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Where Should I Retire...?


Aqua Buddha

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Denver, but I lived up in the Rockies before and enjoyed the solitude of life in a very small town. I saw Denver maybe once between October-May. It was not worth trying to drive down there if there was any kind of snowstorm. 
 

As you want a city though I would say Denver. A childhood friend lives in Castle Rock last I checked and he owns a business in Boulder. He loves being near the mountains, but not so much on being in them.

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On 8/19/2024 at 8:08 AM, Helobious said:

All the people saying they want to live in the CO mountains haven’t spent much time there. Was in Telluride this past month. Pulled into the AirBNB one night, fucking huge ass bear hanging out by the garage, it bolted into the woods when it saw us. I don’t understand wanting to live in the territory of something that can easily eat you, and there’s a ton of them out every night. Not a safe place to live at all. The east and south denver metro make a little more sense. Safer from forest fires and bears, plus the weather is way better.

Yep you would be dead within three days of living in the mountains. If you think black bears are scary, well, yeah that would not be in my top three things to avoid in the mountains. Black bears have no interest in attacking you unless you get between a mom and her cubs. Moose and badgers were far more of a concern to me when I’d set off hiking through a forest or wilderness area.

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Just found this thread. Wife and I have been ramping up the discussions about where we should move, given the dangerous slide of Texas politics away from women's health. My wife has a few health concerns, and we've got a 10 year old daughter, and I'm more and more concerned about their safety here.

 

Denver/Csprings and Eugene are basically our short list. I hadn't really considered the idea of two condos instead of one house, and the wife likes the idea of Santa Fe / Scottsdale in the winters, so that's on the table too (home-base likely still either D/CS or Eugene). Following along for the continued conversation!

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1 hour ago, capnamerca said:

Denver/Csprings and Eugene are basically our short list. 

I assume you've been to Eugene.  I've only recently become acquainted with it since my daughter started school at Oregon.  It has a small town feel, and sort of what I imagine Austin 30-40 years ago--liberal, hip/weird, educated, and mostly white.  It's a beautiful town, and while there are long periods of gray skies and rain, the rain is more of a tolerable mist than a steady downpour.  And the summer/early fall months are gorgeous.  Great if you're into outdoor activities. 

And the only big city around is Portland, which I've heard is a cheap train ride from Eugene.  But I'm not a big fan of Portland.   

It would probably make my list, but the rainy season would bump it down.  I think I'd need more sun throughout the year, and a decent metro area 1-2 hours away.

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1 hour ago, South Austin said:

I assume you've been to Eugene.  I've only recently become acquainted with it since my daughter started school at Oregon.  It has a small town feel, and sort of what I imagine Austin 30-40 years ago--liberal, hip/weird, educated, and mostly white.  It's a beautiful town, and while there are long periods of gray skies and rain, the rain is more of a tolerable mist than a steady downpour.  And the summer/early fall months are gorgeous.  Great if you're into outdoor activities. 

And the only big city around is Portland, which I've heard is a cheap train ride from Eugene.  But I'm not a big fan of Portland.   

It would probably make my list, but the rainy season would bump it down.  I think I'd need more sun throughout the year, and a decent metro area 1-2 hours away.

We lived there for six weeks last year, just in a long-term AirBnB. Your read on it is pretty spot-on. It's not NEARLY as dreary as Seattle or Portland, although still definitely in the PacNW. It's also inland, actually in a bit of a valley, which moderates the weather quite a bit. Eugene pretty regularly gets up into the 90's in the summer, and even hit 100 fora couple of days we were there. 

Amazing vibe to the town, incredibly friendly, etc. I found the airport perfectly serviceable - effectively two flights a day on each of the 4 major airlines, to a hub. So Seattle (Alaska), SF / Denver (United), DFW (American), and SLC (Delta), plus some regional carrier stuff. Not super-connected, but not off the grid either. 

I'm looking at it as a retirement conversation, so where can we perhaps build our ideal house without needing to care about schools. 

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1 hour ago, capnamerca said:

It's not NEARLY as dreary as Seattle or Portland, although still definitely in the PacNW. It's also inland, actually in a bit of a valley, which moderates the weather quite a bit.

I was a bit worried that my Texas daughter would have a rough adjustment to the Oregon climate.  But so far her first year in, it does seem much more moderate than Portland and other parts of the PNW.  And even during the rainy season, there are days here and there when Eugene gets some nice sunny days.  

I told her that the key is to force yourself to go outside in the rain and just get used to being wet (#thatswhatshesaid).  The instinct for Texans by and large is to stay in when it rains because that happens so rarely.  If you do that in Oregon, the seasonal affective disorder and isolation can really kick in.  She's taken that to heart, and she does spend a lot of time out and about.

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3 minutes ago, South Austin said:

told her that the key is to force yourself to go outside in the rain and just get used to being wet (#thatswhatshesaid).  The instinct for Texans by and large is to stay in when it rains because that happens so rarely.  If you do that in Oregon, the seasonal affective disorder and isolation can really kick in.  She's taken that to heart, and she does spend a lot of time out and about.

This was a thing we really noticed; the foot traffic didn't slow down AT ALL when it rained. Folks all seemed to own a good rainjacket and good duckboots or the like. So when the rain showed up, they just dressed appropriately and went about their day. It was awesome.

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On 8/26/2024 at 10:21 AM, crash_davis said:

Key comments from the reddit thread.


Echochamberking
It has a dry climate, the infrastructure is lousy, the area is poor but in exchange you would live in a quiet area with more or less good internet connectivity and probably the best ham in the world.

image.gif.ab57d0791a9a8e9baae5bb9253752824.gif

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Yep you would be dead within three days of living in the mountains. If you think black bears are scary, well, yeah that would not be in my top three things to avoid in the mountains. Black bears have no interest in attacking you unless you get between a mom and her cubs. Moose and badgers were far more of a concern to me when I’d set off hiking through a forest or wilderness area.
I've Newberry seen a badger, but moose and mountain lions are a much bigger threat to you and your pets than bears.
Castle Rock to Boulder is an interesting choice, between domicile and business.
And by interesting you mean dumb, right? Because it's dumb.
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This was a thing we really noticed; the foot traffic didn't slow down AT ALL when it rained. Folks all seemed to own a good rainjacket and good duckboots or the like. So when the rain showed up, they just dressed appropriately and went about their day. It was awesome.
Same for places that get lots of snow and cold. You just adapt and keep going.
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Just spent a week in Colorado and having back to back weeks of 30-something degrees between CO and TX, I finally could tell that 30 degrees in Texas is so much worse. Never once felt cold in CO. Even when it was 18 degrees one day when we were skiing, it was perfectly fine. The lack of humidity is huge.

My uncle grew up in Glenwood Springs and he always said cold days in TX were way worse than the same temp in CO. Until I experienced it immediately back to back, I didn’t realize how big of a difference it actually was.

Only 7 more years until we move to Fort Collins.

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13 hours ago, Iceman said:

Castle Rock to Boulder is an interesting choice, between domicile and business.

If memory serves correct when I was last there years ago he was in a partnership running several Burger King locations. I am guessing he got out of that because I also saw he had some fast food place he opened in Utah I believe. I only saw the Boulder one because I saw him in a photo with Shedeur Sanders doing a merchandise signing/NIL thing I believe. I think his oldest is now a cheerleader at CU as well so maybe makes sense to have his restaurant there. He’s a smart guy insofar as running that kind of restaurant so I would gander he’s probably doing really well.

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53 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

I've Newberry seen a badger, but moose and mountain lions are a much bigger threat to you and your pets than bears.
 

And by interesting you mean dumb, right? Because it's dumb.

Saw plenty of them where I was at. Watched one from afar one day while taking a break from fishing that was destroying everything nearby. Guessing a mother maybe defending her turf. Mountain lions I just took as part of the deal of living there. They would see me well before I saw them. Moose if I ever heard one rumbling somewhere in the forest I was out. No way no how was I getting caught trying to get clear of them. I always just tried to respect the wilderness and let it be. The bear thing though with Helo is funny. They are not looking to eat people. Just steer clear of mom when she has cubs and you’re good.

I have no idea if he commutes back and forth. For all I know he moved up there. His house was pretty cool in Castle Rock though so who knows. Years ago I used to broadcast high school football games with his dad when I was in college. Might should call his dad and see how they’re all doing since his dad is nearing 80 now.

Edited by UpperWestside
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Saw plenty of them where I was at. Watched one from afar one day while taking a break from fishing that was destroying everything nearby. Guessing a mother maybe defending her turf. Mountain lions I just took as part of the deal of living there. They would see me well before I saw them. Moose if I ever heard one rumbling somewhere in the forest I was out. No way no how was I getting caught trying to get clear of them. I always just tried to respect the wilderness and let it be. The bear thing though with Helo is funny. They are not looking to eat people. Just steer clear of mom when she has cubs and you’re good.
I have no idea if he commutes back and forth. For all I know he moved up there. His house was pretty cool in Castle Rock though so who knows. Years ago I used to broadcast high school football games with his dad when I was in college. Might should call his dad and see how they’re all doing since his dad is nearing 80 now.
Where were you with the badgers? That's damn cool.
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8 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:
14 minutes ago, UpperWestside said:
Saw plenty of them where I was at. Watched one from afar one day while taking a break from fishing that was destroying everything nearby. Guessing a mother maybe defending her turf. Mountain lions I just took as part of the deal of living there. They would see me well before I saw them. Moose if I ever heard one rumbling somewhere in the forest I was out. No way no how was I getting caught trying to get clear of them. I always just tried to respect the wilderness and let it be. The bear thing though with Helo is funny. They are not looking to eat people. Just steer clear of mom when she has cubs and you’re good.
I have no idea if he commutes back and forth. For all I know he moved up there. His house was pretty cool in Castle Rock though so who knows. Years ago I used to broadcast high school football games with his dad when I was in college. Might should call his dad and see how they’re all doing since his dad is nearing 80 now.

Where were you with the badgers? That's damn cool.

South Park. There was an area not far from Hartsel that had them called Badger Basin on the northeast side of Spinney. The one causing the commotion was at Spinney as well. I was sitting in the General Store while it was having a field day. My high school mascot was a badger and I had first seen one in the 5th grade. Someone brought one to the atrium and it proceeded to destroy it. That was all it took for me to understand those were animals to just leave alone if I ever saw them again. 

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