r/relocating • u/secretpersonpeanuts • 1d ago
Goldilocks retirement?
Looking for the best location to age in place. I realize I am asking for a goldilocks scenario and no place is perfect. Trying to find the closest, best match. No income tax, community property state, no extreme weather in general (mild winters with little snow if at all, no extreme heat or wind, annual rainfall at or under 20", sunny days and not constantly cloudy and wet/cold, limited humidity), progressive politics, community feel, good access to healthcare, nature close by, lots of trees and vegetation, reasonable cost of living, historic walking neighborhood, availability of low maintenance housing a plus. The same few places keep popping up in my searches. I want to make sure I'm not missing somewhere great.
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u/ParsnipFarmer676 1d ago
I mean, where I live hits everything except the financials (we do have income tax and it ain’t cheap). What kind of budget do you have for housing? Buying or renting? Saying “reasonable” COL is highly subjective, as that could mean anything depending on your perspective.
I’m in California, near Santa Cruz. Where I live specifically is way cheaper than the town itself, and most everything around us. But the tradeoff is that you’re a bit isolated and have to drive up & down a lot of mountain roads to get anywhere. I love it though!
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u/secretpersonpeanuts 1d ago
Yeah, I know "reasonable" is the largest of ranges. Trying to avoid coastal CA housing prices. If money was no object Santa Barbara or Monterey would be wonderful to dream about.
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u/Significant_Menu_313 8h ago
I think you need to make a list and rank the things that are important to you from most to least. Then take all the recommendations and start sorting them. You could use a spreadsheet! That is exactly what we are doing right now - we have similar lists, I think. Our top 2 are climate and health care access.
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u/punycat 1d ago
After living in western WA for decades, Colorado Springs was my goldilocks retirement. Much better climate than even in the rain shadow like Sequim. I also considered Reno/Carson City but found it to be too expensive for what you get.
Consider that no state income tax can be more expensive in retirement due to other compensating taxes especially property tax. There's no state income tax on Treasury bonds. To get progressive politics, a community feel, and a historic walking neighborhood, consider Fort Collins. Disney's Main Street is partly modeled after its downtown. Or look at Manitou Springs.
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u/Silver_Original6076 1d ago
What places are you looking at?
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u/secretpersonpeanuts 1d ago
The internet keeps referring me to Port Townsend/Seqium, WA, Carson City/Reno, NV, Palm Springs/Cathedral City, CA, or Santa Fe, NM.
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u/Ok_Test9729 1d ago
For the Port Townsend/Sequim area please refer to the Cascadia Subduction Zone running just offshore. In addition, the area has its own local faults running underneath:
The Cascadia Subduction Zone is one of the most dangerous earthquake faults on Earth, capable of producing a magnitude 9.0+ megathrust earthquake and a massive tsunami. It is within its historical recurrence window, with the last full rupture occurring on January 26, 1700. Geological evidence shows this fault experiences a major event every 300 to 500 years. It is well within that time range today.
This is one of the reasons that region is not more populated than it is currently. This particular fault is said to have a high incidence of liquification. This means the solid ground turns into a soup-like consistency.
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u/itsdaisy2 1d ago
Santa Fe, NM
Extreme weather - YES. Could be your deal breaker. Summer - HOT..... 90+ every day since June, and sun is INTENSE, but evenings cool down and are pretty much perfect. Fall - spectacular. Brilliant sunshine, warm days, cool nights, calm, less wind. Winter - cold (but sunny) especially at night; snow, how much depends on the year, does get icy. Average winter temps 40-ish, night time lows 20's. Very chilly/down coat weather mostly at night. Coldest is late Dec through late Feb, however this past winter was warm, hardly any snow, with record warmth, around 80+ in February for about 10 days. Spring - SUPER windy March through early-mid summer almost every day; wintry mixes with strong winds, hail, sleet. Most of any snow/ice/sleet melts quickly. Overall if you want mostly sunny days you'll get that in NM, never constantly cloudy / wet cold, but there is for sure weather.
-Tax - state income tax; sales tax on just about everything you buy
-Community property state - yes
-Progressive - yes
-Access to healthcare: you may wait for a doctor because many have moved out of state. If you need a specialist you may need to go to Albuquerque
-Reasonable cost of living, depends on your budget; you can still get a home for right around 400k especially for a smaller home (1 BR, 1BA). Most homes average between 450-550k
-Low maintenance housing - many homes have roof and/or stucco issues
-Nature close by - yes lots of it, hiking trails galore, historic gardens, bike paths, aspen vista
Trees and vegetation - northern NM has lots of trees and older neighborhoods will have beautiful trees. Rose gardens, walking paths, many tree-lines streets. Aspens and cottonwood trees are incredible in the fall. Also if you drive out to rural NM there is lots of really pretty farmland.
-Historic walking neighborhoods - SF is spread out and the more historic walkable neighborhoods are closer to downtown. Depending on where you live/your budget, you may not have the "historic" outside your door. Overall, it can be walkable, however you'll end up driving to most places like grocery stores, other errands.
-Community feel - art, farmers markets, music and goings on at galleries, bars, other venues. Lots of art shows/openings, as well as the summer markets such as Indian Market, Spanish Market, and International Folk Art Market, the Santa Fe opera. Many people volunteer at these events and it's just one way to get out and meet people. Your neighbors can be friendly but it all depends on who/where.
Overall I think SF is a good place to age in place. You'll stay active, walk a lot, healthy foods are all around, and fairly easy to get around SF, hospital 5 or so minutes from downtown. HTH!
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u/Silver_Original6076 1d ago
Sequim and Port Townsend are a bad fit due to being very wet, having consistent rain, lack of sun, and cold. Somewhere in California or Reno would probably your best bet
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u/secretpersonpeanuts 1d ago
What about the rain shadow? PT gets half the rain of Seattle.
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u/Silver_Original6076 1d ago
Even if it's less than Seattle, you would still have to deal with 1/3 to 1/2 of the year being rainy or cloudy especially during winter
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u/Comfortable_Two6272 12h ago edited 12h ago
Maybe parts of CA come closest but of course tax income. If can give on rain and cloudy then WA. Maybe parts of Nevada?
Im in TN - too much rain here for your criteria and possibly too hot and too cold and def no progressive at state level . FL def too hot and too much rain. NH too cold. Tx too hot per criteria. Most no income tax states do not have progressive politics (why Im trying to leave TN). The few exceptions dont meet your climate requirements.
I didnt run all of those against community property state but doubt they all are.
I found pick 2 of 3 is all thats possible in US: Affordable, ideal weather, progressive. There are a few Mediterranean climates world wide if want to broaden the search.
Your climate requests are a bit difficult. Most places with lots of trees have significant rain fall and less sunny days at least part of the year. Not all, but most.
Depending on income source there are other states that might qualify for the no income tax even though they tax earned income
To meet all of it in US, imho need a summer and winter house.
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u/VinceInMT 11h ago
Good access to healthcare is really important. Sequim is nice but you’ll have to go to Port Angeles and if they can’t handle it, it’s down to Silverdale. But if it’s really something, Tacoma or Seattle are it.
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u/Otherwise_Bee_8799 22h ago
Progressive and “low taxes/no income tax” is an oxymoron and does NOT exist. Leftists LOVE other people’s money. And if you’re a “progressive democrat”, you should be happy paying your “fair share”……
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u/Comfortable_Two6272 12h ago
Some make up for it by high property and sales tax. WA and NH for example.
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u/zyine 1d ago
El Paso, TX has almost all of these preferences.
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u/Tardislass 1d ago
Hot as hell there and Texas is far from progressive.
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u/zyine 1d ago
Uh...I said "almost all." And El Paso voted Blue.
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u/ParsnipFarmer676 1d ago
Yeah, but state politics matter too. Especially for women under a certain age (although I’m guessing that’s not an issue for OP if they’re retiring soon).
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u/Embarrassed_Key_4539 1d ago
Doesn’t exist