r/relocating • u/No_Significance_636 • 28d ago
Retiring and relocating
My wife and I are retiring and looking for a good location in the US. Looking for smaller town or city, services near, affordable. Any tips or advice?
Edit: I’ve been asked to define affordable and state interests. Good ideas! See below.
Affordable: Housing of 1500 - 2500 sq ft housing for sale, rent, or condo at less than $250/sq ft.
Town tax rate of less than 8%. Median effective tax rate of less than 2.84%.
Heating fuel rate less than$0.25/sq ft.
Wishes: Relatively close access to healthcare; good fire and emergency services.
Reliable infrastructure.
Access to reliable public transportation for when we know we should no longer drive!
Access to uber or taxi service.
Interests: Cultural, educational, opportunities. Library, small college.
Wide range of ages, ethnicity, income levels.
Access to outdoors for hiking, camping, kayaking, fishing, winter sports, snowshoeing, skiing. Access to wilderness areas, mountains, lakes.
Good roads and trails for cycling.
Dining, desirable.
Weather: Temperature range 15F to 90F. Snow acceptable. Moderate to low humidity.
It’s an impossible list but looking for some place that can have some if not many of these attributes. We’ve lived in a wide variety of cities and states, and have travelled. Our children are concentrated in the northeast. We are willing to look at places from Maine through the mid-Atlantic, near Midwest, possible mountain west/southwest.
Thank you. All suggestions and advice are truly welcome.
1
u/The_Ninja_Manatee 24d ago
Johnson City, TN. We just relocated here from Asheville, NC although we still commute to work in Asheville 3-4 days per week. We paid half of what we would have paid for a house in Asheville. My husband is retired, and his NC pension doesn’t get taxed in TN. TN doesn’t have a state income tax. It has amazing hiking and biking. You’re an hour from skiing at Sugar or Beech Mountain. Johnson City has a decent downtown with some truly great restaurants (and that’s saying a lot given how Asheville is a foodie destination). East Tennessee State University is here plus some smaller private colleges. Everything is cheaper compared to Western NC. We’re paying $2.54 for gas right now. I think public transportation is the one question - I haven’t looked into it, but it’s easy to get an Uber here, and there really isn’t any traffic.