Best Places to Retire: 2007
What do you think of this year’s Best Places to Retire list? Which are your favorite cities and neighborhoods? What makes them great places to live in after you’ve left the workforce? Would you consider moving to one of them? What do you think is most important when considering where to retire — real estate prices, medical facilities, things to do, ease of transportation, safety? Tell us what you think. The best replies will be published here, and possibly in a future story on CNNMoney.com.
Before purchasing real estate in Florida, make sure you understand you will be paying exceptionally high property taxes while neighbors who have lived in their homes for 5 or more years will pay very low property taxes. In effect you will be paying part of the taxes they should be paying. This is due to the Save Our Homes amendment.
Pick eastern Missouri - low, low real estate taxes, low home prices, scenic beauty. Our small town has a hospital, small golf course, great park center with swimming, fitness center and theater - great plays by local high schools, diversity of churches, close proximity to St. Louis (about an hour away) with major sporting events, great concerts, etc., etc., etc. For a great get-a-way go to Lake of the Ozarks or south to Branson and Table Rock Lake, etc. Stay at home and have a wonderful garden of vegetables or flowers - walk the entire town in safety.
I agree with so many others who posted here; whoever researched and wrote these recommendations hasn’t a clue as to what is important to retirees, such as good health care, low crime, affordable housing and cost of living especially for those on fixed incomes, decent weather (ice and snow are extremely hazardous), and only after those basics are considered does it matter how many golf courses are close by.
Redding California is the best place to retire! Its immediate appeal is largely attributed to spectacular outdoor scenery with Mount Shasta and the Cascade Mountains looming on the horizon and the Sacramento River winding through the center of town. Although the surge of urban retirees seeking to avoid the traffic and congestion of big-city living housing costs remain reasonably affordable in comparison to other regions of California and the deals being made lately are fantastic! While there is not an abundance of new planned communities and luxury golf course housing on the market, resales and some new homes can be found in several established country-club type developments. In fact, because of the intense demand, most new homes are being snapped up on a pre-construction basis.
What doodoo head came up with a list of “cities”? How ’bout picking locations that include small towns off the beaten path? When I retire I certainly won’t head to L.A., N.Y. or Houston. I think you missed the mark. Next time have your research team do a bit more digging to some less obvious places. Thats what I want to know about.
Cave Creek Arizona, rural almost zero crime and just minutes north of Scottsdale. Yes it’s hot in the summer but it’s a dry heat, you just treat it like winter every else. Two nice lakes close by, Sedona only hour away sking and moutains, we have it all.
Well, I went through the whole list, and am really shocked that Laughlin, Nv. was not listed..very nice place on the Colorado River, and the mountain foot hills are a real nice touch for those who like a diverse scenic enviorment..and the weather is almost perfect, especially in the winter months..Thats where we will be soon…
I have lived in Las Vegas for 3 yrs. It is terrible for seniors. The heat will almost kill you, people drive thru red lights, crime is bad and the traffic here is worst than California. It’s a great place to visit, but not to live for seniors.
I lived in Memphis for 37 years. There are many things I miss - great restaurants, the arts - but I wouldn’t want to retire there. I worked in the business of violent crime and it is a scary place. Visit but don’t live there! I moved to Knoxville, TN and it is a great place. The COL is low and the Smoky Mountains are wonderful (if you know where to go away from the crowds).
Why would we trust CNN to gear this list toward mainstream America….the culture at CNN is known to be “elitist” to say the least.
If you have HS Internet Access, you can do better research on your own.
Too much rain and gray days only 4 months of the year are good as far as weather. Too cold and damp for older people . When I retire I want to be in a place where I can be outside alot . You are stuck inside alot of days because of wet and damp. I love more sun it makes mme smile and you don’t get enough here.
My grandmother lived in Memphis for most of he adult life. We moved her out of Memphis when a young criminal (of which it ranks one of the highest in the country for crime)decided to steal her purse off her shoulder while she was getting her mail out of the mailbox. She lost a few dollars and separated her shoulder at the same time. That was the last straw! The town is nasty, crime infested and has poor leadership. I would rather move to Iraq than live in Memphis, TN
Retire in Vegas! Cheap entertainment, no state income tax, inexpensive eats, your friends will want to come and visit, just stay indoors in the summer. Great community spirit. I love the place.
The best state to retire (or work in) is Nevada and the best city is Henderson which is just outside Las Vegas. Good regional planning and a fine police department. Taxes are very fair and no state income or inheritance tax. As for entertainment or restaurants..well Las Vegas and increasingy Henderson have it all. Some wonderful Asian and Mexican restaurants in Las Vegas. And some of the nicest people anywhere.
We moved from San Diego to southwest Bakersfield,you can say we are crazy,but with San Diegos jammed freeways,beaches,parks etc; Not to mention prices you spend your life waiting,well keep it.We bought here at the right time 2002,paid $215k for 2,300 square feet in an established proffessional neighbourhood,pool,mature fruit trees,1/3 acre,quiet & private, 3,3/4 car garage,r/v parking access front & back[concreted] with a large storage shed.With 2 cars in the garage I have 1 3/4 for hobbies.Yes summers are hot,but not as hot as Palm Springs where prices are high.The fact is we love central coast & go there a lot weather permitting,try driving from San Diego at anytime,it is as bad as L.A.for traffic,often worse.Our neighbours moved here from Huntington Beach in L.A.They said you could spend half the year in fogs,living at the coast is a joke,we lived in La Jolla California 30 years ago,fog &sea damp,it was like a Jack the ripper movie set,windows & doors jammed all the time,no parking anywhere,bumper to bumper traffic.GREAT PLACE TO LIVE?Or languish your life away is the truth.
The person who stated that Vermont is a great place to retire shows their true stripes by owning a place here but writing from their true residence in Florida. They should know the top income tax rate is close to 10% and you need to add back in all your federal deductions - and that includes all your dividends that are taxed at a lower federal rate - also now they are talking about all capital gains at the higher 10% rate. Also - very high property taxes - no deal on any other taxes.
We are loaded with people who love it here - but they love their second home here and as long as they don’t officially live in Vermont they can afford it. They leave for most of the November through April winter and visit live here in the summer and briefly visit other times. I challenge the poster below to state that they pay state income taxes in Vermont!!
Detroit?? Did you bump your head? No one in their right mind would want to retire in Detroit let alone Michigan. The State is on the brink of disaster. Out of control taxes ,a Governor and Legislature that can’t control spending, people are fleeing the State like rats from a sinking ship. One positive note, the Governor who is the CEO can turn out the lights when everyone is gone.
Retire in Memphis? You must be on crack! South Main is definately not where you want to be when you are old and vulnerable. Lived there 20 years and leaving was best decision we ever made. Memphis is in the middle of nowhere. Total lack of natural beauty except for the muddy Mississippi river. Visit the city for acouple of days and one will quickly realize this is one of the last places on earth you would want to spend your golden years!
Private golf course, lake, club houses, great community, good weather, safe and beautiful. Home prices are, right now, very affordable.
Great healthcare and weather, clean and beautiful, close to entertainment, home prices are now very affordable, good public transportation and much more. Do yourself a favor check out Elk Grove California.
Yes. What an excellent idea. Best places to RETIRE should be listed for older folks with family who would move there. I happen to be wanting to relocate from Florida to a better Retirement area. Florida is overcrowded, dirty, we just sold all our water rights to builder in South Florida, who we’ll most likely have to buy it back from! We are ready to move!
I moved to the Outer Banks of NC in 1982. What a beautiful, natural place to live. Hurricane threats are real, but rarely if ever, do damage to NON-oceanfront homes. Median home prices are going down every day and you can get a very nice house for under 300K.
Weather is wonderful, a touch of each season. Always breezy and the Atlantic right there! Tough to find a good job, but if you’re retiring, who wants to work?!
Nothing is sadder than watching old people trying to get around here in the winter in Chicago, and it lasts 6-7 months, followed by 3 months of blazing heat and humidity. Ridiculous.
Re: Best Places in Vermont. We spend part of the year in Southern Vermont (near Stratton mountain) and love it — from May thru October. It’s a wonderful place: good people, lots of eco-friendly recreational activity, and (because of the recent national downturn in real estate) reasonable home prices. Vermont’s income tax rate is pretty stiff (top rate about 8-9%; lowest about 3%) and the property taxes just spiked, although they’re competitive with our Florida home. (As a former New Yorker, I think property taxes are still reasonable by a lot of Northeastern standards, though.) We’ve spent extended time there in the winter, and, despite western New England’s reputation for brutal weather, we found it to be pretty enjoyable. We snowshoe, sled, and spend a lot of time hanging out by the fire. Besides, Vermont may have the best highway maintenance we’ve ever seen. Our house is in the woods, but surrounded by great restaurants, and, because of the ski resorts, lots of entertainment. One drawback: our VERY SMALL town doesn’t have good high speed internet access and cell phone service is pretty iffy. Those problems are pretty well solved in some of the bigger towns — Bennington, Burlington, Brattleboro, Rutland, etc. If we were to become full time residents, we’d almost certainly move to Brattleboro or one of the other larger towns. But I still think all of Vermont should be on the Best Places list.
Here is another New Mexico alternative: Alamogordo! Beautiful skies and views, not crowded, incredible and affordable homes, safe neighborhoods, great mix of retired and young residents, university, performing arts, brand new movie theater and gym, beautiful public golf course, 30 minutes from the desert floor to quaint Cloudcroft and high elevation golf, snow skiing, hang gliding, ballooning and amenities for retired military personnel.
It doesn’t matter what you or other people think is the best place to retire. To establish a fact check out where retirees are actually going.
Lancaster, PA has the nation’s largest retirement home capacity and is still rapidly growing.
One reason - a 3% state income tax that is considerably less than the surrounding states.
There is plenty to do locally and NY city is a 3 hour train ride.
Not one city in Alaska has made this list (or any other lists about great places to live!) Alaska has NO state tax. Residents (although not seasonal residents)even get a dividend yearly from the state (from investments from oil revenue). There is very little unemployment and lots of good retirement jobs (working seasonal for the cruise ships, etc.) Cost of living is indeed high, but salary seems to somewhat compensate for that. Alaska is also rich in beauty and nature. If you stay away from our larger cities like Anchorage and Fairbanks, you would actually get to live life like people lived back in the 50s. I would not live anywhere else, and I have been to all 50 states (as a military brat and as a soldier myself.) If one was against Alaska’s long winters, maybe one could snowbird to AK from somewhere else in the lower 48. I am only 28 y/o, but I LOVE Alaska and will retire here. The military stationed my husband & I here in 2000 and we liked it so much we found civilian jobs.
Who in the world would want to retire in Memphis, TN?! I have been there only one time and will NEVER go back there at all!!
However, I would agree that Las Vegas, NV would be one of my choices for retirement.
Maybe it’s my age, 61, and I’m still not ready to live out my years in self-indulgence. (No offense menat to those with infirmities who are just able to survive.) But I’ve mostly read that the towns that people like have great shopping, restaurants, and golfing. I didn’t see one ‘post’ that said a certain town is great because they have “X” number of charities or environmental groups where you can make a difference in this world by volunteering your time. If these posts are from baby-boomers, I have to ask…what happened to the ideals of the 60’s that made us want to make this world a better place?
35 places to retire. You should rename this the “35 best places to retire if you have lots of money ,are a cultural snob, and want to live downtown” Get real, you need to be more mainstream american. I will not spend my retirement savings on housing!! There are other thing to do when retired besides visitng museums.
A little known city would be a really nice place to retire-Heber Springs Ar.
Low Crime, scenic and Greers Ferry Lake and the Litttle Red River for recreation. We relocated from the Memphis area.
I lived in suburban Chicago for 36 yrs. I would not retire there because of the weather, high cost of living and traffic. Whoever made out that list of Best Places to Retire must have been paid off by someone.
If you want to understand which cities are the most desired, just look at the population statistics. As a result I can say, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Houston tops the list. The population losing cities? Detroit, NY, NJ, Boston, Chicago, LA
Enough said.
Misterno, Houston, TX
Houston Springs active adult community in Perry, Georgia is retirees “Best Kept Secret”. Great location! Great weather! Great value! But most of all, the people are what make our community the BEST. Neighbors you can count on during good times and bad. Great Southern Hospitality in a small town with lots to offer. It doesn’t get any better than this.
Can’t beat the housing prices in Tulsa Oklahoma-paid $107,000 for new all brick house. A lot of hospitals, golfing and YMCA’s for seniors. State income tax incentives for over 65 yr olds.
Memphis rates as one of the best places to retire? Interesting. CNN should disclose that the FBI has ranked Memphis #1 for highest violent crime rate in the US(homicide, aggravated assault, rape, and armed robbery). Vist Memphis - don’t retire there.
Any suggestions? I have 1 daughter in Chicago and another in Le Claire, Iowa.
We now live 15hrs away in Picayune, MS.
Want to retire and live closer to both.
I am born and raised in Hawaii for the first 36 years of my life.
I love the outdoors. Mountains, lakes, waterfalls etc. Where would be a good place for me to retire that would give me a good feeling and be near to grandbabies. He does not want to live in IL.
PS,
Did any of the people who complained about crime and cities bother to investigate NYC’s crime rate? If they had they would’ve figured out its the safest large city in the US and is probably safer than many medium sized cities. Crime has been cut there drastically in the last 15 years and it’s murder rate is incredibly low.
The ignorance of many of the posters here is scary. Its painfully obvious that many of the isolated, xenophobic readers have never visited any of the cities on the list or any large city, period. All major cities have dozens of neighborhoods and its absolutely foolish to think that crime data for an entire city can properly define the safeness of a particular neighborhood. In Philadelphia the crime is concentrated in the lower income neighborhoods with the lowest housing prices and the least amount of education attainment- same as is any city. Those areas are totally different from the higher income areas of Center City like the one recommended on this list.
As for taxes, in this area property taxes are lowest in the city. If you want to save in taxes you move from the burbs to the city. In the Phila burbs taxes are high and will only continue to rise in support of the super competitive school districts that rely on that money.
The comments on here show why many people in urban areas feel those in the boondocks are somewhat behind the times and paranoid. I dont see anything scarier than moving to an area with people who lack exposure and go around believing that anytime you set foot in a city with more than 10,000 people you are likely to be shot.
They say ignorance is bliss so people who are eternally fearful of cities must be happy.
A lot of people making comments missed the point that the editors are pinpointing the best “neighborhoods.” I happen to live in Hudson Heights the #1 neighborhood. Although the crime rate in the city as a whole may be high, it is very low in this scenic, wonderful neighborhood. We are perched on the Palisades over the Hudson River.
My husband and I tried living in the Tampa area for one year. If you don’t like swimming and golfing and going to the mall there is nothing to do. This week in NYC I went to three classical concerts and visited two museums. Not every body wants to lie around on a couch in airconditioning watching the lizards run around the stove.
We as part of the over-70 crowd have discovered big city life and will likely buy our condo lease here in Birmingham AL. It is a long way from acres of suburban yard to an 8×8 patio facing a rocky half-bare hillside. However we have found the mind’s ease of not having to do house/yard maintenance, and medical services are 5 minutes away, as are necessities AND amenities. When the day arrives to seek it, we have public transport a block away. We are confident there will always be places to go for fun and a reason beyond duty to have the kids come over from wherever. It is downsizing life to maximize it for us , and will ease the lives of our children. Cities are now beginning to recognize the worth of a tight community life, the value of a retirement age populace, and here especially we see the active accomodation by the business community to fit us in.
You should have titled this article: “Best Places for Retirees to Get Insulted, Spat Upon, Rear-ended, Run Over, Mugged, Robbed, Shot…” Or how about: “Die Young: Retire Early in ____(big city)___”
This list is totally unrealistic and unresponsive to retirees’ needs and desires. What a disappointment. There is not much motivation here to put any stock in Money’s future recommendations on this important topic.
What is so appealing in retiring in a large city and dealing with big city issues such as high taxes, crime, congestion, and high housing prices. Palm Springs is much more appealing, casual living at its best, excellent medical services, copious golf and tennis facilities.
my parents in law just retired and i must say who ever did this list should have their head examined , unless you have lived in these cities all your life and can’t leave, i wouldn’t wish them on any one who doesn’t love crime, traffic, polution, high taxes, i could go on and on…
I was glad to see Columbus listed, but I disagree with your comment about Columbus not having much nature. There are many parks, rivers, biking trails, etc. There’s also Alum Creek and Olentangy River for boating. Less than two hours away is Lake Erie! I lived in Columbus for years. It is a great place - in my opionon far beter than Gainesville where I now live. G’ville is often rated highly for nature, but it’s otherwise just a college town. And Columbus’ towntown area isn’t as active as some cities because many residents like it that way. Check out Easton, created by Les Wexner, founder of The Limited and Victoria’s Secret. Easton isn’t downtown but is an awesome area of shopping, dining and entertainiment. And for downtown, have you checked in out LATELY? The new Nationwide area has brought pro-hockey and mor(including restaurants and hotels)to downtown.
Some qualities of life just can’t be rated appropriately by those who have never lived in the areas they are evaluating. Columbus is a great place, with great people. It’s time it gets the recognition it deserves.
I used to live in Fort lauderdale, it sucked…Overcrowded , overpriced , and over attitude of the people. especially during hurricane season, the vendors, and other residents there would stab you in the back for a bag of ice, let alone lumber. the homeless problem is outrageous there. I moved to Columbus, and every they said in that article is true, i lived here 2 years, and bought my home here now.
I am physically disabled, so health care is very important to me , between the ohio health system , and Ohio state university health system , columbus is a top notch medical city.
In florida Id rather go to a vet than a doctor there.
Cost of living is fine here as well. Face it you pay either a high heating bill one or two months of the year here, or the reverse for cooling down south.
Real Estate is reasonable here still as well, lots of neighborhoods are beginning to gentrify around the core.
Many properties under 100K here still, nice victorians.
Car insurance is half of FL as well.
As for the crime rates go, they ARE on the list, you have to look in depth at each finalist to get the stats for that
Reports like this make me wonder if all of the info has been gathered and then rated. Lived in Pittsburgh, PA all of my life and with the arts, world class health care, universities (Carnegie Mellon for one!), 200 golf courses within a 100 mile radius, Three Rivers, low cost of housing, excellent employment opportunities…and so on, why is it that our town is so often slighted in these reports?
Has anyone ever looked at Roswell, NM? 2 golf courses, nice parks, inexpensive housing, excellent weather and great people!
Though I’m not interested in retiring in a major metropolitian area, I applaud you for comprehensive data your interactive map provides. I wish you would do the same for secondary areas like Medford, OR, Missoula, MT, Vista, CA, etc.
Tim
All places rated best to retire are big cities. Retirees are inclined toward small to mid-size towns because of less crowding, less smog, no road rage, lower taxes, and more outdoor recreation and sunshine. Maybe a feature about best places to retire in the country is needed.
Clearly the people who are making these selections not only are not retiring, but have no clue what actual retiree’s are looking for in terms of value. Please tell me it’s April 1st.
this is a great site to figure out who can pick your pocket for real estate. Don’t come here, come here. Come hither, I have the deal for you.
Not one of these retirement areas you mention can top the Villages, Florida. With 65,000 people there is a golf course within 5 minutes of everyone’s home. I have lived and worked in 17 different states and can tell you, “this is the place.”
Moved from Texas to Portland OR for work. I would NOT retire in Portland due to traffic, poor service at restaurants, state income taxes, expensive houses. I would retire in Texas. Any of the places listed on the list would be better than Portland.
With MA being one of the only states in the nation to lose population in the last census, especially the younger/college-age generation, I would say that is a tell-tale sign that nothing in real estate here would be thought of as “affordable.” I’m very fortunate to already have a home, otherwise, I’d have to look elsewhere.
Almost anyplace along the East coast of Florida offers a great quality of life but even if you should find a nice home, you will need to bring an armored truck full of cash to afford the taxes and homeowners insurance. Inaction by the Florida legislature will ensure that the status quo prevails.
I was shocked Detroit made the list… Have you ever been to Detroit? It’s barely a location you would want to visit for a night out, let a alone a place to retire. Think of the worst neighborhood of any major city and that represents 90% of Detroit.
The SE is great, especially small to medium cites with or very near to a major university. Avoid Florida and the cities Charlotte and Atlanta.
I assume that was a joke list ! Only city you left off was like Cleveland , Gary , YOungstown, and Buffalo . Detroit is a great city for muggers by the way - only trails Memphis. I heard they had schools there for muggers but no confirmation on it .
How about Tulsa,OK? It’s a fair sized city with the mean home price around $120k. It’s growing by leaps and bounds and we haven’t suffered any real estate devaluation problems as other areas of the country. We even hosted the PGA this year for the 4th time. That list is a joke.
Based on the top 2 cities, this list is less “Best Places to Retire,” more “Cities with the Worst Crime Rate.”
Detroit? You have to be kidding. Only reason to live there is so someone can collect on your life insurance after they kill you
This is a bad approach to present this data. First, using only sales within the city limits exaggerates costs when the urban core is expensive, but the suburbs are not. Second, just because the homes are cheaper doesn’t mean they are of the same size or quality. If the avg. home in Memphis is 1500 sq. ft. and the avg. home in Louisville is 2500 sq. ft. your money would go a lot further in Louisville.
How would anywhere in CA make this list? Obviously NAR paid off the writer of this article at CNN. What ridiculous lies..does this really increase CNN’s credibility?
Portland was a good place to live 20 years ago now the traffic is terrible, homes are extremely unaffordable and if that isn’t enough you get 8 months of dreary, rainy weather.
Are you having someone who is thinking about retiring selecting these sites?
You have listed some of the highest crime rate cities in the nation per capita (Memphis, Nashville, Washington D.C.)! That isn’t my idea of where to retire!
Prescott and Prescott Valley, AZ are great place to retire. Close enough to Phoenix but cooler, golf courses, history and many restaurants, VA Hospital and affordable housing.
Hey - what about St. Louis, Kansas City Metro. These are bigger (as it appears that bigger is better in your list) cities
Some of the Northern suburbs of Dallas such as Frisco and McKinney are real good places to retire. Frisco, TX has a few retirment communities already and a wide range of entertainment including golf courses, major league soccer, minor league baseball and hockey. As with any major texas city there’s plenty of shopping and restaurants. There is a growing population of transplants from California and the North East
I am surprised to see you omitting Minneapolis and/or St Paul from your list of cities with Most Golf Courses. Not only there are over 200 public golf courses, I believe there are the most gold courses per capita.
It is inconceivable that anyone would want to retire to an urban area, unless they were not yet ready to retire.
If you remember America as it was when you were a child, with a sense of optomism, fairness, justice and believing in govt, stay out of Northern California, especially Sonoma, Napa counties etc. Courts in general decide cases on WHO you are and law, facts, and Constitution be damned. Most corrupt place I have encountered in my life!
First… who judges these cities?? The rich and famous or dumb and stupid? DC, Chicago, LA, and Detroit are far from ideal places to retire… Housing is outrageously expensive, crime is soaring, and it is not a friendly environment. I’ve lived in DC and LA - worked between Chicago and Detroit - this is NOT the places I would want to retire. PORTLAND, AUSTIN, CHARLOTTE, yes… but not many of the places you’ve identified.
An affordable home in Las Vegas. Be sure to check out what you get for $272,000.00 and the neighborhood it”s located. 272k gets you a 1300 sq. ft. home. Buyer beware.
Riverside Avondale may be fine, but for a more relaxed and walkable neighborhood head to Saint Augustine. Sure there are a lot of tourists, but they park their cars and take private tourist trains. The ocean is near and the historic district, with restaurants and shopping, is walkable from almost anywhere. The beautiful and transitioning neighborhood of Lincolnville has resonably priced housing and a rich cultural heritage. When you need to, you can get in the car and drive to Jacksonville (1 hour) or take a slow meandering drive along the St. John’s river.
I just have to laugh at the fact that Los Angeles is ranked 3rd in the most golf courses category. Sure there are a lot of Golf Courses BUT there are lots of people too and try getting to one of these courses on the weekend.
have heard excellent comments re: the
Chapel Hill, Durham N.C. area as a very
good place to retire. please send your
stats, thoughts, amenities, etc.
thank you, in advance.
Mr. Bank
Seattle actually has several major hopitals in the downtown area, not more than a few minutes from Belltown. Also, Belltown is not waterfront, though it can have views of the Sound. However, it IS considered to attract a younger, “hipper” crowd known for its nightlife. IT IS DEFINITELY NOT CONSIDERED A RETIREMENT COMMUNITY! These errors make me wonder if those who are ranking cities have ever actually been to them? How rediculous…
boulder city nevada. 27 miles from vegas but feels like not even close. Small town atmosphere, low crime, beautiful scenery and lots of hiking trails, golf,etc.
Your criteria are very superficial and provide distortions beyond imagination. How about the fact that you completely missed the number one quality of any place “how people treat each other”.
I have yet to see a well designed survey. Its a little like getting good “A.I.” lots of people talk about it but its hard to do. Surely not enough brain power in CNN and Money Mag combined.
Your crazy with Midtown Nashville its full of homeless people who are very aggesive.Downtown is NOT A GOOD PLACE TO LIVE.
South Loop Chicago has plenty of shopping. Stores that have just opened up or are about to include: Home Depot, PetSmart, Whole Foods, Cost Plus World Market, Staples, Sams Wine and Liquor, Best Buy, Kinkos, Bar Louie, Potbellys, Linens N Things, DSW Shoes, Office Max, Jewel, Target, Dominicks. Colleges in the immediate area include Columbia College, Roosevelt U., Depaul U., UIC, East West U. Museums include aquarium, planetarium, art institute, Field Museum. Health Clubs include Fitness Formula, XSport, LA Fitness. Banks include WaMu, Chase, 2 community banks. These are all within a 15 minute walk.
I am 52 years old and moved to Portland from Omaha, Nebraska a few years ago. I’m in the Nob Hill neighborhood and love the quick and easy access to downtown and the community feel of my rather urban area. I enjoyed reading about a few of my other Portland neighborhoods in this article and was really excited to see http://www.portlandneighborhood.com listed as a local source. I used that website to learn about Portland’s many neighborhoods when deciding where I might hang my hat in this lovely city. I love knowing that CNN Money did their homework and did justice to my fine city. I would also add that Irvington is an exceptional area as well. A little more “homey” than the Pearl and just as accessible.
As a local, I am pleased to see they used a local Portland website for some of their photos.
Good article!
I am telling anyone where to retire because everyone will show up there and it will be high prices, high crime and high real estate all over again. At one time, before the gobs of people, Bookings Oregon was where I would have retired.
Retire to Memphis? In 2005 the FBI listed it as having the 2nd highest violent crime rate in cities with over 100K. The 2006 ranking is number 1. Retire in Memephis, are you kidding?
I suggest NOT moving to California, the state is infested with liberals and is the key to the liberal media’s conspiracy to ruin America. Rush Limbaugh always rips on this place calling it the left-coast. Liberals hate America and everything it stands for, they shouldn’t be allowed to vote.
While I am nowhere near retirement, I think your best places to retire list is intended for the upper echelons of society. How many average Americans can spend half a million dollars on a one bedroom retirement condo? This is highly unrealistic for everyone but the most disciplined savers (who wouldn’t waste the money anyway) and those who are already wealthy. How about America’s best places to retire for those on a fixed income? Or for those who would like to stretch their retirement savings far enough to actually have something to pass along to their children and grandchildren?
I am 51, was born, raised and have lived here all of my life. I will NOT retire here. The Los Angeles I knew in the 60’s, 70’s is gone. For good. We’re overrun. I will retire somewhere quieter and more American.
Frisco, Texas is a great place to retire. Housing is very affordable in the east side, tons of parks, close to a huge lake, hundreds of places to eat, home to a number of professional sports teams, tons of city resources including libraries, swimming centers, etc. Two major toll roads run through it, making traffic a lot easier to navigate.
Try Ruidoso, NM. The average house price there is around $200K. They have great seasonal weather, snow for skiing (Ski Apache) in winter and summers are in the 80’s. There is a great casino, Inn of the Mountain Gods, a wonderful $22M performing arts theater (Spencer), 3 lakes, tall pines, and a noisy river (Rio Ruidoso). There are many things to see in the area, White Sands National Monument, Carlsbad Caverns, Roswell, etc. And there is Ruidoso Downs Horse Race Track. Plenty for retired folks in the line of services and things to do. Great restaurants too. You don’t have to have a bog city to have it all! http://www.ruidoso.net or http://villadeamore.homestead.com
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I’m a single M 64, in good health, a Chicago native with two daughters.
I want to escape the taxes and general high cost of living in the Chicago area and have looked on a preliminary basis at KY, IA, MO. I’d love some feedback from readers on their Midwest choices and why!