I'm moving...but where to?

rooftop59

steveinaz wrote: »

Northern, or extreme Southern Arizona are mild, I wouldn't live in Phoenix for anything; however Tucson wouldn't be bad as it maintains a small town feel--BUT HOT. Cochise county, where I live, is about 6-8 degrees cooler than Tucson because of our elevation (apprx 4200-4800ft). Northern Az basically looks/feels like Colorado, without the expense and restrictive gun laws.

Cost of living is fairly reasonable, and this is coming from a native mid-westerner. Now, it's not Georgia or Missouri inexpensive, but not bad at all. taxes are reasonable (property/state income), and utilities average about 10 cents a square foot. We generally pay about (yearly average) $185 electric, $55 city natural gas, $30 water, $20 city sewer/trash pickup per month.

I gotta agree with ol' Steve here, if I had my choice (and I don't dangit!) Flagstaff AZ would be art the top of my list. Great weather, beautiful mountains and scenery, and for me its close enough to family (3 hours) that I can see them on the weekends if I want but not be bothered by weeknight drop-ins. Priceless! And I also like that northern az is, how shall I say it, more progressive than the rest of the state, which I would like very much...

steveinaz

Flag is quite beautiful, close to Grand Canyon too, which is a must see for every American. Pine Top, Show Low, also gorgeous. Arizona is in the top 10 states to retire to.

tonyb

We actually have 10 states to retire to ?

Northern Arizona is very nice, but all those darn UFO's keep clogging up the freeways.

krabby5

steveinaz wrote: »

No wonder you're Krabby. LOL

yes..LOL

Just giving another MN perspective.. THe reality is probably somewhere between DaButcher and my post.

mrbiron

Don't come to Mass.....not that we wouldnt love to have you but youd go insane being constantly surrounded by a*sholes.

Almost makes this place sound like paradise.

markmarc

For Arizona, Flagstaff would be my first choice, PAYSON as a second choice. Colorado, Fort Collins/Loveland is terrific and affordable, unlike Boulder. The north side of Colorado Springs is good (but due to severe govt budget constraints service are very limited).

Bend, Oregon is great for outdoor life (skiing, fishing, hiking, rafting, biking, etc. etc.) and the weather is dryer since it is on the east side of the Cascades.

Western Montana is amazing, I'd move to Missoula, Bozeman, Or Helena in a heartbeat. But you'll need to like snow.

Just keep one thing in mind, homes in Texas usually have more square footage for the dollar (everything is bigger in Texas).

mhardy6647

tonyb wrote: »

We actually have 10 states to retire to ?

Northern Arizona is very nice, but all those darn UFO's keep clogging up the freeways.

Yeah, don't forget Rhode Island ;-)

mhardy6647

mrbiron wrote: »

Don't come to Mass.....not that we wouldnt love to have you but youd go insane being constantly surrounded by a*sholes.

Almost makes this place sound like paradise.

That's Ma*sholes ;-)

Actually, were it not for the crowed roads in the eastern (roughly) half of the state and the all-around high cost of living, it's a pretty nice area. Plum Island/Newburyport is just a phenomenal area; Plum Island is one of my favorite sea-side locales in the country. The town we lived in, Harvard, was apple orchard country, almost rural, with top quality schools (at or near the top in the state for most of the history of the state-wide standardized testing) but close enough to Boston to drive or take the train. We had hundreds of acres of (mostly forested) conservation land just behind our house, as well as the remains of a Shaker enclave.

.. but, yeah, there's a daily grind/stress there that gets tedious -- 'specially in midwinter, on a day when the snow kicks in around midmorning and everyone in Eastern Mass decides to all try to go home at the same time...

mhardy6647

... Since MA sort of came up ;-) -- a few photos of the ol' hood -- this was all within a very pleasant walking distance of our house (the critters were in our backyard in MA)...

shaker1 by mhardy6647, on Flickr
DSC_3778 by mhardy6647, on Flickr
DSC_3021 by mhardy6647, on Flickr
DSC_2295 by mhardy6647, on Flickr

deer12311112 by mhardy6647, on Flickr
DSC_1624 by mhardy6647, on Flickr


In all seriousness, though -- if someone really wants to retire to New England, look at NH and VT first (IMO, of course)!

... or I guess, move to Montana and raise a crop of dental floss... ;-)

(actually, as someone said earlier, Montana is spectacular)

AsSiMiLaTeD

markmarc wrote: »

For Arizona, Flagstaff would be my first choice, PAYSON as a second choice. Colorado, Fort Collins/Loveland is terrific and affordable, unlike Boulder. The north side of Colorado Springs is good (but due to severe govt budget constraints service are very limited).

Bend, Oregon is great for outdoor life (skiing, fishing, hiking, rafting, biking, etc. etc.) and the weather is dryer since it is on the east side of the Cascades.

Western Montana is amazing, I'd move to Missoula, Bozeman, Or Helena in a heartbeat. But you'll need to like snow.

Just keep one thing in mind, homes in Texas usually have more square footage for the dollar (everything is bigger in Texas).

You actually specifically mentioned the two areas in CO we're seriously looking at, hoping you can elaborate a bit. Here's what (I think) I know so far...

Loveland looks like a good option because it's as close to RMNP as Boulder, still within range on Denver if I want to catch a Broncos game, and looks to be much more reasonably priced than Boulder at least for housing. The two downsides are that Loveland looks to be a few miles away from the mountains so I'm not sure what kind of outdoors-y there is to do without driving, and I'm not sure what to expect for things like shopping and restaurants without making a trip into Denver.

Colorado Springs is more of a mixed bag with good and bad parts of town, but I think I've been able to sort out where the good places are to live. It looks like the northern parts of the city are the way to go, so I'm looking at a few places there up thru and including a town called Monument that people seem to like. This area seems to have quicker access to the mountains and trails and such, in addition to all the regular tourist stuff in Colorado Springs and day trips to places like Buena Vista and Cripple Creek.

The thing is, Loveland may have all that as well, we're just alot more familiar with the CO Springs area since we've spent so much time there. Your comments about limited services concern me though, can you elaborate on that some?

I think we're going to rent a house for a year and see how we like it up there, also gives us time to get to know the areas and pick an ideal place to build or buy.

We're not fully locked in on Colorado at this point, as we're also looking at Asheville, Flagstaff, and a few places in the Pacific Northwest. The advantage that Colorado has is that it's closer to Dallas than the other options and easy to get in and out of with a couple decent airports, and is not too bad of a drive if family wants to drive up and visit.

gudnoyez

If your job allows you to locate where you choose then +1 on Flagstaff I'd love to live there been there a few times, another place I think you might like is Boise Idaho, was there this past winter loved it the mountains are beautiful lots to do there, or Northern Minnesota I grew up there
Beautiful land of 10,000 lakes however you have to love the cold as it gets real cold there.

breal74

I lived in Ft.Collins for 10 years before I moved out to the Portland area and have to say that the Pacicfic Northwest is where it's at. I was worried about the rain at first, but I actually like it now. The winters are more mild and the summers do not have as many 90+ degree days. Where I live is an hour and a half drive to Mt.Hood to the east and an hour and a half drive to ocean to the west. Any and all outdoor activities are basically at your doorstep. We also have 4 really good HiFi shops to choose from and a few others in the area. The front range of Colorado is getting over congested if you ask me, but anywhere but Texas would be an upgrade IMHO. Good luck in your decision!

AsSiMiLaTeD

DSkip wrote: »

You consider me family, right? RIGHT?!?!?

Sure you guys are welcome to drop in. If we land in CO you can come up for RMAF...

Nightfall

Loveland/Fort Collins area is better than Boulder IMO. Boulder is full of a lot of kids going to school on mommy and daddys money, driving brand new cars also bought for them. Ft. Collins students seem more likely to work their way through school and for what they have. That's what I have noticed.

I'd rather live in Loveland than Co. Springs. Co. Springs has some sketchy parts of town...

markmarc

Both Fort Collins and Loveland are just a couple of minutes to the foothills, I used to bike ride in college to them. Lots of parks and bike trails. Carter Lake and Horsetooth reservoir for water activities. Plenty of golf courses. CSU is a great school, plenty of shopping, and other amenities. Loveland is an up and coming arts community. You can be at a Broncos/Rockies/Avalanche/Nuggets game in 90 minutes.

Sherardp

DSkip wrote: »

Carolinas?

Charlotte bro......or just over the line in Rock Hill area near me.

AsSiMiLaTeD

markmarc wrote: »

Both Fort Collins and Loveland are just a couple of minutes to the foothills, I used to bike ride in college to them. Lots of parks and bike trails. Carter Lake and Horsetooth reservoir for water activities. Plenty of golf courses. CSU is a great school, plenty of shopping, and other amenities. Loveland is an up and coming arts community. You can be at a Broncos/Rockies/Avalanche/Nuggets game in 90 minutes.

What about the northern CO Springs area and the potential issues you'd mentioned there with limited services?

steveinaz

My Son & daughter in-law live between Springs/Denver, place called Castle Rock, Co. Very nice, mostly rolling farmlands type landscape---but PRICEY.

tonyb

I think anywhere on the outskirts of Denver would fit the bill for you. Still, an hour away from Denver which has everything as far as amenities/services seems acceptable to me. Besides, not like these smaller towns don't have emergency care facilities. Added bonus is your an hour and a half to Breckenridge and other ski towns which are cool.

If your not used to the elevation though, it can screw with ya. Renting would be a good choice to see if everything jives well enough for the wife.

markmarc

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

What about the northern CO Springs area and the potential issues you'd mentioned there with limited services?

Not very familiar with the park system of Colo. Springs other than for a couple of the past years volunteers did the mowing, and corporations sponsored the swimming pools.

Castle Rock is a nice area, short drive to Denver or Colorado Springs. though if you have kids the Douglas County school district is being run by "reformers" financed by the Koch Brothers and run behind the scenes by a lawyer who thinks of himself as a political boss. Scores are dropping, over half the teachers have left in the past 5 years. It used to be the spot in the state for education, great cutting edge programs but no more, its all about the test.

GospelTruth

breal74 wrote: »

I lived in Ft.Collins for 10 years before I moved out to the Portland area and have to say that the Pacicfic Northwest is where it's at. I was worried about the rain at first, but I actually like it now. The winters are more mild and the summers do not have as many 90+ degree days. Where I live is an hour and a half drive to Mt.Hood to the east and an hour and a half drive to ocean to the west. Any and all outdoor activities are basically at your doorstep. We also have 4 really good HiFi shops to choose from and a few others in the area. The front range of Colorado is getting over congested if you ask me, but anywhere but Texas would be an upgrade IMHO. Good luck in your decision!

My wife, parents and kiddo will be heading to Portland in a couple of weeks. We hear nothing but good things about the Portland area and are excited to check it out!

I agree about the Denver area being overpopulated. I have a buddy who lives in Golden, CO and in the winter it has taken him 5+ hours to get home from Vail on the weekend due to the traffic on I-70. On a "normal" traffic day, it would be 45-60 minutes. I-70 is the only way to get to most all the ski resorts out there and with a large population in Denver, it gets congested fast. We've experienced the traffic issues as well on a couple trips to Vail and Breckenridge in the winter. That's why we like the Reno area. We've never had ANY traffic issues going to the resorts up at Lake Tahoe in the winter. If anything, it seems like rather sparse traffic.

Colorado is beautiful west of Denver, for sure. It's just to big and congested for me. Would we live there? Sure we would if the right opportunity presented itself - but that would have to be one heck of an opportunity to beat what I feel we have in the Reno/Tahoe area right now.

tonyb

Get yourself an RV...Clark.

If you have no kids at home to worry about, rent an RV and go tour these places, make it into a month long vacation. Just leave "Snot" at home.

xjghost

x2 on the Carolinas! I was going to suggest the Asheville, NC area. There is a lot to do in the mountains up there.

GospelTruth

tonyb wrote: »

Get yourself an RV...Clark.

If you have no kids at home to worry about, rent an RV and go tour these places, make it into a month long vacation. Just leave "Snot" at home.

I would concur. At the least, I would visit the areas you are thinking about to get an idea on housing cost for the areas you like, distance to things you want to do, traffic patterns, ect. Of course you can use zillow to find housing prices, and google maps to see traffic patterns on major roadways during rush hour, but nothing is better than actually seeing what things are actually like where you decide to move.

GospelTruth

What are your thoughts on Santa Fe? I hear good things about it, but have never been. It's close to Texas for the relatives and has mountains and such.

nooshinjohn

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

We live in Texas, have lived here all our lives, and I think we're ready to try something new.

Keep in mind that a Texan's version of common sense is vastly different than some other places. All I can suggest is that you should first find a place that aligns with your values or you might just be wishing you stayed in Texas. I kick myself in the **** for allowing my wife to drag me back to Los Angeles.

nooshinjohn

krabby5 wrote: »

Dallas to Mpls? ugh

And it's nice here 4 months of the year..MAYBE. Minus 40 in the winter..90 + drenching humidity in the summer. I'd bet there are maybe 30 REALLY nice days a year in MN (temps in the 70s and sunny). Driving in the winter is horrendous, and EVERYTHING is under construction for the 4 nice months we have.

Been in MN my whole life..if it wasn't for family, I'd be LONG gone. LOL

Then again..I'm not a hunter or outdoorsman at all, either. MN is great for fishing and hunting. Just not for me.

And I would come home in a heartbeat if the wife would go along with it.

cnh

AZ's got your retiring conservatives and N.M. has the crystal healing granola crowd. Somewhere in between might be OK. lol

Neither one is for me. And I'm not particularly taken with Colorado either. Nice sightseeing but not for the long haul. Tourists, skiing, and...other things (SNOW) that put me off. Though there are also enclaves of the spiritual variety out there as well.

I'll stick to SPRING cities. BTW. If you want to retire to China. Kunming, Yunnan Province is China's spring city. Average temps of 70+ Fahrenheit year round. And sunny almost 90 percent of the time. On the Yunnan-Guizhou plateau that eventually rises to Himalayas. Kunming is over a mile high, take that Boulder, you'll never be as beautiful! There is also a 20 some mile long lake (Dianchi lake) that helps regulate the climate and an 1800+ foot ridge which you can climb, known as the Dragon Gate (Longmen), and see the entire city below. Absolutely breathtaking!

cnh

JerryR1verz

Based on weather, things to do, cost of living, mix of metro and rural, etc... I would consider living in VA. Winter isn't that bad. VA gets my vote. We were going to move there at one point and I interviewed at Circuit City... thank goodness that didn't work out.

gudnoyez

krabby5 wrote: »

Dallas to Mpls? ugh

And it's nice here 4 months of the year..MAYBE. Minus 40 in the winter..90 + drenching humidity in the summer. I'd bet there are maybe 30 REALLY nice days a year in MN (temps in the 70s and sunny). Driving in the winter is horrendous, and EVERYTHING is under construction for the 4 nice months we have.

Been in MN my whole life..if it wasn't for family, I'd be LONG gone. LOL

Then again..I'm not a hunter or outdoorsman at all, either. MN is great for fishing and hunting. Just not for me.

Twin Cities no wonder your crabby you got to be north of Brainerd to enjoy Minnesota they have been working on I-35 and 494 for the past 20 years I hate driving in the Twin Cities the traffic is all the way to St Cloud, Brainerd and North is where you want to be.