not exactly where I'm from (NW Ohio), but someplace that isn't a boom town. A place or region that is still mostly rural - more fields and woods than shopping malls - and where there are some open spaces (public land) and trails for hiking, running, and Nordic (cross-country) skiing (I feel the need to explain the term "Nordic" because so many folks here seem to think it means "Alpine"). Unlike most retirees, the idea of cold and snow doesn't bother me (I'm a skier). In fact, I long to live in a place with a local system of groomed Nordic ski trails and an active, friendly local Nordic ski community.
Yes, it does snow here in the Front Range area, but it comes in small amounts - usually only 2 or 3 inches of light, fluffy stuff - and the wind blows it away the next day. What the wind doesn't scour away, the sun takes care of. No local, groomed trails. Yes, there are indeed a whole bunch of Nordic ski areas over on the other side of the Divide, but the price you pay to get to them (sitting in the I-70 traffic jam/parking lot for hours and hours) isn't my cup of tea any more.
Now that career considerations are a thing of the past, I think it's time to live the "authentic life" that Dr. Bernie Siegel speaks of. And I can only envision that life in someplace more rural and less populated. Towns like Viroqua, WI and Traverse City, MI seem to be the correct prescription(s).
Just my 2 cents.
Then go off and live your dream while you are still young.
I retired and did the rural thing. I have 45 acres, donkeys, cows, chickens, vegetable garden.
I made wild plum jam for the first time and have a freezer full of beef from a steer I knew personally.
Of course everyone thought I was crazy. I don't plan to stay here forever though. I'll move to a small beach town for my next "retirement". But for now I'm enjoying the good life.
The above statement is a simple truth which I find profound at the same time. I can relate to it.
I'll bet you do, living in LA! And really, how could it be otherwise? The places that appeal to lots of people (because they have the sort of things that appeal to lots of people) will attract more people and thus more traffic. I suppose if someone figured out some really ingenuous way to move people around and house people, perhaps then traffic, congestion, limited housing options, etc. wouldn't play as prominent a role. But that won't happen in my lifetime, so I will just make the best of the negatives while enjoying the positives. The traffic situation actually helps him maintain some balance in my life----I avoid a lot of driving during rush hours, which helps me not attempt to partake in every concert, lecture, play, festival, etc. that's going on---and then on the weekends when things are better, I enjoy them.
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