A few years ago I read a review of attractive retirement cities. I don't remember the research source, but they rated Ann Arbor Mi. as best. Their criteria included overall cost of living, real estate prices, entertainment venues, recreational and medical facilities. I know you wanted to escape the midwestern winter, but you might look for towns similar to Ann Arbor. Many of the benefits revolve around the moderate size and the major university being a fixture in town.

Marc

The city is too friendly towards homeless people if you ask me. There's a big shelter right in the entertainment district downtown. Tons of smash and grabs going on related to that. It sucks when you get back to your car after an evening out and they've smashed your window and taken your stuff. Last time it happened to me there was nothing of value in my car, but they made off with the owner's manual...! I guess it's worth $5 to someone on craislist or fleabay.

Anyplace where the weather is moderate you will have that. It's not like there's a whole lot the police can do other than forbidding sleeping out in certain areas. It simply means they sleep out blocks away from a lot of the businesses but still hang out there to panhandle in the daytime.

What's kind of a shame is that mental illness cases are among them and many times they aren't really competent to fill out the paperwork for any section 8 assistance. They often wind up getting scooped up in body bags because they sleep on the street with other mental cases.

Well, I'm 66, just recently started "serious" cycling and I live in central Virginia (Richmond). We are FAR from crime free, but the rural areas I ride with men and women of the club I joined feel pretty secure when wego out, which is pretty near daily on a wide variety of routes. There is strength in numbers, including being hard to overlook by motorists on the road.

But if you sre looking gor a "cycling mecca," My choice would Ft. Collins, CO. Plus, they have more hometown breweries than any city in the US.

Hot Springs Village in Arkansas, sounds pretty nice, but I think medical care would be to far.

I agree. The comments there can throw a cold dose of reality on a lot of the "best" places but are useful when trying to get a feel for the location. If you're thinking about moving some place you haven't visited before, it's really best to visit for at least a few days. Check out traffic, grocery stores, shopping etc.

^^^^^ Excellent advice.

The local grocery store will also be a good place to see who all your neighbors are before putting any earnest money down on a home.

My ideal is Fredericksburg, Tx in the winter, and Ft. Collins or Boulder in the summers.

I'm pretty happy where I am. I just need a get-away for Jan-Feb every year. I'm still thinking gulf coast near Mobile is a good target Jan-Feb get-away. It's off-season for beach stuff which means rates are lower. And I mainly want bike and golf and running weather anyway.

[just spent the weekend visiting Tampa area (Anna Maria Island) and some friends' target vacation/retirement homes. Florida is still too hot for me.]

Mobile is dirt cheap, especially outside the city. That's one good thing I can say for it.

My wife's family is from there.

It's pretty typical Gulf Coast. Whether you think that's good or bad depends on your point of view, I guess. One negative for cycling, it rains a lot. 64 inches per year according to the weather almanac.

Every place has compromises. For me - it has to be a multisport area. I need mt skiing, old growth wilderness forest walking, and big patches of water. Temperate climate is best.

Coastal California is too far for easy skiing but otherwise near perfection (esp central coastal areas).
Colorado has some great places but not temperate and no ocean or big water.
Not a New Englander.
PNW is a very good home for now.

Northwest Georgia, perhaps the Rome area. Excellent health care, riding options, outdoor recreation, and low key life style while still within an hour of Chattanooga, Tn. and and just a little over an hour from Atlanta (if your interested in the amenities of the city).

The only problem with Ann Arbor is that they have That School Up North located there...and while I went to The Ohio State University, I still prefer Yankeetown as a place to live...500 people and 2 great bike trails close by (one 5 miles out and back along the barge canal, and the other 46 miles long through some beautiful Old Florida country). For the summers I love Estes Park, Colorado.

"Where do I fit?" seems to be the key question. Are the people there the kind of people I want to associate with? Will they accept me and I them?

Next is being able to have a life years down the road when infirmity sets in. This latter never even entered my mind until my trauma. I always figured my lifestyle would do me in. Now it appears age and infirmity are a possibility. In fact, although most don't plan on it, that is the likely fate for most of us.

Although talked about a lot climate doesn't really seem to be THE factor.

All this assumes a person can move. Most people don't have that option. Personal finances, housing market and a variety of other factors prevent moving.

As to the crime issue, I live in one of the inner-ring suburbs of Detroit, and crime is so far down on my list of concerns I seldom think about it. Beyond the obvious care anyone should take with their belongings (I don't leave my garage door open inviting theft of the stuff inside, lock my car when not in the garage, we make sure all doors are locked before leaving the house etc.) concerns about crime don't affect our lives at all. I even spend a fair amount of time in the central city, riding my bike and enjoying some of the cultural activities. In the 63 years I've lived in and around Detroit I've had one robbery, one house break-in, one grab-and-ride bike theft, and one tire & wheel theft, and no criminal encounters in the 20 years since I moved to the 'burbs.

On the other hand I know people that live in constant fear of crime despite never having personally been a victim of crime - they listen to a lot of news sources that really try to make things seem as bad as possible.

Your news source is critical to both keeping informed and keeping a good perspective on things. For me it's NPR and The Economist for national and international issues, our local newspaper (the Detroit Free Press) and local NPR affiliate for local and state issues, and I never, never, NEVER waste my time with any commercial local or national broadcast outlet whether TV or radio. The saying "If it bleeds it leads" was coined for local broadcast news, and my sister who is a director at the local ABC affiliate would be the first to agree. National news programs aren't much better - I gave up on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC etc. years and years ago. I want information not sensationalism, and I don't want someone trying to "manage" how I react to their spin on the news.

The house we bought in '09 had steel bars on the windows. One of the first things we did was to take the dang things down. Our new next door neighbor thanked us since it made the 'hood look ghetto, and he is one of those anal retentive guys with the perfect yard who likes washing his '63 vette in the driveway every Saturday. This in not a high crime neighborhood, but news of a break in on a nearby street sends some into the bunkers.
A guy named A.J. Leibling once said "Freedom of the press is reserved for those who own one". To get an idea of the editorial slant of an outlet just look at the major sponsors and owners. During both the Chernobyl and Fukushima events, NBC, owned by GE devoted less time to covering it than the others. ABC had almost no mention of the conditions in Haiti Sweat Shops making "Princess" tee shirts for it's parent, Disney.

Local "news"? I call it America's National Lobotomy.

Well, that school up north has a medical system with a set of senior-focused facilities that are simply fantastic, and if you are a veteran there is a real, functioning, clean, equipped VA hospital. The city is building MUPs, bike lanes and sharrowed lanes as if they were something they could sell. Many roads lead out of town (good for running your enemies out on a rail ... ) to excellent paved and dirt cycling roads, though we have more than our share of nasty rural pavement, too. One of the greatest cycling loops anywhere, with many variations, starts in nearby Chelsea, MI and is used for the famous (just check my threads) One Helluva Ride. The local club has about 100 established and tested routes and rides, and grey-haired cyclists are about as common as the dark-haired and yellow-haired species. Restaurants are really good, too!

I'm from Illinois, from that snooty small Big 10 school north of Chicago, that has beaten the Wolverines a few times in the past few years. I don't lord it over the Maize and Blue, and they tolerate me. Live and let live!

Take another look at it!

"In the 63 years I've lived in and around Detroit I've had one robbery, one house break-in, one grab-and-ride bike theft, and one tire & wheel theft, and no criminal encounters in the 20 years since I moved to the 'burbs."

Most people haven't had any of those.

+1

I remember being at a meeting where the CEO of the Denver Post reminded the audience that the primary purpose of his publication was to make money. News was just the medium to be able to sell advertising. Along with that, didn't it used to be common knowledge that the three major networks had organized their "news" shows into their entertainment divisions? Further, when the equal time provisions were changed at least a generation ago that meant it was open season for the media.

All that to say that to get even a reasonable facsimile of the facts a person has to work at it. Not many can or want to.

As it pertains to this subject, that is why I poo poo published "Best" or "Worst" lists.

There is no "best" place to retire other than the one YOU like and are able to get to. Most of us don't have that option.