Best Places to Retire

Included is a list of the 10 best places to retire. I have to choose Olympia Washington (No. 1) because it is near the water, good hiking and biking, temperatures not too extreme, and good gardening weather. Which one of the 10 would you choose?http://houseandhome.msn.com/move/bestplacestoretire0.aspx Or do you have another suggestion?

I could not bring up your hyperlink, but I have been having computer problems for 2 weeks so not surprising. I live east of the mountains in WA. MY youngest son lives about 40 or so miles northeast of Olympia. This summer has been pretty hot and dry for that area as well as most of PNW. I prefer to live here even tho it is desert area and we are just ending our 4th droughth year. I have been in all but 4 or US states and prefer WA. I am retired and have lived here all my life. Donna

Looks like Kerville will get crowded, Dave. It is a lovely place...so peaceful. Jo

East of the mountains? Is that farm country? Wheat, or corn, or apples?

Kerrville, Fredericksburg has my vote. Beautiful country. If it's good enough for Dave and Lady Bird Johnson, it must be great. Bill

Yep, Kerrville seems to always make these kinds of lists. :) There certainly are worse places to live. ;-)

Dave

Home. Whereever that is!

Kerrville (no. 11?), why didn't we think of it before. I remember traveling from San Antonio to El Paso one hot summer day. Stopped for gas at Kerrville. Once the tank was full I went inside to pay. No one around. I called, but nobody was in sight. So the gas was free. It happened again on the same trip near El Paso. It is said Texans are mighty friendly; and they are. Didn't get a good look at Kerrville, but the area seemed nice. Lots of room to move around.

My Parents retired to Sequim, WA this is by the water and is very beautiful and you can see Canada across the sound. It is on the east side of a mountain range with a rain forest. So they get rain all around them while they stay dry.

But of the choices I would like Ashland, OR. We drive through there several times a year and it is just beautiful.

Hi Kathy, I lived in Felton several years ago and thought of retiring in Big Sur. But the pricing has gone through the roof. Something on stilts is now going for $250,000, when they are available.

Hi golddog, I think anything you can get for $250,000 would be a great deal now. Little shacks are about a half a million (mainly for the land and then they tear down the shacks and built monster houses).

Good point! I haven't been there for a while. A shame unwealthy people can't live along the coast anymore. I imagine even Davenport is now townhouses and condos.

One of my favorite places to go for day and weekend trips is Ithaca, NY. Cornell is located there and they have lots of gardening classes. It is very hilly and has a waterfall right through the campus. There are lots of waterfalls in the area and many state parks. It is situated on one of the fingerlakes, right in the middle of the wine region. For birders there is Sapsucker Woods which is part of the Cornell Ornithology School. Housing looks pretty reasonable compared to the other places. However, it is cold in the winter so be prepared to spend a month or two somewhere warm. But fall, summer and spring are very sweet.

http://www.ci.ithaca.ny.us/

I also love Burlington, VT which is a little like Ithaca only bigger, pricier but doesn't have NY State taxes which are pretty bad.

This message was edited Sunday, Sep 7th 1:31 PM

Lot's of folks are retiring to West Jefferson (Ashe C0.)N.C.The weather and people are all very nice, Just ask LizH.