Where should prof emeritus retire

[nebo113]

Access to medical care.  My retirement area is experiencing hospital consolidation and it's a disaster.  If I have a heart issue, I'll be shipped off to a hospital about two hours from here.  It's making me rethink my long term residency.

[backatit]

. I agree that the Pacific Northwest seems to fit your bill pretty well.

Thanks. Not sure  I can get myself there to visit. Come across anything Eastern half of country that has similar vibes?

Portland, Maine is quite nice. I've spent some time there for various reasons and it's cold in the winter, but reasonably affordable (compared to the PNW) and close to Boston (there is a train). REALLY good restaurants, beautiful seafront, and lots of fun stuff to do.

[spork]

Access to medical care.  My retirement area is experiencing hospital consolidation and it's a disaster.  If I have a heart issue, I'll be shipped off to a hospital about two hours from here.  It's making me rethink my long term residency.

This is why I mentioned academic medical centers upthread. For example, although the Research Triangle is the most expensive real estate market in North Carolina, Durham and its environs has less expensive real estate than Chapel Hill, while Winston-Salem with Wake Forest Med Center/Baptist Health is even cheaper. Or Huntsville, AL. Or Iowa City, IA. Or Minneapolis/St. Paul, Rochester, etc. in Minnesota (a state that is at or near the top of various measures of health and health care in the USA).

[Anselm]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmxd7GWWP_k

I can't help but to recall this scene from Judge Dredd about retirement.  Send them out to the lawless wilderness to correct people regarding grammar, spelling, logical errors, miscalculations, fake news, etc.

[Second Chance]

Thanks much for all the input.

Would love NH or Maine- but too cold. I can't be certain i'd be able to get away for a couple months each year. 40 degrees is just fine Below that, not so sure.  maybe i'm better with the opposite - be in a plac ethat's too warm and if i can't escape to NH or Maine for a couple of months, then i'm better off than the reverse situation.

will look more into NC and Alabama. Never thought about ohio illinois or indiana - i can't decide how much to weight gut sense of which places i graviate to or not- since alot of it is just based on bias and misinformation and pecularities of life experiences.

good point on med care- where i am now, even tho university health system, it seems to suck. or at least its so crowded, all they can dispense is flow chart medicine. they even have procedures in place to try to make flow chart medicine as efficient a factory as possible. its awful. The last place though, smaller city, the university health system was excellent.

and why do i keep getting this sense that i wanta town with a  "cool factor"? or at least a good reason. might just be snobbery- or perhaps its just to quell the oddness of picking up and moving somewhere unknown witthout a compelling reason for choosing that place over another- perhaps that's academic analyiss paralysis at its worst.

anyone know anythign about post-hurricane Puerto Rico? any university (retiree? "expats" there?).

I'm also struggling with whether i shoujld be a "condo person" or not. i'm not instinctively- i'm an introvert, like my space, like controlling my envirnment. in many ways logically condo means less mainetence and makes sense for someone losing their natural university social group. But geez, does'nt sit well - remember i started this post saying i need quiet. No shared walls with structure-bourne noise. Was checking out a local condo (getting desperate to move even if local) and was told yes you can hear a neighbor flush a toilet, yes if someone runs aboue you , you will hear it, if someone has an excercise machine you will hear it. yes you can hear a neigbors alarm clock. yet he says they almost never get noise complaints...could not get a straight answer on whether you hear people snore like I can where i currentl am. A friend who wants to downsize and not have any more responsiblities thought this condo sounded great but it's making my lip sort of cortort into an odd shape...

balancing logic and gut feelings is tricky.

i'll probably just perish in place. is this the older version for washed up academics of publish or perish?.

[Anselm]

'm also struggling with whether i should be a "condo person" or not. i'm not instinctively- i'm an introvert, like my space, like controlling my environment. in many ways logically condo means less maintenance

Keep in mind that as you age you will not be able to do all of that yourself.  This is one of the reasons people downsize to something smaller.  One sudden injury can prevent you from using stairs or ladders.

[spork]

Puerto Rico is America's very own Third World country. Ordinary folks are wonderful, the school system is terrible, governance is various proportions of greed, corruption, and incompetence. As an island in the Caribbean, it's more susceptible to the effects of climate change than, for example, Cleveland. You'd probably be better off in Cuba given the medical care there.

[Puget]

I would not recommend Ohio if you don't like cold.
I did my undergrad in northern Ohio, and though I loved my college I can't say that the area had much to recommend it in terms of culture, landscape or weather (sorry Mamselle!).

[Second Chance]

One sudden injury can prevent you from using stairs or ladders.

Am well aware of this and one of the reasons that logically condos make sense. Remember also retiring early due to health reasons so i'm more concious of this things change in a secondn thing  than most  people. Trying to balance logic and gut feeling, as i mentioned.

maybe a compromise is no shared walls but no living in the middle of nowhere on 10 acres either. So perhaps that means an hoa type situation but stand alone houses.

still tho, can i handle the rules of an HOA? and not sure ive ever understand why someone would want to buy a condo rather than just renting an apt. .

And there's a buncyh of  stand alone houses in hoa type commuiteis that are manufactured housing- mentioned before, that's likely too toxic for me. if i find a real  old one , not sure if will all have offgassed by now.

[Second Chance]

I would not recommend Ohio if you don't like cold.
I did my undergrad in northern Ohio,

Thanks. its never been one of my gravitate too states, so would just assume cross it off the list. I did give a colloquium in Bowling Green once. was sort of interesting - and odd. Tractor trailor races...I did like tho  everyone drank Ginger Ale as the soda of choice. Everyone smoked though (long time ago). Took me awhile to realize the instructions on my hotel walls had to do with what to do if there's a tornado.

[Second Chance]

Puerto Rico is America's very own Third World country. Ordinary folks are wonderful, the school system is terrible, governance is various proportions of greed, corruption, and incompetence. As an island in the Caribbean, it's more susceptible to the effects of climate change than, for example, Cleveland. You'd probably be better off in Cuba given the medical care there.

I like the third world part - except for the medical care issue. Then again, conventional MDS, even the "good ones" have little to offer me anyway. Not concerned with climate change (except as an academic and ethical issue of course). Would be risky since I would not be able to just fly back and forth- if i went i'd be there for better or worse.

[mamselle]

I would not recommend Ohio if you don't like cold.
I did my undergrad in northern Ohio, and though I loved my college I can't say that the area had much to recommend it in terms of culture, landscape or weather (sorry Mamselle!).

No hard feelings--I moved away, return now to visit, but would probably only return to live there if a compelling job or a covalent relationship required it....and neither of those seem very likely at present!

But, to be specific, the "lake effect" in Northern Ohio (and the other former Northwest Territories) doesn't get so far down as Columbus, and Cincinnati is even warmer. So it's always worth checking climate by exact location.

I'm surprised the Cleveland Symphony and Museum of Art as well as their spin-off communities didn't offer enough that was satisfying culturally; while I think the Columbus Symphony has grown a lot in depth and range, the Columbus Metropolitan Ballet has gotten quite good, and the CGFA has always been both a stable and innovative cultural presence (and I grew up with and was grateful for all these), I agree they're not the Metropolitan Opera, the NYCB, or the Guggenheim. But they're strong, self-respecting, and I always found them stimulating.

Cincinnati's art, dance, and music scenes likewise are strong in some ways, less so in others...but overall, it's not a wasteland by any means.

But..to each their own!

M.

[paultuttle]

:raises hand:

Cary, North Carolina, has made the list of "most affordable small towns in the USA" several years in a row. While housing prices are indeed rising, there are still retirement-friendly homes in Cary and its surroundings--and Cary is in the Research Triangle area of NC.

I also second the upthread mentions of Asheville, Durham, and Winston-Salem while adding that the central part of North Carolina has not one but two collections of three cities: the Research Triangle (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill) and the Piedmont Triad (Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point). Each is anchored by at least one nationally-ranked teaching hospital, each has considerable artistic and cultural opportunities/activities/venues, and each has affordable housing for retirees coupled with considerable medical services.

Oh, and it's 2-4 hours to the mountains and 2-3 hours to the beach, in terms of driving distance. Just sayin'. (Not to mention Lexington barbecue, Calabash-style seafood, and other temptations that can lead you on a variety of culinary road trips across the state.)

[professor_pat]

I chuckled when I saw Puget's suggestion of Olympia, Washington, because I was about to recommend Bellingham WA. My SO has a close retired-professor friend who's chosen to live there with his wife — a great college town and the climate you prefer, and when we've visited them the town has seemed really charming, right on saltwater, great walkable neighborhoods. Olympia is a bit warmer, but in either case you're looking at 70's-80's in summer and 40's-50's in winter. Olympia is also the state capital, so not as college-towny as Bellingham.

You really should arrange to visit the PNW as you consider your options.

[emprof]

Sounds like a university town in a mid-Atlantic state might be what you're looking for? Friends just moved to Blacksburg, VA and really like it for many of the reasons your post stated.

Most of the Midwest is going to have weather more extreme than you're looking for, New England is too cold and the South is too hot.