What do you like about where you live?

[NIGHTHAWK]

In thinking about retirement and where I’d like to spend the majority of my time when I don’t have to work for others. Many states/areas come to mind. So, I’d thought I’d ask you the same question.

1. What do you like about where you live?
2. Where will you retire? Why?

I make a living working here (Ca) with my day job. I’m from here (native born and raised). I will likely keep a place here due to family and personal business obligations, but I won’t need to be here full time.

I love California for a lot of reasons:
1. Weather
2. Beauty and diversity of scenery. Mountains, ocean, bays, rivers, lakes, desert, microclimates in Northern Ca, perfect year round weather in San Diego, snow skiing in the Sierras, Lake Tahoe, etc…
3. All different types of fishing.
4. Bird and game hunting.
5. Culture - Not too important to me.
6. Lot of Family and friends here.
7. Personal history and memories of growing up in a small town 25 minutes from SF or Napa Valley…

Don’t like:
1. Expensive to retire here in general.
2. Politics.
3. Homelessness and the impact to daily life.
4. Anti hunting & anti fishing.
5. Gun control laws.
6. Housing costs.
7. Taxes are high.
8. Crime.
9. Environmental movement and their impact.
10. Traffic.

California Is just not the same place I grew up in… I’ve had a residence and business in Reno/Sparks since 2002 and like it there for many reasons, but it’s starting to change. It feels and looks more like Ca. That is likely due to the influence of people leaving Ca and coming to NV! Now I’m starting to look further. Looking for more space, friendlier people, more conservative politics or just less political influence, sportsman friendly, cleaner and more peaceful living. And, retirement friendly!

Thanks in advance…

 

[gillettehunter]

I'm in WY. I lived for 6 months in Ca and it has its good points. I've also lived in Iowa, Mt, Tx plus I've spent 3 months working in La as well as FL. I was raised in ID and have lived here for 37 yrs so I'm biased.
Good hunting. I'll take the blizzards over the tornadoes/hurricanes any day. No state income tax. Modest property taxes. Reasonable fishing. Plenty of places to shoot a gun. I like the people here. Biggest reason I'm still here is that my family is here.....
Bruce

 

[Tgood1]

In wv, def planning on staying once I retire. The list of reasons I love it here would cause irreparable damage to my fingers if I tried to type them all

 

[BourbonTrail]

I’ve lived in 9 states, and there are more things that I dislike than like in all of them. As for here, there’s good bourbon, and my wife likes it. It’s also familiar as my family has been here for 200 years.

Otherwise, I would move to Namibia or something like that. I’m not a fan of other people, so low population is my preference.

 

[mdwest]

Both my wife and I have moved around a bit over the years.. we were both raised in the South East (Tennessee).. I spent time in a variety of places via the army.. then lived in Northern VA / DC for a while.. then back to TN (the other side of the state).. and we've now been in North TX for the last 10 years or so..

What I like about DFW is also what I dislike in many ways...

Its a huge city.. with everything you could possibly want/need from a city.. theres always something going on, somewhere to go, something to do, etc.. and tons of options... want to go out to eat? pick a type of food, and then pick from 20 different places all within a 10 mile drive of you... want to listen to live music? pick a genre, and then pick from 20 places within a 10 miles drive.. etc..etc..

theres also lots and lots of work opportunities (very secure job market), lots of social opportunities (if you cant find a friend or two to spend time with in a city with 7.5M people.. the problem is probably you lol)... lots of faith options (wasnt hard finding a church here that we really liked for example..)...

and its TX.. so as a rule people are friendly, gun laws are not insane, its reasonably affordable, etc...

but... its a huge city.. that brings all of the problems that all huge cities have... traffic is horrible.. crime can be very bad in certain areas.. I dont find large cities very "pretty".. in fact parts of it are downright ugly, dirty, and poorly maintained.. while you have a hundred options for anything you might want to do.. sometimes lots of options are a bad thing.. it certainly doesnt make things "simple" or easy..

and while lots of people creates lots of social and work opportunity.. it also creates lots of hustle, bustle, and chaos..

TX is also not the tax haven a lot of people think it is.... while its true there is no state income tax.. sales tax is on the high side.. and property tax in the urban areas is absolutely out of control.. wheel taxes are higher than most other states.. etc..etc.. TX definitely gets its money out of you...

While it is "hunter friendly" in many ways (disabled vets get free hunting licenses.. we dont have silly cartridge restrictions like "straight walled only" or "shotgun only", etc.. and there is a wide variety of game here.. its actually hunter unfriendly in many ways... there is almost no public land at all in the state and hunting is a big "business" here... youre going to pay a small fortune for a lease or access to private land if you are not a land owner yourself.. or youre going to pay fairly large sums for a guide/outfitter to hunt on private property..


We're (wife and I) now starting to look at what retirement is going to look like... we're empty nesters now.. and while she still works in an office setting, I've been working from an office in my home for the last 16+ years... we're looking at properties in several different areas.. but are primarily considering western AR, northern TX, eastern OK (where those 3 states all intersect).. and are also looking at some options in the Western US (but Im not convinced the cold winters wont get them eliminated from consideration)...

Our primary requirements are:

Affordable acreage.. that isnt "scrub" land... our intent is to buy +/- 100 acres... somewhere like the TX hill country where land can easily be over $10K an acre really isnt in our price range..

Low property tax rates (with 100 acres and a house and some additional buildings on the property, etc.. we dont want to get killed each year when the tax bill comes due..

We want to be rural.. but not out in the middle of nowhere.. in short, I dont want to see or hear another human if I dont make an intentional effort to do so... but at the same time I dont want to have to drive 45 minutes to get a gallon of milk or have to go 65 miles to get to a doctors office or a hospital or a dentist if I need one.. we dont plan on going "out" regularly.. but having shopping options, dining options, etc within a reasonable driving distance is important (we dont need a Macy's or Nordstrom 2 miles away.. but at least having access to a walmart without burning a half tank of gas would be nice)...

Since we'll both still be working.. and my work in particular requires a bit of travel.. we're going to need to be within reasonable distance (an hour?) of at least a national airport...

hunting/fishing/gun friendly is important... we wont consider anywhere thats going to make those sort of activities difficult..

Weather is a consideration... but only in the interest of avoiding extreme weather.. we'd like 4 seasons.. anywhere that is under snow 6 months out of the year.. or is blistering hot 6 months out of the year.. or gets an outrageous amount of rainfall.. etc.. is out of the question.. but if the area is known to be a little on the hot side, or cold side, or humid side, etc.. its not really a big deal..

 

[BJH65]

In thinking about retirement and where I’d like to spend the majority of my time when I don’t have to work for others. Many states/areas come to mind. So, I’d thought I’d ask you the same question.

1. What do you like about where you live?
2. Where will you retire? Why?

I make a living working here (Ca) with my day job. I’m from here (native born and raised). I will likely keep a place here due to family and personal business obligations, but I won’t need to be here full time.

I love California for a lot of reasons:
1. Weather
2. Beauty and diversity of scenery. Mountains, ocean, bays, rivers, lakes, desert, microclimates in Northern Ca, perfect year round weather in San Diego, snow skiing in the Sierras, Lake Tahoe, etc…
3. All different types of fishing.
4. Bird and game hunting.
5. Culture - Not too important to me.
6. Lot of Family and friends here.
7. Personal history and memories of growing up in a small town 25 minutes from SF or Napa Valley…

Don’t like:
1. Expensive to retire here in general.
2. Politics.
3. Homelessness and the impact to daily life.
4. Anti hunting & anti fishing.
5. Gun control laws.
6. Housing costs.
7. Taxes are high.
8. Crime.
9. Environmental movement and their impact.
10. Traffic.

California Is just not the same place I grew up in… I’ve had a residence and business in Reno/Sparks since 2002 and like it there for many reasons, but it’s starting to change. It feels and looks more like Ca. That is likely due to the influence of people leaving Ca and coming to NV! Now I’m starting to look further. Looking for more space, friendlier people, more conservative politics or just less political influence, sportsman friendly, cleaner and more peaceful living. And, retirement friendly!

Thanks in advance…

I spent my life and career in California minus my time in the military. We retired to the foothills of Northern California, a little town called Pilot Hill, and I very much enjoyed living on our property and maintaining it. Yet I had enough. Perhaps it was my previous career and my moral compass, or my old neighbor Bob, a retired Air Force Chief Master Sgt and B52 gunner who flew missions in Vietnam and later spent a second career with Lockheed. He told me if he was my age he’d move in a heartbeat. So we moved to North Western Montana.

I loved every minute of living in Montana. Made some great friends and our 30 acre place along the Clark Fork River that backed up to national forest was breathtakingly beautiful. In general, native Montanan’s HATE Californians (perhaps for good reason) yet once I got to know them I was accepted and became good friends with them, sharing the same values, background and hobbies. After four wonderful years living in Montana, for family reasons we sold our place and relocated to south central Oklahoma to help care for my in laws. As long as I have property to shoot and hunt on, I can live most anywhere!

I guess what I’m leading up to, is wherever you relocate to, you will make concessions. There really is no place like California. Weather concessions like the cold, ice and snow of Montana. The sometimes erratic weather of Oklahoma, hot, sometimes humid summers. Only you can decide if it’s worth it. To me it was. I would change nothing.

My sister and her family relocated from the Bay Area to Carson City, Nevada and they really enjoy living there although they still have a place in San Mateo, they are Nevada residents now, but still spend part of the time in San Mateo. My brother and his family have lived in the OKC region for many years, running his businesses, and he very much likes this region and state.

Good luck wherever you decide to go.

Brendon

 

[baxterb]

I’m in Idaho and like the proximity to a lot my favorite activities. The people are generally nice and I am lucky to have gotten a house before it went completely nuts.

Things I don’t like:

The sheer number of people moving here is largely ruining what used to be a slower pace of life. There is no ‘pole pole’ here anymore.

The over-densifying of housing is just adding to the issue. They are trying to keep up with demand but filling former fields with condos and quadplexes. We are being inundated with the same old chain restaurants and stores and our former personality is being largely homogenized with every other developer-dream city. It has become The Tragedy of the Commons. The reason it won’t stop is comparatively speaking, this place is still quaint compared to where folks come from.

I have met and like plenty of Californians but there is indeed a type that comes here and loves nothing more than to a) tell you they are from California and b) tell you how much they preferred X Y or Z back in California. This is not a joke. People from Texas, Washington, etc who move here seem to never have this quirk. They just move here, assimilate, and go on with their lives.

I told my wife the other day I now understand the older guys I knew as a kid who wanted keep moving away from the encroaching masses to find some peace and quiet.

Not sure we will retire here. But not sure where we would go either.

 

[Hogpatrol]

I'm in Delaware. About the only real advantages are the tax burden and convenience. The dark side is one party, Democratic rule so it's anti-gun, pro illegals, soft on crime, and legislated woke culture. Family keeps us here. Now if we could only keep the NY, NJ, MD, DC and New England libs from moving here, it wouldn't be doomed to become another one of declining states they fled.

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

I’ve had the luxury of working on Projects in some of the most amazing and beautiful places. I lived (Lanikai Beach) and worked in Hawaii for several months, New Port Rhode Island during the change of seasons (August to November), So Cal (Huntington Beach) for a few months, and South Lake Tahoe for 6 Months. I also worked in the Pipeline business (high pressure Nat gas) and that took me from the Mojave desert, over the Sierras, up and down the coast, Tahachipi’s, Bear Valley, Napa Valley, Burney Falls, even downtown San Francisco and Oakland… I wore out a few F150’s and F-250’s chasing PG&E pipelines up and down the states right of ways… Saw a lot of game, had access to every restricted area stream, lake, reservoir, keys to every gate. Fell in love with so many of those areas in Ca and other places… Many of those places are now priced out of reach. Covid allowed people to sell in San Francisco, move and work from Tahoe or all these amazing little costal port towns… Then all these “Dopey” pot farmers bought up a bunch of premium mountain properties I was looking at in Mendocino county, and jacked up the property values there! -Great hunting, space to breath, not to far from the coast and good fishing…

My search continues…

 

[Hunter-Habib]

The Royal Bengal tigers

The Axis deer in their natural habitat

The waterfowl (we’re a country of 700 rivers)

Bangladesh might not be much. But it’s mine. And there’s a certain amount of pride I feel about that.

 

[baxterb]

The Royal Bengal tigers
View attachment 638969View attachment 638970View attachment 638971
The Axis deer in their natural habitat
View attachment 638973View attachment 638972
The waterfowl (we’re a country of 700 rivers)View attachment 638974

Bangladesh might not be much. But it’s mine. And there’s a certain amount of pride I feel about that.

That is a lovely sentiment. Well said.

 

[baxterb]

@Hunter-Habib id be lying if I said I didn’t greatly miss many of the places I knew as a kid or in my 20s - this in Virginia and the Carolinas. At the time they seemed too small for me, but the older I get I realize there was plenty there, I just wasn’t looking deep enough. Call it immaturity, I suppose.

 

[fourfive8]

OK here, SW CO, starting about now as I watch the continuous caravan of $200k Class As w/CA plates towing Rubicons draped with toys headed west. Biggest dread will be watching the same people returning in the spring driving/pulling U-Hauls!

 

[Hunter-Habib]

@Hunter-Habib id be lying if I said I didn’t greatly miss many of the places I knew as a kid or in my 20s - this in Virginia and the Carolinas. At the time they seemed too small for me, but the older I get I realize there was plenty there, I just wasn’t looking deep enough. Call it immaturity, I suppose.

@baxterb

I'm also incredibly grateful to the USA for granting me & my family dual citizenship there.

My favorite states would have to be Texas, Florida & South Carolina. Most of the other states are pretty good too, except for California.

California, I only like two things about it:
1) Butch Searcy double rifles (unfortunately, he's retired now)
2) California Pizza Kitchen (esp. their BBQ chicken pizza)

 

[Huvius]

I’m on the Colorado front range - just west of Denver.
I’ve been here my entire life - 51yrs now, and my family has been here in the same area since 1904.
Virtually everything I loved about Colorado has been diminished over the years.

Too many people here now. Traffic is awful. The mountains are crowded. Politically CO is way blue now.
There is unabated building which burdens the infrastructure and water supply.
Big cities have a very large homeless population and our cities and highways are littered with trash. It’s actually quite embarrassing how filthy the roads and downtown are.
We have a huge problem with uninsured drivers and road rage.
All this and housing prices are out of control - among the most expensive in the entire country.

Sure, we have four seasons. Well, at least we have a couple weeks of Spring before it gets hotter than hell and we have a couple weeks of fall before its cold for a few months again.
We can have a 70deg day any day of the year but it can also snow in early June and again in late September.
I do like that we don’t have hurricanes or much flooding. We get big snows on occasion but they are few and melt pretty fast usually.
We do have bad hail storms here which do a lot of damage.

I have no idea where I will retire to but family won’t be tying me down here as my own kids are trying to figure out what state will be best for them to move to since they wont be able to buy in this market as we were when we were young.

 

[Ragman]

I live in Saskatchewan and have all of my life. For many people that grew up here, SK is just a place that you came from and not a place to stay. Most of the people that I graduated high school with now live in Alberta, B.C. or out east. A lot of people from other provinces look at me with pity when they hear where I’m from!!!

But I love it here. This is a huge province of 251,700 square miles with a total human population of just over one million people. Lots of room to roam if you’re craving some solitude. I’m a farm boy who has to work in the city but it’s easy to escape it. Our cost of living is among the most affordable in Canada.
It has all the different landscapes mentioned above except for mountains and coastlines. We do have over 100,000 lakes however.
As everyone on AH I’m an avid hunter/angler and am fortunate to live in a province where if I had the time and energy I can buy tags for whitetail, moose, elk, black bear and archery mule deer every year for minimal expense. To hunt mule deer with a rifle and pronghorn with anything I need to draw a special tag. Not difficult for mulies but it’s 15 years and counting since I drew an antelope tag.
Our freshwater fishing is excellent. Saltwater sadly is nonexistent.
We don’t have to worry about hurricanes and earthquakes. However we do have drought often and the occasional tornado. The winters can definitely be tiring. It can get very cold and can stretch out for months.
As far as retirement I’m 80% sure it will be in Sask somewhere. I’d love to retire on a nice lake somewhere but not sure that will happen. My wife is from Newfoundland but moved here 30 years ago. If she wanted to move back I could see myself agreeing to it as Newfoundland is a great place as well. I think whether my parents are still alive will factor in that decision.

Very interesting thread…looking forward for more!