scrubbedexpat099

Snows in Colorado, and can be cold very cold.

zzrmark

I haven't moved out of Florida yet but we (my good lady and I) expect to relocate to the Spartanburg/Greenville area around this time next year. Her family and many local agricultural type friends have moved up there - the land is good, cheaper than FL, they get four seasons, the Blue Ridge mountains are close by, tends to miss the worst of the hurricanes. The only drawback I can imagine is that, despite not being a beach type, it's going to be weird living so far from the sea, this Devon lad misses the Atlantic rollers trashing sea cliffs.

carcajou

How will Brexit impact the ability to retire in Spain and Italy and have full benefits?

I retain EU citizenship, so I didn't follow that information all that closely.

johnwoo

I feel much the same, except for NM. I like the central Coast, SLO, Cambria. Santa Barbara is out of my price range. My Daughter live in Pleasanton,Ca so I'm here for better of worse,
Could be a lot worse.

carcajou

There are plenty of people who would say California is that climatological and political wasteland (and, I would add, a cultural wasteland), and would never consider moving there.

Moses2013

I also retain EU citizenship, so don't follow that much. At the moment nothing has changed and at the end of the day there are still many ways to retire in these countries. Not relevant for the OP, as they will stay in the US but it doesn't seem to be that difficult , especially Italy. And then Spain also has the Golden Visa.

So, although an American can visit Italy for up to 90 days with no special visa, permission to live there longer term requires proof of sufficient independent income.For most Americans, that means obtaining an Italian Elective Residence visa.
Applicants must prove that they have stable and adequate income and assets to live in Italy. No minimum is stated, and individuals are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. But keep in mind that income from current employment does not count, and this visa does not permit you to take a job in Italy.The required documents include proof of income and assets, proof of a leased or owned home in Italy, proof of overseas health insurance covering 100% of all medical expenses, and even a confirmed flight reservation.

Giantaxe

I was wondering who would fall for posting the blindingly obvious riposte to my comment.

jenninedinburgh

I lived in Sunny Isles for a bit during the financial crisis and then moved back to Edinburgh. I now live in South Carolina. It's a terrific state in terms of proximity to the mountains and beaches. In addition, Charleston is a gem that is very beautiful. Greenville, as others have stated, is also lovely.

The people in SC are nice and the food is wonderful. We do have the odd hurricane, but that only really matters if you base yourself on the coast. If you do opt for Charleston, check out Mount Pleasant. It's over the bridge and a very nice place to live. I live on Daniel Island, which is also very nice.

Best of luck in your search.

carcajou

I am very familiar with the Sunny Isles. There was a bit of an exodus at the time you left. That area was the epicentre of the 2005-ish real estate boom, lots of people found that their property tax increases from rapidly escalating home values + windstorm insurance increases from recent hurricanes, tipped them over the edge financially. Or they were holding underwater mortgages. Or they got involved in "flipping" condos without enough relevant experience and got burned. It was very instructive in that time period to drive up Collins Avenue on a Sunday night and see just how dark all the windows in the gleaming condo buildings were. Plus all the other Miami problems and hassles that just added to the headache for a lot of people. What always got me was how filthy the beaches were - sand full of cigarette butts, all sorts of rubbish in the water etc. You would think with 2 million visitors every month, more of an effort would be made. It took moving to Australia to get me to like going to the beach. I finally realised here that going to the beach doesn't mean flip-flopping through a giant ashtray.

It was interesting to study the demography of it, lots of people leaving the Miami area in that time chose Georgia and the Carolinas, places like Atlanta and Charlotte really benefited from the clear-out in South Florida. A lot of people also went to places like Asheville.

jenninedinburgh

That's really interesting. I was there during a career break (taken due to a long-term illness) and rented a mulit-million pound condo with a friend who was also on a break (wedding plans canceled at the very last minute). We were only able to rent such an amazing place because of the crisis and because there were so many vacant condos at much, much, lower prices. It was lovely - right on the beach (actually Hallandale versus Sunny Isles now that I think about it), valet service, service on the beach. It was truly wonderful. We eventually had to go back to work and reality, but many memories for a life time.

Pulaski

You have been living in Charleston for too long, talking like that about the "proximity to the mountains"!

"The moutains" are over 200 miles away, and if you left Edinburgh heading north for "the mountains", by the time you had travelled 200 miles you would have passed all the mountains and be in the sea north of Thurso!

civilservant

That statement had me puzzled too! I live in NE GA and am still a good 1.5 hours away from the Blue Ridge Mountains.

From the coast of SC it must be what, 4/5 hours?

jenninedinburgh

Ha ha! So true! How fast perceptions change! A 200-mile drive is nothing now!

Pulaski

From the centre of Mount Pleasant to Tryon, NC which is more or less where the mountains start, the route is almost entirely interstate and would take about 3½ hours, which I think is a journey that some Americans would take for a day trip - set out at 7am, drive for an hour or so, breakfast at Waffle House, continue the journey and arrive in the mountains around 11am-12 noon. Then spend a few hours hiking or hanging out, set out to return around 4pm, dinner at Applebee's on the way back, and arrive home around 9pm.

civilservant

Not something that I would ever consider doing. The 6 hour one way drive to Myrtle Beach is more than enough for me come the end!