Where should I move to?

[Thumpin6string]

I believe that based on your requirements, the place you are looking for is Shangri-La.

 

[dazmond]

Saskatchewan, piscataway, any old town will do..

As in... Saskatchewan, Canada?? Don't come here, unless you have in your heart to be close to the Dingwall shop. Long brutal winters. Usually hot and dry (and short) summers. Too small for good music scene. The food options are good at least, and it's affordable. The upper half has a lot of lakes and forests, and the bottom half is so flat that if you stand on your roof from anywhere you can see into Montana/North Dakota. In all seriousness to OP as far as music goes, not sure your religious affiliations, but churches can be a great way to keep a steady gig going if you need something.

 

[Justinian]

Came to Piedmont region of NC as a SoCal native of 14 years in 1999.

It's a pretty good area for music.

Fairly mild winters and decent climate for growing crops, but this spring wasn't great
compared to last year.

 

[monsterthompson]

Congrats on the retirement!
This is a question I’ve been considering though I’m not close enough to retirement yet. However, I currently have a remote work job, so…
Looking forward to the feedback in this thread.

 

[E2942]

Costa Rica, not pronounced Coasta

Malaysia

 

[IPA]

We have most of that here, and lots of old people

But it does get 'scorching'

 

[HolmeBass]

Switzerland. Clean, safe and beautiful. I live near Zürich.

Very expensive, but I bet the health care is superlative.

 

[HolmeBass]

I bet Asheville will bounce back faster than folks are worried about. There is quite a bit of affluence there.

 

[Drredplate]

Do they make you learn the words to “Eidelweisse”?

Yes and you must be able to yodel

 

[Wood and Wire]

So I just retired, and my wife and I are looking for a new place to live. We are currently is the Los Angeles are. We had settled on Asheville North Carolina, but hurricane Helene hit that area two days before we were going to leave LA to head out there. The livability of that area will be in question for an indefinite period.

So we want to start thinking about other places that are great to live in. I’m intending to play as much good music as possible, in pretty much any style. Here’s what we’d like:
- Mild temperatures - not subzero, not flesh-cooking.
- Natural beauty - forests, wildlife, distance between neighbors, quiet, etc.
- Great music scene - I want to play and see music of all sorts! Jazz, rock, country, disco/funk, experimental, etc.
- Nice walkable restaurant/shopping/public square type areas

And hopefully:
- Good health care (we old!)


Thanks!

I know quite a few older / retired people in L.A. and it seems to me like a pretty great place to retire / grow old, but maybe that doesn't suit you?

I'd probably consider Oregon, for a number of reasons.

Mild temperatures (it's quite a lot like the U.K. so I didn't miss home when I was there - in fact I'd have been happier if it rained less)

Lots of natural beauty (forests, coast, Bigfoot)

Artsy culture (Portland in particular has a lot in common with Asheville, and Austin Tx, with regard to music, food, nightlife, arts & crafts, interesting weirdos)

Close proximity to all that California has to offer, and Washington etc (heck, you're only a few hours drive from Vancouver Canada)

State sales tax.

 

[Bass4ThePublic]

Dont come to Kansas City lol.

 

[micguy]

Do you have to learn to speak Switzerland to move there?

You have your choice of 4 languages to learn, none of which are "Switzerland" or "Swiss". They use other folk's languages (like we do in the USA), but I'm certain they (just like us) bend them a bit.

 

[wintremute]

Nashville is a mid latitude place with a great music scene - if what you want is to go out and hear music. If you want to go out and play music, there are so many people trying to make a living that the competition for any spot on any stage is fierce.

This was the first place I thought of based on OP's description.

 

[djmay]

Very expensive, but I bet the health care is superlative.

Not as expensive as you think, considering the low taxes. Healthcare is the second-most expensive after USA, but stll less than half. Healthcare is good, however, the approach is different than in USA.

 

[Mastiff_5]

Fayetteville, Arkansas
Knoxville, Tennessee
Boise, Idaho
East Lansing, Michigan
Hmmm… do a tour of middle-latitude college towns?

 

[matty1039]

I'll echo what some others have said. Chattanooga or Huntsville would be worth consideration.

Huntsville is a cool area. Both NASA and the Redstone Arsenal are there, so there are a lot of literal rocket scientists running around.

Chattanooga is a minor tourist destination, so with that there is probably live music. I've had a few friends who lived there and liked it.

I live in the New Orleans area, and would recommend it, but it fails the "not flesh-cooking" criteria.

 

[crucislancer]

There’s a 3 block walkable area in Boise

I think Boise would be ideal, though I wonder how bad the complaining is down there about folks from California moving en masse to Idaho. Things are a little different up here in the Idaho panhandle, so I'm not sure what it's like down in Boise. Don't get me wrong, we were welcomed with open arms when we moved from CA to Idaho in 2018, but some folks are vocal about Californians moving in.

Again, I'm not sure what Boise is like, but I do think it's worth checking out. State taxes are much lower here, and while home prices have jumped considerably since we moved, it's still lower than California. And, there's so much nature here, you can't possibly explore it all. Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks are not far from Boise, either.

 

[Thumpin6string]

We moved from Redding California to southern Indiana. The positives are always green, no fires, inexpensive housing and lots of open country. The negatives are somewhat humid summers (compared to dry 110 plus summers in Redding) and the music scene sucks (probably better near larger cities like Indy, Bloomington or Evansville). Unfortunately, I don't think you can find everything on your list in one place. We looked for close to 4 years and settled here.

 

[antfarm]

So I just retired, and my wife and I are looking for a new place to live. We are currently is the Los Angeles are. We had settled on Asheville North Carolina, but hurricane Helene hit that area two days before we were going to leave LA to head out there. The livability of that area will be in question for an indefinite period.

So we want to start thinking about other places that are great to live in. I’m intending to play as much good music as possible, in pretty much any style. Here’s what we’d like:
- Mild temperatures - not subzero, not flesh-cooking.
- Natural beauty - forests, wildlife, distance between neighbors, quiet, etc.
- Great music scene - I want to play and see music of all sorts! Jazz, rock, country, disco/funk, experimental, etc.
- Nice walkable restaurant/shopping/public square type areas

And hopefully:
- Good health care (we old!)


Thanks!

Ireland?

 

[E2942]

retired people in L.A. and it seems to me like a pretty great place

L.A. county is quite a great area of land
It is definitely possible to just move back from the coast & retire.

A Marine Corps friend of mine settled in Palm Springs.
Anywhere around the Joshua Tree park would be great, in my experience.