Relocating...

[norcalhawk]

Sitting here in Coastal Humboldt County and I'm thinking about relocating to a more balanced geographical region. Where one is in the middle...closer to mountains, desert, water, etc. Here, one can travel south, east or north. My camper won't do well going west :/ For those of us who are retired (or not), have you thought about relocating. If so, where and why?

 

[MarkBC]

I've considered moving to the east side of the Sierras -- somewhere along US 395 from Carson City to Bishop. It still may happen...mostly likely in the Nevada portion of that stretch.
Why there instead of where I live in the outdoor recreation destination of Bend, Oregon? Because most of the places I really enjoy going are south and/or southeast of Bend. I never go up into Washington, and I very rarely go to the northern Rockies.
The east side of the Sierra Nevada are spectacular destinations in themselves...plus I'm a full days drive closer to all the southern deserts -- and a lot closer to southern Utah -- than living in Bend.
Since I'm retired the employment situation is not a factor in my location.

 

[Smokecreek1]

Where ever you think you might go-----the number one thing to check out is access to good medical services because you fall apart physically not to many years after you retire. Those dreams of that cabin on the coast or mountains or where ever-no matter how good you where physically -sort of crash- when you hit 70 or so (different ages for different people). That's one of the reasons I have stayed here in Susanville-70 fast miles from Reno/Carson City area (as Mark noted) where there are lots of services (top notch VA center too) and as long as you can still drive you can take that pop-up out in the boonies ! Should note however housing prices in the Reno are high and getting higher as people discover this area. Lot's of neat places to buy out in the basin, but get sick out there in the middle of the winter. Sorry!

Smoke

 

[Tuff Guy 62]

+1 to what Smoke has to say.

Years ago my folks retired to their dream location in rural northern California. Worked well for about 10 years until my dad's health began to deteriorate. Ultimately, they had to relocate to an area with nearby quality health care and right back into a home mortgage on a fixed income.

 

[DavidGraves]

This is a really important topic.
I would never again to move to a beautiful area where lots of folks visit like the north ORegon coast.

Although we live in a rural county with some down to earth folks we are being overun and bought out by tourists and vacation homes.

I realize everyone may have the same interests but it has been very hard to see 20 years of decline in quality of life as corperate America and the motel/restaurant industy has moved in.

I would much rather visit here than live here.

David Graves

 

[JaSAn]

Sitting here in Coastal Humboldt County and I'm thinking about relocating to a more balanced geographical region. Where one is in the middle...closer to mountains, desert, water, etc. Here, one can travel south, east or north. My camper won't do well going west :/ For those of us who are retired (or not), have you thought about relocating. If so, where and why?

Thought about it, yes. Will I do it, probably not. Reasons:
Support > family close by, long time reliable friends here, well established in my church.
Medical > I'm in good health for 69 but as I age I'll need to be close to help.
Inertia > I have a very good workshop that would be difficult to relocate + lots of stuff that wouldn't be worth moving.
I am an introvert so it would be difficult for me to reestablish in a new location.

Places I have considered:
Black Hills, especially around Sundance, WY. Spearfish is getting yuppie.
Great Falls, Montana. Parents lived there for 25 years. Lots of acquaintances.
Lewistown, Montana. Love the area.
Bozeman, Montana. Lovely area, it too is getting high priced.
area south of Lander, WY.
area around Cody, WY.
area from Salmon to Ketchum, ID. Ketchum is $$$.

jim

 

[PackRat]

As the boomers age, they want to downsize and move to the beautiful places they have visited over the years. I've been through all the places Jim just mentioned over the last 40 years at one time or another and in that time they have grown up. My Oregon friends keep saying they wish Californians would stop moving there....but they moved there in the last ten years or so and that wish rings hollow.

Getting away means about as much as how we plan our camping or traveling jaunts. Either we've been there or a friend has or we've read about it. That is a guarantee that the secret is out and retiring boomers will take an interest in moving to a "cool" place. You'll need to hit the cities/counties that you haven't been to or nobody you know has visited and no articles/books have touted as the "new cool" place to visit/reside.

If you like a certain area/city, then go there...but start with a local map and visit the towns in the surrounding areas off the beaten track; meaning forget the Interstate highway, get on small roads to small towns....they are often losing population as the graduates can't find work and go to The Big City where any twentysomething would much rather kick up his/her heels in.

However it does come back to several issues, being close to your health provider and a hospital is important for us elder statesmen and how far the airport where your family can fly into to visit you is important as well as proximity to an Interstate highway, shopping and some kinds of entertainment. Being a hermit isn't any fun and the wife will get bored faster than you will.

It requires a commitment to not only be happy to visit the boonies to "get away from it all", but possibly to live in the boonies so you can still have a nice house, a bit of property, maybe a barn for projects and parking your rig and a few acres so you don't have to listen to what your neighbor plays on the radio or what his kids are up to.

The best plan I ever heard of was some friends who had decided on Oregon when they retired and wanted to leave the East Bay behind. They went up there and rented a house, moved in and THEN began an intensive search to find just what they wanted and when they found it, they pounced on it with all that cash from the equity in their home in the East Bay they had accrued due to the rising price of real estate.

 

[Advmoto18]

Check out the White Salmon, WA area. We almost moved there from NC. Only reason we didn't, too far from kids and future grandkids for the wife. Winters can be tough in the Gorge, but, with a camper, southern AZ is just down the road.

But I like what Smoke said, I'm 63 years young, medical services should be within reasonable (you define) proximity.

I think you have to keep moving (under your own power) or you WILL "fall apart" pretty dog gone fast. An elliptical machine and yoga are my daily friends as soon as I've had my morning coffee. Just yoga when traveling and camping.

But, I should say, when traveling through MT 3 years ago, I saw a trucker pulled off onto an exit ramp. He had his TRX attached to his hood and going through a workout routine. I thought what the heck, I need a TRX to attach to the camper. Sadly, I haven't done that yet.

 

[klahanie]

I've thought about it over the years. Live in a metro area and want out for the usual reasons, mostly revolving around an overabundance of people, costs and development. Where to is a bit tougher because of "worse" climate concerns, it being mildest on the coast.

This thread has already touched on many common issues. My favourite being the old saw whereby newcomers to a particular town or area think the place is fantastic while the long time residents think the place is going to the dogs... this place is great / this place was great.

Anyway what I want to add is I think for retirees there is a window, a season, a time to make the move. One can wait too long.

For eg my neighbour sold at the RE peak which prompted retiring and moving to a small town at age 70. I'm thinking for me that's too old to be starting over, especially for building a spread like PackRat outlined.

If you can do it earlier, that would be better. But not so early you run into that old saw mentioned above ...