Where to retire?

wilkersk said:
Easy: Southern Tennessee, not too far away from a metropolitan area. But, far enough that property values aren't through the roof, and still small enough to give that small town vibe.
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Nailed it!
 
wilkersk said:
...Probably somewhere like Collegedale...
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Collegedale has come up for me 2X recently. I had my private check ride there in '95. There were some PofA member as a recent SE lunch from Collegedale mentioning its peculiarly sloped runway. At the time, I could not remember my examiner's name. It was Jack Parnell. I believe he was a WW II aviator. He was notorious for performing the oral over lunch, which in my case, was at Subway :)
 
MICHAEL MAHN said:
Collegedale has come up for me 2X recently. I had my private check ride there in '95. There were some PofA member as a recent SE lunch from Collegedale mentioning its peculiarly sloped runway. At the time, I could not remember my examiner's name. It was Jack Parnell. I believe he was a WW II aviator. He was notorious for performing the oral over lunch, which in my case, was at Subway :)
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Way cool!

@Bill and I are both based out of Collegedale. It must be a recurring suggestion in a lot of searches, because it’s certainly growing around here - fast!
 
Bob Noel said:
Avoid massachusetts: not GA friendly, not 2A friendly, really high housing costs,excise taxes on cars

However, there are a lot of good healthcare facilities in the state... which might be important to us old retired guys
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Southern NH.
- High property cost
- high RE taxes
- no state income tax (only a 5% tax on divididends iirc)
- favorable 2A laws
- the Boston medical complex is in commuting range.



Btw.
When it comes to availability of medical services, any place reasonably close to a town with two larger community hospitals or a university medical center is going to be similar. There is no magic, if you get any of the common cancers like lung/breast/prostate/colon, the treatment at any major facility is going to be guided by NCCN guidelines. Same with cardiology/cardiothoracic. You want those services at least somewhat local, but after that you have diminishing returns. 5 major medical centers in a 3 block radius is not going to reliably get you a better result than having one large community hospital.
 
BladeSlap said:
Please don’t move to FL, TX, etc unless you share its values, we have too many people coming from the more unfortunate states who will try to vote for the same failures they ran away from.
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Curious then - what are the values of Texas and Florida? Does a state itself have values? So I'm not supposed to move to a different state if that state what... has the majority of it's population that votes a certain way? Belongs to one political party or another?

I'm not going to get into to which party I belong or my views on politics, but last time I checked Americans have the right to freely travel/move from state to state without fear of being persecuted for what they believe. So if I'm a card-carrying liberal snowflake, am I supposed to stay out of Florida even though I want to move there for the nice weather and beaches? If I'm the president of my local young republicans chapter, am I not allowed to move to Massachusetts because I like... (what's in Massachusetts... ) Lobsters?

Ed - to your point... I like Florida for many of the criteria you listed. Texas, too. Well... except for the people who think like BladeSlap.
 
One of the things I debate is how important is it to maintain your support network. You have friends, maybe a church, co-workers and ex-co-workers, a doctor, a dentist, you know the restaurants, you know the stores, you know the traffic. Move elsewhere and you're gonna have to redevelop all of those things. Is that something you really want to do at 60 or 65?
 
weilke said:
S

Btw.
When it comes to availability of medical services, any place reasonably close to a town with two larger community hospitals or a university medical center is going to be similar. There is no magic, if you get any of the common cancers like lung/breast/prostate/colon, the treatment at any major facility is going to be guided by NCCN guidelines. Same with cardiology/cardiothoracic. You want those services at least somewhat local, but after that you have diminishing returns. 5 major medical centers in a 3 block radius is not going to reliably get you a better result than having one large community hospital.
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Where does Angel Flight take patients?
 
I’m a two place guy.

When I retired 25 years ago, I asked my wife, why don’t we move somewhere with several suggestions.

She replied “What about the kids”. I responded “You mean the 28 year old and the 25 year old?” They lived nearby. Answer was “Yes the kids!” Thus endedth thoughts of moving away so we agreed that a second place in the Colorado Ski country for ski season for my passion and keep the homestead was reasonable. Happy wife, happy life.

After she passed, no real reason to change.

Cheers.
 
Deelee said:
Curious then - what are the values of Texas and Florida? Does a state itself have values? So I'm not supposed to move to a different state if that state what... has the majority of it's population that votes a certain way? Belongs to one political party or another?

I'm not going to get into to which party I belong or my views on politics, but last time I checked Americans have the right to freely travel/move from state to state without fear of being persecuted for what they believe. So if I'm a card-carrying liberal snowflake, am I supposed to stay out of Florida even though I want to move there for the nice weather and beaches? If I'm the president of my local young republicans chapter, am I not allowed to move to Massachusetts because I like... (what's in Massachusetts... ) Lobsters?

Ed - to your point... I like Florida for many of the criteria you listed. Texas, too. Well... except for the people who think like BladeSlap.
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I’m pretty rad, yeah

But, limited government, maximum individual liberty, self responsibility, support of the worker over criminals, low taxes, picking oneself up by their boot straps, support for amendments 1-10 unabridged, etc
 
Deelee said:
Curious then - what are the values of Texas and Florida? Does a state itself have values? So I'm not supposed to move to a different state if that state what... has the majority of it's population that votes a certain way? Belongs to one political party or another?

I'm not going to get into to which party I belong or my views on politics, but last time I checked Americans have the right to freely travel/move from state to state without fear of being persecuted for what they believe. So if I'm a card-carrying liberal snowflake, am I supposed to stay out of Florida even though I want to move there for the nice weather and beaches? If I'm the president of my local young republicans chapter, am I not allowed to move to Massachusetts because I like... (what's in Massachusetts... ) Lobsters?

Ed - to your point... I like Florida for many of the criteria you listed. Texas, too. Well... except for the people who think like BladeSlap.
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Very well put.
 
BladeSlap said:
But, limited government, maximum individual liberty, self responsibility, support of the worker over criminals, low taxes, picking oneself up by their boot straps, support for amendments 1-10 unabridged, etc
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So if I - support more government involvement in business, increased programs for the poor, prisoners rights, increased taxes to pay for social programs, assistance for those who need help picking themselves up by their bootstraps, gun control..... then I'm banned from Florida?

All hypothetical. I may not support those things. Or maybe I do. Or maybe not. But does it matter? Is a person who supports those things that you may not agree with prohibited from moving to Florida? I have friends and acquaintances living in Florida who are on either side of the political/idealogical spectrum. They all seem to enjoy their lives just fine in sunny Florida.
 
I don't get the whole, "I'm sick of the way this place is, I'm going to move to X because it's not like here," and then vote for the very things they wanted to leave behind. Why not go somewhere that's already what you want?
 
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Deelee said:
...Curious then - what are the values of Texas and Florida...
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I wish we could all agree that the closer decisions are made to the people who are impacted by those decisions is the best model. That makes all these values arguments irrelevant.
 
EdFred said:
Yes, I fully expect this to go like the "which plane should I buy?" threads, which is why I am asking.

Retirement is in the not too distant future (5ish years) if things go like I hope.

Why is your state/area the best to retire in?

Factors in my decision making:
Housing costs
Land availability
Real Estate/Recurring property Taxes/Sales/Income Taxes
2A Friendliness
GA Friendliness
hangar availability and costs
runway construction​
Property rights friendliness (minimal ordinances)
Other considerations not mentioned?​
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Wyoming.

https://retirepedia.com/21-pros-and-cons-of-retiring-in-wyoming.html
 
Anywhere but Florida.

- The state is too crowded.
- Gators will eat your dog.
- There are waaay too many tourists.
- Mosquitoes will eat you.
- The place is full of snowbirds who can’t drive.
- The orange groves are being destroyed for housing developments.
- Hurricanes will destroy your house.
- Did I mention the place is too crowded?
 
Half Fast said:
Anywhere but Florida.

- The state is too crowded.
- Gators will eat your dog.
- There are waaay too many tourists.
- Mosquitoes will eat you.
- The place is full of snowbirds who can’t drive.
- The orange groves are being destroyed for housing developments.
- Hurricanes will destroy your house.
- Did I mention the place is too crowded?
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But the weather sure is nice! ;)
 
It’s hard to beat eastern TN. I’m north GA but TN checks all my boxes for retirement. I’m still looking at NH though for quality of health care and the fact I miss their winters. Undecided but I still have like 12 yrs ish to make up my mind.
 
EdFred said:
Granted a lot of those are local municipality specific and 300 yards to the N/E/S/W could change any of these.
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That sounds like the best answer to me.
 
I would say look anywhere in East Tennessee from Chattanooga/Collegedale, up to Knoxville, and also up to Tri Cities. Moved here 14 years ago, and love it.
 
BladeSlap said:
fair enough, just had to say that to protect my state :)

Iguanas are not the only invasive pests we have lol
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And you are allowed to shoot the Iguanas, the Yankees are a protected species.
 
Ed, I understand there are some great real estate bargains in Ukraine right now....
 
BladeSlap said:
You’re from MI?

Please don’t move to FL, TX, etc unless you share its values, we have too many people coming from the more unfortunate states who will try to vote for the same failures they ran away from.
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That's exactly what happened to western Washington. When I first got stationed at NAS Whidbey Island, the Puget Sound was mostly conservative, with a great deal of respect for the military, the business community and law enforcement. Now, we're a carbon copy of the "bay area",with all the same BS politics
 
Big f'n no to Massachusetts. NH is OK, but there are taxes, especially on investment income. Property is gettingnup there. I'm thinking Florida in the winter, NH in the summer.
 
EdFred said:
I live in Idaho. Answers below
Factors in my decision making:
Housing costs--Not bad depending on where you go
Land availability--Great
Real Estate/Recurring property Taxes/Sales/Income Taxes--Very low property, income, sales taxes
2A Friendliness--You'd be hard pressed to get much friendlier.
GA Friendliness--Well, there's the Idaho aviation HOF, which is mostly GA, and a long tradition of backcountry flying
hangar availability and costs--depends
runway construction--Not sure what you mean by this; the runways are mostly good, although some of the backcountry strips are questionable​
Property rights friendliness (minimal ordinances)--Excellent
Other considerations not mentioned?--The Democrats in Idaho are to the right of the Washington Republicans. ​
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Not Texas. The weather sucks, The roads suck, and unless you drive a big truck with rebel flags hanging out the back or are super into keeping up with the Joneses, You will be a little isolated here.
 
Honestly Ed, I think Alaska checks just about every box on your list. It’s as GA friendly/2A friendly of a state as they come and literally building codes are almost nonexistent outside of the “cities.”

It’s also breathtakingly gorgeous pretty much everywhere you go.
 
Deelee said:
So if I - support more government involvement in business, increased programs for the poor, prisoners rights, increased taxes to pay for social programs, assistance for those who need help picking themselves up by their bootstraps, gun control..... then I'm banned from Florida?

All hypothetical. I may not support those things. Or maybe I do. Or maybe not. But does it matter? Is a person who supports those things that you may not agree with prohibited from moving to Florida? I have friends and acquaintances living in Florida who are on either side of the political/idealogical spectrum. They all seem to enjoy their lives just fine in sunny Florida.
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If you support those things, why not move to one of those awesome places that also supports what you support like San Francisco, Chicago, NYC, NJ, Seattle?

You wouldn’t want to live with all of us “backwards rednecks” down here, besides just watch the news we all have covid and are we’re full :)
 
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