to dream the impossible dream....

[flea]

My father (63) is mostly retired at this point. He and his wife are in the process of updating their house, decluttering, and thinking about moving to their retirement location. (She's only 50, but works as a crossing guard, so her career is not a factor; their kids are out of the house.) Family is mostly in New England or Ohio.

This is the list of things my father wants in a retirement location:
-temperate weather - not too hot in summers, not too cold in winters. I gather some snow is acceptable, but not Maine/upper New England levels of snow.
-small city, a college town would be ideal.
-not below the Mason-Dixon line.
-in a politically liberal location.
-preferably a place that is neither growing (exurban McMansion developments are a bad thing) or declining (i.e. not South Dakota).
-less expensive than where they live now, which is a wealthy area of Cincinnati. (My father is well off, but very cheap.)

He recently checked out Asheville and decided it was too expensive, he didn't like the way the highways went through the city, and he hated the exurban development. (It was already a fail on the Mason-Dixon line factor, and also possibly the snow issue.)

I just can't imagine a place that would actually meet his requirements. Anyplace with great weather, a thriving cultural scene, and progressive, is going to be overrun with OTHER people who want to live there, meaning it's expensive and has development issues. I mean, look at Portland, OR. In the age of the internet and "great places to retire" magazine features, there are no hidden gems.

Comments

[holli.livejournal.com]

I actually think you could find a place like this on Maryland's Eastern Shore, or in parts of Pennsylvania-- there are a bunch of little college towns out there that might do, places like Chestertown. They might be too small, though, and too far south. Annapolis is quite nice, too.

[casperflea.livejournal.com]

My grandfather (other side) lives in Annapolis. It's lovely, but not cheap (he's in a pricey retirement community with boating privileges, of course, so on the expensive end of expensive.)

[lili-beth.livejournal.com]

US News has this map you can play with: http://www.usnews.com/money/best-places/to-retire/listing/search/

The best thing my parents ever did for us was choose a retirement community that has progressive care. At the moment they are active and healthy, but we will never have to put them into a home, find care for them, etc.

[casperflea.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'll never be responsible for my father - we just don't have that kind of relationship. And his wife is significantly younger than he is, and their kids would be first in line. But he hates community stuff - would never go for a community. He basically thinks most people are idiots.

My mother will be a Big Problem some day, provided she doesn't die suddenly for some reason. She is fussy and snobby but not very well off and while she *says* 'put me in a home' now, I am sure when the time comes she will resist.

[(Anonymous)]

I was going to suggest the Eastern Shore too. Not Annapolis, which is super expensive, but a town like Salisbury, MD. it is a college town (Salisbury Univ), it's fairly small, not too much snow, near the beach, about 3 or so hours from DC/Baltimore. There's also Lexington, MD, which is where St. Mary's College of Maryland is. It's also about 3 hrs from DC/Baltimore, but it's not on the Eastern Shore -- it's in southern Maryland. Not sure about sprawl there now; when I looked at going to school there 15 yrs ago, it was fairly undeveloped.

It is technically below the Mason Dixon line, but having grown up in Maryland and lived in both New England and the Deep South, I can say that Maryland is a good blend of north and south.

Clare

[mearagrrl.livejournal.com]

Salisbury and the rest of the eastern shore are the conservative side of Maryland, but there are certainly liberals there as well. Just lots of republicans too. I was going to be all "small town in Oregon?"

[mskat.livejournal.com]

I was going to say Medford or Ashland. My brother lived in Grants Pass which was affordable and beautiful and liberal. But I agree that it's a tall order.

[(Anonymous)]

Ithaca NY is south of the Upstate New York snowbelt, and I can't think of a more liberal town (used to have a socialist mayor). If he ever did want to move into a retirement community, there's a Kendall there, full of retired college professors, so the idiot thing won't be an issue.

[(Anonymous)]

How about Athens, Ohio?