Where to retire in Texas (Amarillo, Abilene: 2014, rental, homes)

[chrisgeo563]

My wife and I are retired and want to move to Texas for 2 reasons. My wife lived in Amarillo as a child and always wanted to go back. Second, and most important, our grand kids will be moving to Stephenville next week. Yes we'd like to be near the little ones, but not get dragged in to the family drama. A 1 to 2 hour drive to go see them wouldn't bother us. Where is the best affordable place to retire in Texas. We're not rich but our rental budget can be squeezed to about $800/mo. Haven't found many 55+ affordable communities, maybe I'm not looking in the right places. Any advice would be appreciated.

[ChristieP]

This company has affordable senior communities throughout Texas:
Evergreen Senior Communities

[chrisgeo563]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

This company has affordable senior communities throughout Texas:
Evergreen Senior Communities

Looks like a possibility. Seems a little luxurious to be affordable, but it did say income restrictions apply, so it may work for us. I'll give them a call tomorrow. Thanks for the tip.

[q32]

Abilene and Waco are both within 2 hours of Stephenville and both have low cost of living. Compared to a US average of 100 for cost of living, Waco is at 86.1 and Abilene is at 83.5. If you'd prefer to be closer to the DFW area, you might consider looking into somewhere like Weatherford. The cost of living there is a bit higher (95.0) but you would be closer to a big city if that's important to you. You could also look in Ft. Worth if you want.

As a side note, several Texas cities made it on the 2014 Forbes list of best places to retire in the US - Abilene is the only one that made the list that is within 2 hours of Stephenville.

What are your preferences for city size, climate, etc?

[Mark Senior]

some of these locations look questionable, less desirable?

[Restrain]

Any smaller town in central east Texas should work. Just go check them out, see what you find. Road trip!

[dee936]

Nacogdoches,Lufkin,Tyler and Longview are certified communities for retirees!

[biscuitmom]

Brownwood is about an hour from Stephenville. It's a vibrant small town with a couple of 55+ communities:. Cost of living is very reasonable there.

[TT Dave]

Originally Posted by biscuitmom

Brownwood is about an hour from Stephenville. It's a vibrant small town with a couple of 55+ communities:. Cost of living is very reasonable there.

+1 on Brownwood. I know two couples that moved to Brownwood when they retired. They love it down there. It's a small town but not too small. Lake Brownwood is nice, there's plenty of restaurants and shopping, low cost of living. I wouldn't mind living down there myself when I retire.

If you don't find an actual retirement community you like in Brownwood but you like the area, there's a couple of neighborhoods on Lake Brownwood that are probably 99% retired people. I can't remember the specific names of those neighborhoods but a realtor would know.

[Westerntraveler]

Originally Posted by TT Dave

+1 on Brownwood. I know two couples that moved to Brownwood when they retired. They love it down there. It's a small town but not too small. Lake Brownwood is nice, there's plenty of restaurants and shopping, low cost of living. I wouldn't mind living down there myself when I retire.

If you don't find an actual retirement community you like in Brownwood but you like the area, there's a couple of neighborhoods on Lake Brownwood that are probably 99% retired people. I can't remember the specific names of those neighborhoods but a realtor would know.

Is Lake Brownwood still dry?