Community Chat

[stevieb]

@chiclet In or near Charlottesville Virginia... 

[feline groovy]

I got the same thing, @GingerPeach; Find Your Spot is still down and "undergoing some long-term maintenance".  Hope they can get it back up and that it's even better than it was before.

[just bee]

I recommend Sperling's Best Places.  It's an interesting site and the reviews of cities are worth reading.  I read reviews for places I've lived and for where I live now and the scathing ones were spot-on.

[newname0]

I found this map on the internet and always refer to it when new places to retire pop up.  Hope it helps.

[Ms tyrion2]

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@newname0 wrote:

I found this map on the internet and always refer to it when new places to retire pop up.  Hope it helps.

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From a Google search of this map, all I could find is that it came from Pinterest.  What were the parameters that determined the rankings?

[newname0]

Ms tyrion2

I thought someone would ask that so I found the map again by searching best places to live map images.  It came from a site called Homesnacks which I don't even know why they call it that but I went to their website and now for 2018 they have a new map but for me I like this 2017 map better but you decide:

[qualitygal]

Is there a date for that map?  What determined the blue shade?  

[bikerbabe]

Those maps don’t mean much without knowing the rating criteria. Also a “best” state for one person could be a bad choice for someone else. We don’t all have the same priorities.

[just bee]

@newname0

After you posted your first map I did a search and stumbled across a variety of similar ones.  I also found RoadSnacks/HomeSnacks and checked out the worst states of 2018 and the best/worst cities in California, Colorado and New Mexico.

I had to agree with a lot of the information there!  According to their site, New Mexico is the worst state in the union in 2018.

I live here and I'm not going to argue the point.  Frankly, the state has a lot of potential but it's been squandered.  There are five things I really like about it, but its flaws are not being addressed.

And I don't think they ever will be.

[Sammijo10]

I'm a life long New York State resident.  I've lived in Buffalo, Long Island, the Hudson Valley (where I was born and lived until I was 17), Albany and now Saratoga Springs.  Spent a lot of time in the Finger Lakes area and Southern Tier. I was lucky enough to retire at 55, DH is still working.  

We've talked about whether or not we would be snowbirds or move somewhere south when he does retire and my parents are no longer nearby.  

Despite the New York taxes - which would seem exhorbitant to most of you except Californians - we would live nowhere else. If the national average cost of living is say at a value of 100, ours would be about 127.  (Got that from Sperling's website!) 

We've visited my step son in SoCal and the obsession with the awful traffic is worse than any northeasterners whining about cold and snow. The restrictions in Cal would drive me nuts. We've visited relatives in parts of North and South Carolina and Florida and I don't think I could handle the intense humidity.  In fact, parents of a friend of mine came back from Florida after several years because the heat and humidity was too much for them.

When you're retired and it's snowing, you just don't go anywhere.  It's not the same as having to trudge through the snow to work. Within 24 hours - sometimes 12 - the snow is removed.  (One reason we have higher taxes.)   I love to cross country ski and snowshoe.  The instances of crippling snow are fewer than the instances of being trapped inside because the heat index could be life threatening.  No earthquakes, no tornadoes, very few hurricane type storms - they hit Southern New York beach areas and the city as they come up the coast, they end up being thunderstorms by the time they reach here.

My current area of NY is the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains.  The largest state park in the nation.  There are 46 high peaks to climb and lots of lakes to play in. If you're craving the big city, we are three hours of less from Boston, Montreal and NYC.  Our downtown is bustling with stellar restaurants and boutiques.  We have two national hall of fame museums (the National Museum of Dance and the National Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame). 

There's a small liberal arts college in town which keeps the area young.  I much prefer living with a mix of age groups.  Our neighborhood has about 20 families and 18 have school age children.  I love hearing them play in the street and ride their bikes to each other's houses. 

We have a performing arts amphitheatre that brings in major music groups during the summer as well as Opera, the NYC Ballet, and the Philadelphia Orchestra.  The health care services in the area are top notch with a local hospital and several urgent care centers nearby.

New York gets a really bad rap, but for me, I'll think we're staying put. 

Oh, and I agree with the poster about the Fingerlakes!  Beautiful spot, best kept secret we have in this state!