Best Place to Retire

[fotoguzzi]

I hope to go to the North Shore of Lake Superior.

[rboe]

I have no idea what a "good" hospital is, I must assume it takes all the insurance plans, does not employ witch doctors and doesn't smell like urine. For starters.  ::)

Typically; the older you get the better off you are in more socialist places. Don't have to beg on the street corner, get heat in the winter, A/C in the summer and electro shock treatment if the ticker needs a booster.

I'm a Western lad, no frilly eastern states for me. Too many people, too many trees, too many bugs, too much traffic and you frown up relationships with sheep.  :pop

Bisbee is too close to Mexico, I'd prefer to be close to Canada. Food is not quite as good, but my Canadian is much better than my Spanish. This is important when asking folks to get off your lawn.  :wife:

North Shore of Lake Superior has some attractiveness; but wacko relatives in Duluth, Army Worms and deer give me pause. It's not written off though.

[dilligaf]

Southeast Iowa...Now that is where you'll need to go.  Just think, you can ride he Cho-Cho Train to Chicago.  ;-T  :BEER:
Matt

[bigbikerrick]

Re":Bisbee is too close to Mexico, I'd prefer to be close to Canada. Food is not quite as good, but my Canadian is much better than my Spanish. This is important when asking folks to get off your lawn. "
No Worries on that account, R Boe, we dont have any lawns out here in the High Sonoran Desert...just rock gardens and cactus...if you do things right.....I hate yard work, Id rather be wrenching and riding, than pulling weeds and fertilizing.
I dont own a lawn mower...just a weedeater, and roundup....if anything green rears its ugly head around these parts, it gets the spray!

As far as being too close to Mexico, yes it is, but the mexican border town "Naco" is a sleepy little pueblo, with just one main street that is paved. Nothing like El Paso/Juarez, or San Diego/ Tijuana.
Rick.

[Buckturgidson]

Except for the lingering drought Reno has a lot going for it. Low taxes, more than a dozen fine ski areas within 45-90 minutes, relatively mild winters (compared to Indiana where I grew up,) great moto roads all around without much traffic, etc. Oh, and you get treated like an adult here. Why shouldn't a grown man be able to bet $100 on a football game if he feels like it? I never go to the cat houses, but I like knowing they are there. The Sierra foothills and wine country aren't too far either. I should be in the chamber of commerce.

[rboe]

I do prefer a bit of green. Like a big mountain valley (Paradise Valley south of Livingston Montana would be nice - except the natives say the wind blows a lot - I don't sail so wind can be annoying).

AZ is going to have a very serious water supply problem; I'm betting within my lifetime, and I'd like to be far away when it hits.

[cruzziguzzi]

correction:  Casserole is called Hot Dish don'tchaknow.

Ohh Yaaaa...  Dig it!

[Petrus Rocks]

Flagstaff has 4 seasons, similar to NY.  I like it there.  Yeah, yeah, Asheville is nice too.  You natives can retire to Florida if it gets too crowded. 
If you like the 4 seasons the Finger Lakes area of NY is beautiful, rural, and close to great hospitals. 

[Chuck in Indiana]

That said, I'd like cross country ski an canoe again. Keeping the motorcycles would be nice too. Somewhere where I can meet with and give a hard time to other riders over coffee would be great!

Sounds like you've pretty much narrowed it down to Colorado to me.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

I plan to "retire" to Pocahontas County, WV. Won't need much to live on since it's only me (and will most likely stay that way). Just a little one room cabin and two-car detached garage will suffice. Maybe volunteer at one of the local scenic railroads to stay active (along with riding my Ambos, of course).

Pros of that area for me:
- 80% federally owned and protected
- cellphone "dead zone" due to the NRAO in Greenbank
- peaceful with beautiful scenery
- fantastic roads (paved and dirt)

[segesta]

Interesting/good advice on Mexico above, thanks.

My 80 year old dad, who got his PE license in Chemical Engineering at age 65 (!) and is still working as a consultant, is going to retire to the Philippines. He built a big house there, which we kids call "Saddam's Palace." I wonder if he'll ever move in?

But in terms of hospitals and healthcare... After all, most health care workers in the USA start out in the Philippines anyway! and a doctor visit in Aklan is a mere $10, and a dentist visit is $5. He figures if he needs major, western-style medical care, he'll just sit on the veranda with a gin & tonic and die peacefully.
I'll stop rambling now.

[sarg]

great post. lmaof to orig poster. as a 46 year old from alberta canada i often day dream about where to live when im done workin. i have spent time in all the western states,. ridden and raced off road. lots of street ridin. my favourite area is the inland empire in so cal. temecula is there. great town. too hot in july and august. eastern arizona is a close second. a bit chilly in jan and feb. so im gonna split my time btween the 2.

[dguzzi]

I like the North Shore idea, or at least Duluth. Winter would kill me early...
As for Iowa, the truckers tell me what that stands for;
I
Oughta
Went
Around
  No offence but its funny.  I'll likely just retire here a little at a time...

[LowRyter]

I am glad we have a consensus......... ??? ???

 ;D

[EldoMike]

Southeast Iowa... Back when I drove for Hostess the drivers with high seniority out of the Davenport and St.Louis bakeries would pick the run between those two cities. SE Iowa is the state's banana belt, with moderate winter temps and if it does snow, it melts quick. Not as hot as St.Louis and points south in the summer, lots of great scenery along the river, and property in both the river towns and country is quite reasonably priced. And if you want to get back to the big city, just get to the Amtrak station and Chicago is just a few hours away!

I've always liked that area...especially the Ft. Madison area....I think that would be a good summertime place to be...

[Shorty]

Northeastern Kentucky, West Virginia, SE Ohio. Northern Appalachia. Hills, twisty roads, black forests, and a hard freeze in the short winter. Spectacular 3 seasons of the year. Often lovely in winter too.

[hammick]

Bought a remote tract of land last year in Montana.  Plan to retire there and for about three months during the winter explore warmer areas in the Travel Trailer.  Not a bad place to sip bourbon and look for wildlife.

[rboe]

I grew up in eastern Montana, tempting. Especially the western half.

[john fish]

I plan to "retire" to Pocahontas County, WV. Won't need much to live on since it's only me (and will most likely stay that way). Just a little one room cabin and two-car detached garage will suffice. Maybe volunteer at one of the local scenic railroads to stay active (along with riding my Ambos, of course).

Pros of that area for me:
- 80% federally owned and protected
- cellphone "dead zone" due to the NRAO in Greenbank
- peaceful with beautiful scenery
- fantastic roads (paved and dirt)

Can't blame you.  I love WV. 

[Kent in Upstate NY]

Upstate NY for us. We like snow.

[Sasquatch Jim]

As  far as Arizona being too hot, most folks think of the Phoenix area, but there are areas of AZ , that due to the altitude have great weather. The south eastern corner of AZ is one of those areas.  Bisbee, Sierra Vista area, which is almost a mile high( Bisbee 5200 ft) claims to have the best year round weather of anywhere  in the world. Mild temps in the winter, and the summers are  gorgeous, with cool temps at night, and some monsoon showers in the afternoons.
As a matter of fact, there is a mural painted on the side of a building, in downtown "Old Bisbee" that states" Bisbee, best year round weather in the world'.
Next time I ride my Guzzi up there....Maybe this afternoon, I will take a picture of it, to show you guys!
Rick.                                                    

  Best weather anywhere in the world?  I disagree.  There are 5 months of the year that have in the past recorded temps above 100 degrees F.
 There are about 5 or six other months where it often goes below freezing and a few where it gets sub zero.
  That sounds about average for most of the continental USA.
  My temps almost never go above 100 and for most of the year not above 90, and never below 50.  Oh and the trade winds make even the hot days very tolerable.
  This makes for year round riding

[rboe]

Ya, but you are stuck on a rock an 8 hour ride to any where.  :P

[Yukonica]

That said, I'd like cross country ski an canoe again. Keeping the motorcycles would be nice too. Somewhere where I can meet with and give a hard time to other riders over coffee would be great!

Sounds like you've pretty much narrowed it down to Colorado to me.

.... uh? Yukon; eh? 100km groomed cross country trails inside Whitehorse city limits. (They should actually classify themselves as a town but you get uppity when the population hits 25k). A world heritage river 35 km north of Whitehorse. 5 pristine watersheds emptying into the Arctic ocean (google: Pelly, Snake or Wind river). A 1000 mile dogsled race due to start next Sunday. A 550 mile canoe race through wilderness. The Boone and Crockett world record moose antlers.  Mountain Bike trails that are being recognized as  among the best in the world. If you base in Whitehorse; Alaska is 180km off in the distance. And all this with under 30 stoplights in nearly a half million square kilometres of mostly uninhabited landscape. On top of that: the Canadian 'dollar' is worth six bits.
:) .... and it is 38 below on my porch. There's a reason we are so few in the North.

[rodekyll]

Connie , F or C ?

  Dusty

As we say up here, first one, then the other.   **C

I'm sure Connie will agree.

Oh -- you forgot that the premiere NA ADV rally happens every summer solstice, about 200 clicks up the Klondike from Whitehorse, and the Cassiar is just a few hours the other direction.  It also has the only border crossing I can remember ("Boundary" on the Top of the World Highway) where the portapotty is bigger than the station house, and the guard leans her head out the window and hollers "You're all nuts!" as we go by.

[Yukonica]

Connie , F or C ?

  Dusty

:) ... at that temperature it really doesn't matter. In F your spit freeze two inches closer to the ground.
(Celsius)
Wind chill tomorrow is expected to be -52.
But, as we like to say, its' a dry cold.

[Yukonica]

 ;-T :BEER:

[Arizona Wayne]

I don't know what the answer is for me.  Good health, and never really think about it.  I don't think hospital choice is even in the top 20 on my list of considerations.  
[/quote]



As I recall your are 40 something.......... ..when I  was your age I used to say the same things.......but now I'm in my 70s and I live 15 miles from  a decent hospital because my bulletproof body ain't that any more.  ;)  :D

[Sasquatch Jim]

Ya, but you are stuck on a rock an 8 hour ride to any where.  :P

 Oh but it's a very nice rock and I don't fly anymore, ( my arms get tired flapping ), so I am happy here drooling over scantily clad young ladies year round,
 Watching young fools on surf boards teasing tiger sharks, and occasional trips to the Kava bar.
 BTW my rock is more than twice as large as all the rest of the Hawaiian islands combined, yet is not heavily populated.
 I probably breathe cleaner air the anyone in the continental US thanks to the trade winds and lack of industry.
 Note, vog doesn't come to my end of the island.

[Rough Edge racing]

  I actually like winter...but me and the wife have been discussing a possible move to Tennessee or rural North Carolina. Rural western NY is ok but the taxes are brutal and will only get worse. Only requirement is a reasonable drive to a medical center just in case something needs to be fixed...

[charlie b]

We also did not think about medical support for many years.

Then family members bought a place in the AZ  White Mountains.  Nice little community.  Perfect place to live 'in the country'.  After going up there for a few years their neighbors started having medical issues (they were in their 70's).  3-4hr drive back to Phoenix.  Pretty soon they decided that living in the mountains is for youngsters.

Our daughter and her husband live in Columbia, SC and son lives in Seattle area.  We thought about WA but taxes and cost of living killed that.  And, son is thinking of moving.  Columbia is not what I would call ideal, but, it is near the kids and cost of living is very low.  We looked at NC too.  Better climate (and roads :)  ).

If I had my choice, not constrained by family, I don't know where I would end up.  Too many good choices.  Cost of living and climate would be at the top of my list but access to medical care would be as well.