Maybe @Marilyn knows that thread. I feel like she contributed a lot about her MeetUps (?) when she and her H moved to San Diego.
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I once did a presentation for a newcomers group. The newest member had been in the group for 25+ years. Groups like that have got to be hard to break into.
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This one maybe? Empty nesters- How do you make friends?
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Thanks @Marilyn !
The year after we moved here, I organized a lunch for CCāers in the San Diego area. It was a lot of fun! Tempted to do that again - I know there were a few such things in the east coast in prior years.
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@Marilyn I remember you organizing the lunch, but I was out of town and could not attend. I think you should do it again!
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^^ I have heard that also and it really rings true. Been thinking a lot about all three (for next stage in life)- to inform any decision about when/where to move (in addition to keeping in mind after a move).
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Wishing I was in a slightly different situation so I could sell my house. Itās going to be too complicated to try to do that and rent for the next few years. But I think the timing would be good to sell now (actually a few months ago), then buy back in a couple years.
I guess the good news for me is that the housing has not run up nearly as much where I am now as it has in the places I would rather be. So there will probably be a harsher correction to houses I will potentially buy than the one I will sell. But I wouldnāt be surprised if it is worth more today than it will be when I actually sell it.
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I hear you, dadof4kids. If we sold our house right now weād do really well. But just not ready yet, jobs are close by, etc. I think we are not alone in this!
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As S lives in SD, I get there most years. I was planning to stay several months to care for grandson last year and was going to see if there was any interest in a meetupā¦long story as to why that changed. But perhaps will get there there this winter. I would love to meet any of you in SD!
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Oh, trust me, Indiana is considered flyover country! Iād love to be somewhere warmer, but have grandkids and land here, so probably not going anywhere.
Seeing the Portugal posts are a sweet memory. My grandparents especially liked Portugal. They were frugal so they could travel, and their home had many of the āX destination on $Y/dayā books. Multiples of them for Portugal and Mexico.
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Western Mass, Berkshire County. Or Worcester, MA.
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Does anyone have experience with Illinois? We were wondering about Champaign /Urbana, Bloomington/Normal, Peoria and Springfieldā¦ā¦
Well, Iām from Chicago but very familiar w/Champaign-Urbana as some of my kids have attended UIUC. Honestly, I donāt know too many people who want to move TO Illinois - I think people are mostly moving away:( Downside: high property/sales taxes, weather and the towns you mention are somewhat rural but having said that I really like C-U: itās a BIG Ten college town with arts/sports/good medical care ( the medical school is newish in this location ). Downtown Champaign is really cute with a nice hotel/restaurants/bars/brew pubs and other small businesses. There is lots of open space/parks for recreation and it is really, really flat- as we age thatās not a bad thing imo. Politics wise, well - Chicago is very blue, we currently have a Dem gov but central and southern Illinois are very different than Chicago - def lean more red. Not sure if any of these things are important to you.
Iāve been to Bloomington/Normal ( also a college town ) and Peoria, Springfield but donāt know enough about any of these cities. C-U is about 2 hours from Chicago and maybe a similar distance from St. Louis or thereabouts. Hope this helps!
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Thanks!!
Have you thought about Ithaca, NY? And @dadof4kids, it also has a Trader Joeās and an āinternationalā airport, though I donāt know how many flights actually go there.
With two universities (Cornell & Ithaca) with at least one of them really known for their arts, I expect there are plenty of activities to keep people busy. College towns usually have lots of transplants (including retiree ones) and are far more ethnically diverse than their surrounding areas. Cost-of-living doesnāt seem hideous, and itās north of the 42nd parallel. And the location by the Finger Lakes would be beautiful.
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It is on my list. I have a couple concerns. One is the weather. Not the snow really, I donāt love that much but can handle it. Just the gray skies most of the winter. Iāve talked to kids from Cornell and Hamilton, which has basically the same weather. Both had the same struggle and said that they couldnāt see themselves there forever for that reason.
The airport is another issue. It isnāt terrible, but not great either. Not many flights in/out of Ithaca, and Syracuse is the ābigā airport in the area, an hour away. I donāt know about the health system. You are pretty much stuck with whatever is local, or driving an hour plus to Syracuse or Binghamton.
But I love the idea of a college town, and not many towns are so dominated by their college(s) as Ithaca. I live in one now, and donāt want to give that up if I donāt have to.
Housing is imho crazy cheap. Cheaper than pretty much everything else on my list. If I could get them another 30 days of winter sunshine it would probably be at the top. If I go that route, I think I probably need to spend a January or February there first to see how much that bothers me.
Huge bonus for me that 99% of people donāt care about, one of the few bright spots in Cornell athletics is my love, wrestling. They just had a coach win a gold medal at the world championships a couple weeks ago. He is one of 4 people ever to win 4 D1 titles, which he did wrestling for Cornell. More people have walked on the moon than that. There is a kid at Cornell now who will probably be the 5th ever this year. They have 4 current team members competing in the Under 23 world championships in October.
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On the subject of Ithaca, donāt count on that airport. It goes through cycles of boom and bust with the economy or the trends of the airlines. Flights from Syracuse will be more plentiful and reliable, keeping in mind that itās also not a major airport.
We expect to spend Christmas in the area and our hotel reservation near the airport is super cheap. I just looked and tomorrow there are only three scheduled arrivals and three departures at Ithaca. Flights are to/from Newark and Detroit.
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Ithaca was the top town in the nation at one time based on the criteria for an Utne Reader article:
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We used to live near Binghamton and used the airport, but weāve heard that flights there are fewer (or none)? Ithaca was a fun daytrip for us - lots of small wineries on the finger lakes.
When. you look at home prices, be sure to factor in high NY property taxes. Itās not nearly as bad as long island and westchester, but itās higher than many other places. In our old town, you can still get a house for under $150k (small lot, one bathroom)ā¦. but taxes about $5000, lots more than our CO house twice as big (and 4x value)
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