fatbrit

The garden could stand for a metaphor of living in the desert southwest: it’s a garden Jim, but not like one we know!

The idea that you can’t have a beautiful garden here is bunkum; you just have to think differently to achieve it. As long as you do not get too high up, the desert blooms. And gardening can be very rewarding but you have to change your idea of a garden to cope with the climate, just like you will also need to change your lifestyle to cope with the living here.

Other thoughts: $200k should be more than plenty for a substantial castle in NW Arizona, but you may see slim pickings if you want face-to-face contact with clients at non-profit immigration agencies – these are very much city based, e.g. Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson. The non-native population in smaller centers is going to be insignificant. Although if you’re going to telecommute, this is less of a problem.

AdobePinon

Where does he want to go? Vegas and AZ, or does he have other places on his list?

sibsie

South Carolina is on my list of places to convince the husband to move to. The cold climate here is a killer for my arthritis. I'm only 36 but I've been getting progressively worse this winter so really want to go somewhere warmer.

tony126

Each to his own but I think it has got everything, more than happy.

psb182

he!he!he! Sibsie.....thought you loved it here and nobody ever dies .....had 20 of these winters and can't take another especially working in it .....I do agree S.Carolina would be the ideal climate

sibsie

I absolutely love Rockport. I like the people, though my MIL could drop off the face of the earth and I'd be a happier bunny.

Summer here is great but winter I struggle. Mr Sibsie is away a lot and I've found myself struggling digging out alone. I've now realised why nobody ever dies. It's because they've been sucking my lifeforce. I've been getting weaker and they've all been getting stronger! :scared:

Pimpbot

Actually, the local officials claim the crime rate is low compared to how many visitors they get on a yearly basis. But you don't have to try to hard too find a bad neighbourhood in Vegas.

rjstanford

Have you ever been to Austin? A surprising and delightful mix of high- and low-culture, from museums to college art and everything in between. A low cost of living (a $150,000 house is pretty nice down here), no snow, and some really great lakes. Shopping, etc - well, its not NY, but its close enough to Dallas and Houston for each to be a day trip, and between them they've got most things.

More than that, its a wonderfully relaxed place without being "backcountry" relaxed, if you know what I mean. Lots of smart people, and a combination of big schools and the state government makes for some interesting opportunities - in the immigration field as well. More live music than you can shake a stick at.

If nothing else, come on down for a vacation and check the place out. Its a blast! Significantly cooler than AZ in the summer, warmer than NV in the winter time (its 80 degF today, that's abnormal, should be 50-60), and nicer than NV pretty much all the time. Some very nice lakes, too - good food as well. Pretty much everything you'd want except a really good british import shop.

Patrick

So why bother replying? If you cant help let it go, you really do not have to reply to every single thread. I beleive you are a obsessive compulsive and must reply to every single thread, even if you have nothing (which is most every time) to say

Bob

much like yourself huh.

snowbunny

Shhhhh


We have had a population explosion because this really is a nice area to live. James Michener, the author, could have retired anywhere, but chose to live out his days in Austin. It is absolutely NOT anything like the stereotypes of Texas, or any of the other cities in Texas. That said, you would still need to adjust to "car culture" as the public transport is very inadequate and things can be miles apart. Interestingly enough, Del Webb's second Sun City for seniors (the first is in AZ I believe) is in Georgetown, which is about an hour north. One key difference is that Austin is politically fairly liberal, where Georgetown is fairly conservative, and people act accordingly.

If the two of you could handle the cold, Chicago actually might be a good compromise, because you could live in the more rural areas around the city far more cheaply than in the NYC/NJ/CT area, but get into a city with good culture/nightlife/transportation fairly easily. Huge number of immigrants as well, so business aplenty.

NC Penguin

The OP lives in NY where she and her husband experience severe winters with snow so I don't think she wants to retire to some location with similar or worse winters...




NC Penguin

snowbunny

In re-reading the thread, I did notice the reference to "no snow" in one post but the overriding concern in the original post was having a house of one's own with room for a separate computer room and land enough for a garden. Having said that, Austin does get the occasional arctic blast and a bit of snow; we are not as frostfree as Florida, for example.

UJ_99

Austin is nice, and more liberal than the rest of Texas, but still quite right-wing, and still in 'the south'. I don't know if political climate as well as physical, is important to Rete. I was dismayed to see both a 10 commandments monument on the capitol grounds, as well as a HUGE Confederate monument, talking about how brave they were to die for states rights against the oppressive North etc etc without one mention of slavery.

Much as I hate the snow here in Upstate NY, the thought of retiring to a red state (TX, AZ or FL) gives me quite a pause.

rjstanford

Actually, if you're concerned about voting record, etc, Austin is a very solid blue island in the middle of a larger red state. I've lived here for a while now and wouldn't dream of calling it conservative. There are plenty of other monuments here as well - I don't know which one you're referring to, but many of them, such as Elisabet Ney's work, are quite old at this time.

-Richard