Retirement Dreams

Milo Maltbie wrote

campgottagopee wrote

I could never live in town --- I need to be able to shoot woodchucks at will

I get that, but hunting wasn't a part of my childhood so I can let it go. OTOH I'm afraid of turning into a hermit if I live to far out in the country. YMMV.

mm

LOL --- my boss will call me a hermit at times. I have a very social job so when I get out of work I head for my deck over looking the Valley with only the people I want to be with. Cheers

campgottagopee wrote

I have a very social job so when I get out of work I head for my deck over looking the Valley with only the people I want to be with. Cheers

When I had a social job I wanted to live in the country too, but I've been working from my home office for 20 years, and now I want more people around when I'm not working.  I think a lot of people find the same thing when they retire. I know my parents did.

mm

I can go either way with the social aspect.

I feel great being out in the middle of nowhere by myself, and I enjoy sharing the company of others as well.

I know if I lived in a really big, crowded city, I wouldn't like it though.  I need to have a balance between alone and social time.  And sometimes in a big city, you are constantly surrounded by people, but feel alone.  A small town or city can give a pretty good balance.

Milo Maltbie wrote

PeeTex wrote

At my age I can’t see living in a loft style apartment in town.

I have the opposite opinion. It's healthier to live in a neighbor hood where you walk every day for most stuff. That's even more important now that I can't run anymore, and it's even more true for The Woman Of My Dreams.  And there's also the issue of how you live when you can't drive anymore.  YMMV.

mm

Did I say I did not want to live in a place where the necessitates of life were far away? I think if you lived in downtown Troy you would be in your car for  a major Grocery store.
My preference is a place with bike & walking paths where the basics (Post Office, Wine shop, Major Grocery, Bank, Barber and of course Stewarts shop) are all close together and preferably all together and all within 2 miles. I ride about an hour (or more) each day and jog when the weather is not conducive to riding.
 

Correct me if i'm wrong. is this the same Troy where RPI is located?

If so , don't you need a AK47 on your person just to walk the streets?

x10003q wrote

My wife likes the Roanoke area/I-81 side of the Blue Ridge Mtns in Virginia. I am not sure if that would be a worthwhile move. Other areas are west side of FL or Houston. Florida for the usual reasons and we have family in Houston.

Roanoke Airport has almost no service, DIA and Charlotte are the two they use.
Roanoke is a nice town, Salem would be where you want to live. Skiing is about 2.5 hour drive and it's about like West Mountain. There is not much culture there, it's a very southern town and to be a local you need to be at least 3rd generation. However there are two good hospitals there.

I’m having a hard time viewing Troy as a candidate for retirement. Of course I haven’t spent much time there since my HS/early college days. Is Elda’s still there? That place was a dump but I remember the pizza next door being pretty good.

Only some of the street. Where they are building the lofts I would not want my sister or parents walking outside at night.

JasonWx wrote

Correct me if i'm wrong. is this the same Troy where RPI is located?

If so , don't you need a AK47 on your person just to walk the streets?

I don’t know about an AK but I drank in the RPI bars before I was of age and I can’t remember ever seeing as many fights as I did back then. Maybe I was a biased local but I mainly blame the RPI Greek community for the chaos I witnessed personally.

Brownski wrote

JasonWx wrote

Correct me if i'm wrong. is this the same Troy where RPI is located?

If so , don't you need a AK47 on your person just to walk the streets?

I don’t know about an AK but I drank in the RPI bars before I was of age and I can’t remember ever seeing as many fights as I did back then. Maybe I was a biased local but I mainly blame the RPI Greek community for the chaos I witnessed personally.

Brownski wrote

I’m having a hard time viewing Troy as a candidate for retirement. Of course I haven’t spent much time there since my HS/early college days. Is Elda’s still there? That place was a dump but I remember the pizza next door being pretty good.

All that being said, I actually like Troy and have fond memories of the place.

I used to go to Eldas in mid 80's when I was 16.  Never ever got in any fights down there.

Brownski wrote

I actually like Troy and have fond memories of the place.

+1

Troylet

green light wrote

Troylet

Ha! Yes. Troylet and Smalbany. Ah, to be a young idiot again. Those were the days

I've never been to Troy or Albany (only driven through) but I think I'll pass for retirement.

I'd generally like to avoid that area because the thru traffic from NYC during holidays.  If in that area, I'd much rather be farther north like Ballston Spa.  Not sure what the taxes are like there, but it's a decent little town.

Cunningstunts wrote

I've never been to Troy or Albany (only driven through) but I think I'll pass for retirement.

I'd generally like to avoid that area because the thru traffic from NYC during holidays.  If in that area, I'd much rather be farther north like Ballston Spa.  Not sure what the taxes are like there, but it's a decent little town.

Glens Falls is a hidden gem. Relatively low cost of living and a good hospital. That's an area we would consider.

I was going to mention GF as well.  Never really did much there but drive through.

Cunningstunts wrote

  If in that area, I'd much rather be farther north like Ballston Spa.  Not sure what the taxes are like there, but it's a decent little town.

You don’t even have to go that far to find nice places to live but I view the whole area more as a place to raise a family rather then a retirement destination. An interesting asside (I think it’s interesting at least) is that the Albany area population is so close to the National mean (income and demographics) that it’s considered a perfect test-market. I remember cooking McRibs the summer after HS before the rest of the country had any idea what they were. I also got electrocuted by the McRibs’ marinator but that’s a whole different story that might require illustrations.

I don't see my retirement as a "destination".  Just a nice place to live where I'm close to what I need.  I could easily retire where I am now, but to me, the biggest detriment is being so far away the Adirondacks (and Catskills).  We have plenty of hills to the south throughout western and central NY, but they ain't the same as the 'dacks.  The Cats are though - they are really just a higher extension of the Allegany Plateau.  Also we don't have near the public land that the blue lines do.

Cunningstunts wrote

   Also we don't have near the public land that the blue lines do.

That's one thing I like about where I am and one reason we plan to stay here. We're right next door to nearly 10,000 acres of state land and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Can ride sled, atv, horse, whatever right from the back/front door. Finger Lakes Trail right across the street. 1 mile from DH skiing and MB, groomed XC skiing trails, oh and I can ride my Ranger to the gun club for $2 cans