Gay retirement destinations

[Stormy]

i am thinking of retiring within a few years and looking for insight regarding life in a smaller town such as Wilton Manors. I enjoy people of all ages with a vibrant gay community and a place where it is easy to make new friends.

 

Suggestions?

[Rudynate]

I was talking with an escort who lives there about Wilton Manor. He referred to it as the Palm Springs of the southeast. He recommended that I visit, thought I would have a good time.

[+ Charlie]

We visited both Palm Springs and Wilton Manors when we were looking at retirement locations. In each place we were taken around by gay realtors to see homes that were available and to meet with residents. We eventually decided on PS rather than WM because we preferred the desert climate, but if you can handle hurricanes and their aftermath, and can live with the bugs, WM is a reasonable alternative. At the time we moved, in 2004, WM did have the advantage of being a cheaper place to live than PS, and I suspect that is still true.

[bigvalboy]

i am thinking of retiring within a few years and looking for insight regarding life in a smaller town such as Wilton Manors. I enjoy people of all ages with a vibrant gay community and a place where it is easy to make new friends.

 

Suggestions?

 

Wilton Manors...An amazingly diverse community. No state income tax and you can still find property that is reasonable... considering. And if you start walking east from the Alibi in Wilton Manors with a dog, you'll be married before you get to the beach...

[bigvalboy]

but if you can handle hurricanes and their aftermath, and can live with the bugs, WM is a reasonable alternative.

 

LOL...and the humidity, don't forget the humidity.

Edited September 13, 2017 by bigvalboy

[jjkrkwood]

I just retired, and have lived in NYC all my life. I thought about a change of locale, but ultimately, at 66 I couldnt imagine uprooting myself and starting all over in a place where I knew nothing and noone. Whether we like to admit it or not, we get "testy" as we age, and low on patience, and therefore its even harder to make new friends. Being old and alone in a new place was not not my idea of The Golden Years.

 

So here I am, staying in NYC and going thru an apt rennovation as my "NEW START"..... Although I can "make it here", I just wasnt sure "I could make it anywhere", so its NEW YORK, NY.....

[+ friendofsheila]

 

Suggestions?

 

Uuuhh..... Anyplace where they have lube dispensers next to all the fire hydrants?

[+ friendofsheila]

i am thinking of retiring within a few years and looking for insight regarding life in a smaller town such as Wilton Manors. I enjoy people of all ages with a vibrant gay community and a place where it is easy to make new friends.

 

Suggestions?

 

I'll be serious now. I don't know anything about Wilton Manors, so I'm going to guess: it sounds like the cost of where you move to is not limiting your choices. Am I right?

[Racketjock]

If you like rolling hills, lakes, a vibrant gay/ arts community, fishing/ hiking and don't mind be nestled inside such a safe bubble surrounded by conservatives, I would suggest giving Eureka Springs, AR a gander.

[+ Lance_Navarro]

I say head south of the border, perhaps Merida, the capital of the Yucatan. You can get a great house with a pool for under 200k and live very comfortably for under $2,000 a month.

[+ WilliamM]

I just retired, and have lived in NYC all my life. I thought about a change of locale, but ultimately, at 66 I couldnt imagine uprooting myself and starting all over in a place where I knew nothing and noone.

 

I completely agree. Even if I was very rich, I might spend a few weeks in the winter in southern California near the ocean, but otherwise: no.

[+ WilliamM]

but if you can handle hurricanes and their aftermath, and can live with the bugs, WM is a reasonable alternative.

 

I would not live in Palm Springs, or even consider it, after such a one-sided comment.

[Bearofdistinction]

I enjoy Lewes and Rehoboth Delaware --- My big concern in those town is limited medical care options

[+ Just Sayin]

Consider Tucson; it's progressive and blue; culturally diverse and a great place to live

[OCClient]

If you like rolling hills, lakes, a vibrant gay/ arts community, fishing/ hiking and don't mind be nestled inside such a safe bubble surrounded by conservatives, I would suggest giving Eureka Springs, AR a gander.

Ah! Glad you mentioned Eureka Springs. Heard about it and would like to visit there. I've heard similar good comments about Asheville, NC.

 

I love Palm Springs but the hot weather in the summer worries me as did the icy weather of the great white north when I lived in the upper Midwest. I agree with jjkrkwood that being set in our ways, staying put can make a lot of sense. One can always travel, which is what so many retirees do right?

[Whitman]

Years ago, I left northern California to return to my East Coast roots, but with a promise to myself that I would eventually return. I've visited a lot, but living there again seems less likely now. The only thing I know for sure at this point is that I need to be someplace where there is less winter (not necessarily no winter, just less of it). A recent trip to Santa Fe and Taos has moved those two towns into consideration.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

A recent trip to Santa Fe and Taos has moved those two towns into consideration.

 

Santa Fe is outstanding. Great community, good food, quality medical care, low(ish) cost of living, tons of things to do.

[Epigonos]

Santa Fe is great and the winters are not awful. The only problem is that it is terribly expensive to live there. About the only middle class consists of government employees -- it is the state capitol. There is a very large, wealthy snowbird population which has caused home prices to skyrocket.

Taos on the other hand does have rather severe winters. It is much higher in altitude than Santa Fe and receives a lot more snow. The traffic is the area is also gawd awful.

You might want to consider Albuquerque. Some of the suburbs are very nice and it is only about fifty plus miles south of Santa Fe. The winters are even milder than Santa Fe and the summers are not outrageously hot. Frankly if I weren't rapidly approaching 77 I would seriously consider moving from Southern California to Albuquerque. My problem is that all my friends and my family are in Southern California and as I age the most important consideration is that my doctors are all here.

Edited September 13, 2017 by Epigonos

[marylander1940]

i am thinking of retiring within a few years and looking for insight regarding life in a smaller town such as Wilton Manors. I enjoy people of all ages with a vibrant gay community and a place where it is easy to make new friends.

 

Suggestions?

 

Santa Fe NM,

 

Santa Fe is great and the winters are not awful. The only problem is that it is terribly expensive to live there. About the only middle class consists of government employees -- it is the state capitol. There is a very large, wealthy snowbird population which has caused home prices to skyrocket.

Taos on the other hand does have rather severe winters. It is much higher in altitude than Santa Fe and receives a lot more snow. The traffic is the area is also gawd awful.

You might want to consider Albuquerque. Some of the suburbs are very nice and it is only about fifty plus miles south of Santa Fe. The winters are even milder than Santa Fe and the summers are not outrageously hot. Frankly if I weren't rapidly approaching 77 I would seriously consider moving from Southern California to Albuquerque. My problem is that all my friends and my family and in the area and as I age the most important consideration is that my doctors are all here.

 

When it snows the sun comes out and melts the snow from the streets and sidewalks only leaving it on the grass. It's a wonderful place to watch a thundersnow.

 

I say head south of the border, perhaps Merida, the capital of the Yucatan. You can get a great house with a pool for under 200k and live very comfortably for under $2,000 a month.

 

More folks should be doing that and retiring to places where dollars go further instead of this obsession with Florida.

 

Punta del Este, Minas, Montevideo, Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay I know it's far but it's worth it.

[jjkrkwood]

Santa Fe NM,

 

 

 

 

OMG, the décor there is so horrendous. Buffalo carcass and cactus, and woven serape.... Fuck NO !

[+ nycman]

OMG, the décor there is so horrendous. Buffalo carcass and cactus, and woven serape.... Fuck NO !

 

Lord I'm crying.....

 

Fucking NY'ers are such assholes....grin

[Rudynate]

Santa Fe is outstanding. Great community, good food, quality medical care, low(ish) cost of living, tons of things to do.

 

It's one of my all-time favorite places. I've been visiting there since the 70s.

[+ Charlie]

Stormy, I think we need to know more about where you are now, why you would want to leave there when you retire, what kind of interests you have besides gay life, what kind of support services you think you will need in a new place,what your financial situation will be, etc. A lot of the places that have already been mentioned are places we considered, too, and finally rejected for our own reasons.

[Rudynate]

The whole idea of moving someplace else when I retire doesn't appeal to me. I love Northern California, wouldn't really live anyplace else, except possibly New Mexico. If we leave San Francisco, we will probably settle in Sonoma or Ukiah.

[+ Billsboy4]

Leisureworld in Walnut Creek (near San Francisco) and Laguna Woods (near Laguna Beach) both have large gay organizations within the communities that are quite active.