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I semi-retired 5 years ago (I still do some contract work for a former employer, mostly to keep my brain engaged in something challenging). I moved from a college town near several large cities to a town of 9,000 that's constantly listed on those "Best Places to (blank)" articles. And indeed, it's a beautiful town with wonderful people. (I'm not naming names because my experience could apply anywhere.)
But after 5 years, I decided to sell my house there and move to a small city 2 hours away. Here are the things that I eventually found weren't going to work for me long-term, especially as I age. Keep in mind that I live alone, and as part of a couple some of these issues might not seem as onerous as they do to someone who's completely responsible for herself and has no one else to drive her anywhere if ill or otherwise incapacitated.
1. Medical care. This was the biggie, for me. The town has a highly-regarded hospital, but it's limited in the services it provides. Time after time I heard from friends and neighbors that they went to the hospital in town only to be transferred to one over an hour away for more involved care. That can be not only dangerous, but depending on your insurance, the ambulance can be quite costly. (I did have an air ambulance policy for trauma transport, which thankfully, I never needed.) Besides the hospital issue, there's a lack of specialists. I had to travel 45 minutes for an appointment with one specialist and 45 minutes the other direction for another (both were for minor problems, but there were no doctors in town able to help with them or do the needed tests).
2. Shopping. I *hate* shopping, but sometimes you need to buy things, and driving 45 minutes to get to a department store or Costco, etc., became a real nuisance. It took a half a day to buy underwear that was nicer than what the drugstore sold. (Also see "Tourists," below.)
3. Travel. Although there's an airport shuttle that serves the town and the surrounding counties, the nearest major airport is 2 hours away, and since the trip is so far, the shuttle service has to combine as many passengers per trip as possible in order to make enough money to provide the service at all, which meant that my last trip, I was taken to the airport 6 hours before a 13-hour overseas flight. Now I'm an hour from the same airport, but because I'm in a metro area of 200,000, the shuttle runs there and back many times a day and there are multiple vans.
4. Gossip. This may seem like a weird one, but because of the small size of the town, many long-time residents know each other and I was actually advised not to eat here to go to that store because of some personal business (domestic abuse, cheating on spouse, argument with building owner over a lease, etc.) that I really preferred not to know about. I like the anonymity of a larger area.
5. Expense. With a captive audience, prices can be higher than in other areas because of a lack of competition. I pay less here for the YMCA with 2 pools, a hot tub, a huge cardio exercise equipment room, and dozens of exercises classes weekly than I did for a small, ill-equipped gym with no pool and many fewer classes.
6. Tourists. If you live in a place that's a "tourist town," expect major parking hassles in the summer, and lots of closed stores in the winter. And many of the stores in the downtown area will cater to tourists, so you might be able to buy very expensive art in one of the galleries, but not be able to buy a pair of non-boutique brand jeans.
Just my two cents' worth. There are plenty of retired people who are thriving in the town I left, but for me, living alone, it just wasn't going to be a good area to age in place. I feel much more comfortable being near a couple major hospitals that can provide a higher level of care, and being so far from the airport was actually discouraging me from taking short trips, as the commute time to the airport was adding so much travel time.
So, if you're thinking of retiring to a smaller town, consider whether any of these issues would be problematic for you. I didn't think they would be, but after living with them a few years, it became obvious to me that the place just wasn't working for me, as beautiful and friendly as it was. The best part is, I'm two hours away so I can go back and visit any time, enjoy the town as a tourist, and see old friends.
Pretty much my experience exactly. But added to that was that the town we moved near was not "recovering" after the (latest) recession and is in fact still going backward, in terms of amenities. So we cut our losses and moved to a larger city in a larger area.
We still aren't living in "the big city" and my unusual eye problem means I need to travel 5-6 hours (depending on direction) to one of the 4 major people on the west coast who handle it. Sure, there is a doctor locally who handles it in the new town, but he does maybe 5-6 a year and the physician I travel to (one of the people who developed the surgery in the first place), does more than that a WEEK.
To the OP (Ukiyo-e): Thanks for your rational and thoughtful post. Although I was never tempted to retire to a small town, I enjoyed reading it because it confirmed the reasons why I am content to live in a large city.
And for people who may be considering whether a small town would be right for them, there is nothing quite like someone who has been there, done that AND who has carefully considered the entire matter.
The OP's experience is much like my own. We didn't move here thinking that it would be permanent though. It's a tiny beach town and it's okay in summer but desolate in winter. I've gotten my fill of living on the beach--something many of us dream of. But I got it out of my system.
In the small town there are no stores except CVS. The people are inbred and all know each other so they don't want new friends. And there is NOTHING to do. If there's nothing to do in the summer, imagine the winter!
We go to a very close small city for doctors, groceries, and a few other things. But it's another tourist destination with fancy boutiques and you can't buy necessities. To our north is another town, bigger than this, and they have Home Depot, Staples, junk stores, etc. But for clothing we go to their Goodwill, which does have some brand new items, i.e. underwear. There is also a Dollar Store in that town for paper towels and other misc.
No airport--how true! Nothing cultural to do. No higher ed. to take classes.
We get by with driving in all directions to get things or buying things online, especially ebay for clothing.
It's more the boring, nothing to do factor, the distance from an airport, and the lack of medical facilities, plus it's isolating and dangerous in the harsh New England winters.
We, too, are looking at moving to a city. It will be somewhere in the south.
So, if you're thinking of retiring to a smaller town, consider whether any of these issues would be problematic for you. I didn't think they would be, but after living with them a few years, it became obvious to me that the place just wasn't working for me, as beautiful and friendly as it was. The best part is, I'm two hours away so I can go back and visit any time, enjoy the town as a tourist, and see old friends.
Your perspective is extremely practical and I applaud that. I would not, however, discount all small towns. Rural and suburban, yes, but most major and medium-size cities have towns directly adjacent to them. In the Northeast, they typically have their own amenities and the drive to the city may be 15 to 20 min depending on traffic. Also, some areas, like mine, are known for their medical facilities. I can be at a Boston affiliated hospital in 20 min., and to regarded specialists in the same amt of time.
The "townie" factor is the only one in your list, above, that has affected me. Those who grow up together and have stayed in the same town tend to drive town politics and every other community endeavor. Even in a more educated area, like mine, the townies sticking together does happen, and outsiders are not easily drawn in.
I would prefer to live in large city if I had the means to live in the very best part of that city. There is something constantly refreshing about the hustle and bustle and anonymity. Just yesterday we were reminiscing about our college/early married years in Boston. Then, we couldn't wait to "get out" and settle down in our own home in suburbia. Now that we're older, it's an interesting thought to move back there, to our old stomping grounds when we were apartment dwellers. With the current prices on homes, that won't happen.
I did all this analysis at age 50 when I was working through where to locate and buy my "last house".
The thing that's missing from this thread is the impact of real estate prices, property taxes, and other related costs like insurance. I'm fairly affluent but I had to pick a place to live where my paid-for house wouldn't chew me alive with ownership costs when I retire with much less cash flow; or if I have an employment glitch where I have to live off an unemployment check for a while and prefer to not erode my savings. I also didn't want to tie a huge percentage of my net worth up in my primary residence.
This topic is close to my heart as we are in the process of finding our retirement spot. Not a problem for me to mention them we are looking at Roanoke, VA and Johnson City, TN. JC is about 80,000, Roanoke is larger. On the way last time we stopped in a beautiful town much as the opening poster described, Abingdon, VA. I felt just as that poster did, way too small and was concerned about his list among other things
Now 80,000 people in a college town surrounded by other towns is not too small, in fact it is just right.
We wrestled with these issues in our mind when trying to decide whether to relocate to a bigger city like Vancouver WA or smaller cities/towns like Sequim, Port Angeles and Port Townsend in the Olympic Peninsula WA.
We visited Vancouver first and wanted quite badly to find a suitable home there but was quite disappointed with congested traffic, limited attractive homes with acreage and views. We then checked out the OP and absolutely loved some of homes/locations. We even made a backup offer to buy a beautiful and unique Japanese style home with 16 A in Port Townsend.
Our 'rationalization' for the very real issues you raised when we made the offer for the PT property were:
1) Medical care: For routine care, we can find local doctors. For specialists, we can go to Seattle. Owning a small plane also helps with the transportation issue.
2) Shopping: We rarely buy things from brick and mortar stores and order most of our stuffs online even groceries. We are also DIY and wannabee homesteaders so home with acreage will let us have a garden and keep some chickens (the property which we made an offer had fruit trees, gardens, chicken coop and horse stalls!).
3) Travel: It's a bit of a drive to major airports but even in our current relatively big size town, we have to drive 2-3 hrs to a major airport anyway. In addition, in retirement, we have more time and can take more driving trips. Again, having our little 'magic flying carpet' (ie our plane) helps a lot with traveling.
4) Gossip: We are not social butterflies so we have managed to avoid gossiping issues every where. From our life experience, we find associating with like-minded folks or people sharing the same hobbies/interests (flying, rowing, hiking, photography etc) have seemed to keep us far from gossipers.
5) Expenses: Yes, something can be expensive in small town but if you are into nature/outdoor. These activities are free. Again, online shopping is the price equalizer between big cities and small towns.
6) Tourist: Yes, traffic can be an issue but when you are retired, you don't have to go out in rush traffic hours. Regarding shopping for essentials instead of touristy stuffs, again online shopping solves the problem.
We learned just before we left the OP that our house offer did not go through. We left PT at around noon and took the ferry to Seattle thinking that we would have made it before the traffic rush. The ferry arrived around mid afternoon and we were stuck in the traffic for almost 2 hours. I knew Seattle traffic was bad but did not realize that it was that bad.
The bad traffic experience kind of put a damper on our enthusiasm to relocate in the OP. We are still drawn to the beauty of the place. The mountains, hills, forest and shores communicate with my soul. The outdoor opportunities seem unlimited . As a matter of fact, I am planning a vacation there in October with our daughter and brother's family hiking the Olympic Trails. After 4 days there, we will drive from Seattle eastward making a big loop checking out Tri Cities area, Walla Walla and Spokane. These cities are certainly not big metropolis but not as isolated as the OP. There are pros and cons for relocation in all these places. We will have to visit them in person, compare and contrast and hopefully making the final decision in a very near future.
[quote=ukiyo-e;40942184]I semi-retired 5 years ago (I still do some contract work for a former employer, mostly to keep my brain engaged in something challenging). I moved from a college town near several large cities to a town of 9,000 that's constantly listed on those "Best Places to (blank)" articles. And indeed, it's a beautiful town with wonderful people. (I'm not naming names because my experience could apply anywhere.)
/QUOTE]
Do you mind sharing the general region if you don't want to specify the town?
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