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We (ages 66/75) live in the big city.
6 grocery stores within walking distance - Kroger, Sprouts, Walmart, Vitamin Cottage (no armed guards).
53 restaurants and bars within 6 blocks
10 breweries within easy walking distance
Kaiser’s main facility is 4.2 miles away
The city picks up trash, recycling, and compost every week
The city sweeps the streets once a month.
The city has its own ambulance service which is included in our taxes.
Auto theft and theft from auto is 30% of the crime. We park our car in our garage.
Main bus line to downtown is 2 blocks away. Uber/Lyft are plentiful
We do own (well, currently share ownership with our credit union) a car, but only drive 2500 miles per year.
We know lots of neighbors and consider them friends.
We have a WalkScore of 90.
I have lived in semi-rural and would never do it again. Too isolating.
This sounds like a wonderful place! Is housing reasonably priced for typical retirees?
I’m in a walkable downtown, or at least in an older residential neighborhood adjacent to it. About a 10-20 minute walk to so much. And even the things we tend to get in the car for are only 2-3 miles away (Lowe’s, Wal-mart, Target). Grocery/pharmacy runs are mixed. A full restock we’ll just drive so we can load up the trunk, but if I’m just getting a few items, I’ll walk. We’ve recently added a cargo eBike to the mix, so we’ll see how that goes. Promising so far. I’ve lived in more suburban neighborhoods and found it quite soulless. We’ve really enjoyed being able to walk to so much. We drive so few miles now. And my neighbors are so much more interesting.
Just FYI, I live in a very small town (about 400 people), and the hospital (25 inpatient beds) is just about 16 miles (20 minutes) away, on the edge of our county's "big town" of about 10,000 people. I don't know how unique this is, but our county (pop. about 30,000) is comprised mainly of small towns under 1,000 people. Other than this "big little town", I think there are only two towns with over 1,000 residents, one with a population of about 1,200 and one with a population of about 1,500.
The area I grew up in (rural Iowa) sounds a lot like where you live. While rural in character, one is never all that far from gas stations, groceries, and basic medical care. The big wild card is the distance to specialist doctors and treatment. One can live in a small town and be only half an hour's drive to some of the best medical facilities in the world, or it could be a drive of many hours.
I've lived in mostly small towns and rural areas all my life, and honestly I don't see the appeal, especially as one ages.
My parents live in a quasi-rural area. Most of the homes are built in the 1970s on at least one acre lots.
Aside from a McDonald's on the interstate, a fast food pizza place, and a little diner, there's nothing to eat within fifteen minutes. There's a Dollar General, but that's it for shopping within fifteen minutes. This is somewhat of a local issue, but the hospitals here are complete trash. The local medical system is so reviled that many specialists are leaving for greener pastures at better regarded systems.
Most of the crime in this area is property crime and drug/domestic crime, and most of this is actually in rural areas. Drug addiction is a massive problem here, especially the more rural you go. A rural Walmart or Dollar General is going to be an eye-opening experience for those from an urban or "normal" suburban area.
It's one thing for a healthy 60 year old to live in a rural area. It's another thing for someone who is 85 and can no longer drive or needs a lot of help from others to remain independent.
Imagine you are old (at least 62 years old) and poor (low income, no car).
Would you rather retire in a city that has good medical care (full-service hospital/s and doctors), with city crime and traffic as well as city public transportation and Uber/taxis?
Or would you prefer a small town with very little crime, very little traffic, very few primary-care doctors (and fewer specialists), and a hospital that might lack the equipment or specialists to properly care for you; with no public transportation to get you there, let alone Uber/taxis?
I like the day-to-day peace and quiet of my little town, the absence of sirens in the night and crimes in the news. But I wish we had ophthalmologists here, and oral surgeons, and psychiatrists.
I also wish one of the (only) three grocery stores carried some healthful foods, e.g., low-sodium meats and vegetables. OTOH, none of the three has armed guards on duty, unlike city grocery stores I have known.
I put only the two choices because those are the only two choices I have -- to live just outside a very small town, or in a big city. Just trying to decide which might be best, and looking for input from others who, like me, have experienced life in one or both.
I live in a small town, but the big city is just down the highway about 22 miles away.
But our small towns here have some good amenities. Even transportation. Have a small bus that will take you to all the bigger stores, hospital etc. They run all day. Lots of uber drivers.
We have a hospital that will transport you by helicopter or ambulance to the bigger ones in the city.
Lots of places to eat - an many will deliver. We have a new library, nice park, good police officers, There is always something going on. Schools of course have lots of events - sports etc.
I lived in the big city and it started to be such a hassle. Took forever to drive into work in the morning. That was over 30 years ago - now it is worse and it is just getting bigger.
I am not a shopper - online is my thing, so do not need those malls etc.
I've lived in mostly small towns and rural areas all my life, and honestly I don't see the appeal, especially as one ages.
My parents live in a quasi-rural area. Most of the homes are built in the 1970s on at least one acre lots.
Aside from a McDonald's on the interstate, a fast food pizza place, and a little diner, there's nothing to eat within fifteen minutes. There's a Dollar General, but that's it for shopping within fifteen minutes. This is somewhat of a local issue, but the hospitals here are complete trash. The local medical system is so reviled that many specialists are leaving for greener pastures at better regarded systems.
Most of the crime in this area is property crime and drug/domestic crime, and most of this is actually in rural areas. Drug addiction is a massive problem here, especially the more rural you go. A rural Walmart or Dollar General is going to be an eye-opening experience for those from an urban or "normal" suburban area.
It's one thing for a healthy 60 year old to live in a rural area. It's another thing for someone who is 85 and can no longer drive or needs a lot of help from others to remain independent.
I used to worry about medical care and said I would live close to the medical center in the city. We have a couple of top rated trauma hospitals here. Now I just don't care. Whatever happens, happens.
I've lived in mostly small towns and rural areas all my life, and honestly I don't see the appeal, especially as one ages.
My parents live in a quasi-rural area. Most of the homes are built in the 1970s on at least one acre lots.
Aside from a McDonald's on the interstate, a fast food pizza place, and a little diner, there's nothing to eat within fifteen minutes. There's a Dollar General, but that's it for shopping within fifteen minutes. This is somewhat of a local issue, but the hospitals here are complete trash. The local medical system is so reviled that many specialists are leaving for greener pastures at better regarded systems.
Most of the crime in this area is property crime and drug/domestic crime, and most of this is actually in rural areas. Drug addiction is a massive problem here, especially the more rural you go. A rural Walmart or Dollar General is going to be an eye-opening experience for those from an urban or "normal" suburban area.
It's one thing for a healthy 60 year old to live in a rural area. It's another thing for someone who is 85 and can no longer drive or needs a lot of help from others to remain independent.
Well, every place will be different. Your relatives probably lived their entire lives if not for generations in that area. This is more about having choices and choosing where you want to live in retirement. I'm sure there are horror stories about some small towns as well as some large cities.
If one chooses wisely, a retiree can have a small town lifestyle with good restaurants, very good medical care not very far and accessible, and public transportation when needed if that's what they prefer. We're not all doomed to be like your parents and grandparents just because we might not want to live in a large city.
Last edited by marino760; 12-05-2023 at 03:12 PM..
I used to worry about medical care and said I would live close to the medical center in the city. We have a couple of top rated trauma hospitals here. Now I just don't care. Whatever happens, happens.
Thanks for posting that because sometimes I think I am the only poster who thinks that way, and I would rather die fairly quickly from a heart attack or a skidding off the road and hitting a tree than linger for months with cancer or advanced dementia. I do not have a "death wish", but now I worry more about being very old and disabled in some way than I do about dying.
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