Retirement Spots

[dennyjones 1,044]

2 minutes ago, Shindig said:

I saw Flagstaff (AZ) mentioned, but a related issue hasn't been.  As I understand it, there are some retirees who live most of the year in the greater Phoenix area and head up to Flagstaff for a month or two when the weather isn't to their liking.  

I'd say that's my plan for retirement, but at the moment, my plan is to live year-round in the greater Phoenix area when I get to that point. 

I've heard the same.    Flagstaff would be a good summer retreat from the high summer temps in Phoenix.  

[boogielicious 2,876]

3 hours ago, snapfade said:

they can watch rocket launches too.

This ^, golf and beach would be the only reason for me to go to Florida! My buddy in Vero Beach drives up for the launches. We’re both NASA nerds.

[snapfade 84]

49 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

This ^, golf and beach would be the only reason for me to go to Florida! My buddy in Vero Beach drives up for the launches. We’re both NASA nerds.

Our house rattles sometimes depending on the rocket type. What's cool is seeing the boosters land on Cape Canaveral, you can actually see them touch down from where we stand, and when they break the sound barrier on reentry it's like a 12 guage going off next to you. Cool stuff indeed.

[jetsknicks1 89]

3 hours ago, Mr Puddle said:

So it's OK for me to dislike a person from Blackpool or Essex, but not OK for me to dislike a person from another country. How very strange !

What’s strange is disliking people you’ve never met, simply because they come from someplace else. As to the OP, kinda tough to beat Florida when it comes to year round golf.

[iacas 10,087]

12 hours ago, Mr Puddle said:

So it's OK for me to dislike a person from Blackpool or Essex, but not OK for me to dislike a person from another country. How very strange !

That's not what he was saying.

[Mr Puddle 17]

On 4/1/2020 at 4:04 AM, iacas said:

That's not what he was saying.

It's exactly what he was saying. I have never intentionally been politically correct in my entire life, and I don't plan on starting now.  

[iacas 10,087]

Just now, Mr Puddle said:

It's exactly what he was saying.

No, it's not. He was pointing out how dumb one of your other posts was.

Move along. Your bigotry for the sake of, what, provocation (?) is not needed or wanted.

[mclaren4life 28]

10 minutes ago, Mr Puddle said:

It's exactly what he was saying. I have never intentionally been politically correct in my entire life, and I don't plan on starting now.  

So you have intentionally been disrespectful to people simple because they aren’t from your part of town or neck of the woods? It’s not about being PC is simply about respect. 

[Double Mocha Man 780]

16 minutes ago, Mr Puddle said:

It's exactly what he was saying. I have never intentionally been politically correct in my entire life, and I don't plan on starting now.  

There is no heroism in being politically incorrect for the sake of being politically incorrect.  I bet you are a hoot at the local pub.

[Mr Puddle 17]

4 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

There is no heroism in being politically incorrect for the sake of being politically incorrect.  I bet you are a hoot at the local pub.

They are closed at the moment, but normally, YES

[TussinMan 2]

On 3/28/2020 at 3:54 PM, NM Golf said:

It's tough picking a spot. My wife and I have started discussing places with my retirement a little over a handful of years away. I have several of the same wants minus soccer, although having a good NFL or top 20 college football team around would be really nice. We are looking at going south (Florida, Georgia, North/South Carolina) or maybe even Texas. Another possibility is with my wife's family in Michigan splitting time between there and someplace warm in the winter. 

All I want is to never see snow again, ever.

Texas is under-rated. In my area alone (DFW) it seems like theres a golf course on every intersection. Weather wise it's suprisingly built for year round golf. If you do afternoon tee times from Oct-May and then morning tee times from June-Sept you'd essentially be playing in 56-80 degree weather 95% of the time. 

[Mr Puddle 17]

At the moment I would retire anywhere that's still open

[No Mulligans 330]

San Diego, yes the cost of housing is high.  But it does hit a lot of those buttons listed.  Year round golf, I play Torrey Pines on the week days for $31 with my $25 a year "City Card"... and $23 at Balboa Park Golf Course.  So the golf rates are reasonable.

I'd put the San Diego golf weather up against the Florida weather.  I'm not a fan of high heat and humidity.  I have a friend who a couple a years ago played everyday in San Diego for 364 days in a row.  (He also lost over 100 lbs. during that stretch which was the plan.)  

San Diegan credits TOPS for his dramatic weight loss

---

Randy Sherman and other lean on nonprofit group TOPS to collaborate on sensible weight control strategy

 

I see a lot of other places mentioned where I would not play year round golf.  Charleston SC for example.  I lived there for a couple of years.  Smothering heat in the summre, and cold in the winter (sometimes even freezes with ice on the bridges in the winter).  Not sure how you could play year round golf, at least not the majority of the days.

Edited April 10, 2020 by No Mulligans

[Effington 31]

Thanks guys, I appreciate all the responses.  A lot of great ideas I didn't think about.  Few questions from the responses:

• Flagstaff: I had no idea it was noticeably cooler than the Phoenix area, but wouldn't the high altitude be a challenge for people up there in age?  Also, isn't that area more expensive?
• Utah: Really intriguing, I know very little about the area.
• Washington State: This was an area my wife had put on her list, but I was under the impression the area was very expensive to live.
• Myrtle Beach: What is the area like?  One comment mentioned that one visit was enough.
• England: How cold are the winters?  They play football through the winter so I was imagining it wasn't that bad.
• California: Can you find affordable housing if you get further away from cities?  I'm thinking Inland Empire or something comparable.  To me, San Diego weather is near perfect, but not cheap.
• Australia: I'm reminded of a vacation to Perth and surrounding area, where people did not take kindly to my American accent.  Is that a west coast thing only?

[Coder 9]

Winters in England are not particularly cold (depending on your perspective) - average overnight minimum in December and January is around 3C. Snowfall is rare, maybe one or two days per year. When it does snow, the whole country goes nuts and shuts down because unlike properly cold countries, we aren't equipped to deal with it.

What makes English winters unpleasant is the lack of sunshine. If it's not raining it's overcast and threatening rain later. You probably get two or three sunny days per month in mid-winter, and it's still dark by 4:30pm.

That's why we have such good pubs

[Effington 31]

49 minutes ago, Coder said:

Winters in England are not particularly cold (depending on your perspective) - average overnight minimum in December and January is around 3C. Snowfall is rare, maybe one or two days per year. When it does snow, the whole country goes nuts and shuts down because unlike properly cold countries, we aren't equipped to deal with it.

What makes English winters unpleasant is the lack of sunshine. If it's not raining it's overcast and threatening rain later. You probably get two or three sunny days per month in mid-winter, and it's still dark by 4:30pm.

That's why we have such good pubs

Thanks, that's better than I thought.  I consider golf to be enjoyable down to 10C, so that doesn't sound too bad, and I think my wife would like that type of climate.  And the football there is much better, which I can get excited about.  I would love to take a year or two and to go every game of some team.

[xrayvizhen 48]

9 hours ago, Effington said:

Thanks guys, I appreciate all the responses.  A lot of great ideas I didn't think about.  Few questions from the responses:

• Flagstaff: I had no idea it was noticeably cooler than the Phoenix area, but wouldn't the high altitude be a challenge for people up there in age?  Also, isn't that area more expensive?
• Utah: Really intriguing, I know very little about the area.
• Washington State: This was an area my wife had put on her list, but I was under the impression the area was very expensive to live.
• Myrtle Beach: What is the area like?  One comment mentioned that one visit was enough. Kinda like the Jesey shore but with golf courses.
• England: How cold are the winters?  They play football through the winter so I was imagining it wasn't that bad.
• California: Can you find affordable housing if you get further away from cities?  I'm thinking Inland Empire or something comparable.  To me, San Diego weather is near perfect, but not cheap.
• Australia: I'm reminded of a vacation to Perth and surrounding area, where people did not take kindly to my American accent.  Is that a west coast thing only?

I'll only comment on what I know based on personal experience:

Flagstaff - cooler than Phoenix area but certainly not more expensive. Now Scottsdale...THAT's expensive.

Myrtle Beach - not meaning to be condescending but I agree with whoever said one visit was enough. Kind of like the Jersey shore but with golf courses. On the other hand, Hilton Head is terrific and is on my consideration list.

California - affordable? Hardly, unless you have plenty of $ or want to live in a trailer park in the desert. (Think of where "Budd", Michael Masden's character, lived in Kill Bill.)

Australia: Lovely, and the people are wonderful. Friends there have told me that the reaction to Americans and our accents is due to the current occupant of the White House who is universally loathed.

Edited April 11, 2020 by xrayvizhen

[Knaresborough 0]

First post....getting pretty bored. American (Washington state) retired in the UK. Living in N England. Golf here is pretty decent as long as the weather isn't too bad. This last 6 months (Sept-mid March) was the worst I've seen in 19 years total in the UK. We've been dry the last month....but can't play. I used to live in S UK back in the 80's and the weather is better there and can play more at temps that are a few degrees warmer than in Yorkshire. I play if the course is open.....muddy....wet....frozen....whatever. If you do not like colder weather....probably won't like it here. If you like conditions to be perfect all the time....you won't like it here. I've also spent 10 years in Germany and 5 years in Okinawa (hot and sweaty in the summer).

Washington state- grew up on the west side, so wet a lot of the year and golf is a bit like here. Went to college in central WA and retired to the Spokane area for 4 years. Most of E Washington you can't play for 4 months or so during the winter.....semi-desert and cold/dry. Although.....the Tri-city area is a weird place that is a lot milder and people there can play most of the year.