I've been looking around as well but I don't want to own a home and when a city is listed as affordable it primarily has to do with the cost of buying a home and not what it costs to rent. I looked at Laughlin, NV this year and ruled it out due to the casinos and all the nice apartments were outside of town. My goal is to live where I can walk or bicycle where I want or have to go. Portland, OR is a nice city with lots of walking and bicycling paths as well as great public transportation and a thriving arts community and no state tax. Downside is weather and my old bones are liking warm and dry over cold and wet these days so I'm going to check out Tucson.

St. George Utah is very nice. Tucson is as well but there is a little known city that I am leaning towards.

Wickenburg AZ is an hours drive from Phoenix. Its out in the middle of almost no-where, halfway between Phoenix and Kingman, on the road to Vegas.

Prices are excellent, people nice, weather great. Its hard to beat and still a small city...

No state SALES tax, you mean. Oregon more than makes up for it by having one of the highest income tax & fees structures in the nation. Property taxes are also high, and don't kid yourself..as a renter you DO pay those. One person's paradise is another's hell. You couldn't pay me enough to live in "keep Portland Weird"...But, the city planners there would love your lifestyle choice, so you'd fit right in...

My parents retired to Wickenburg, very nice place.
Typical lot is either half acre or full acre. Lots of snowbirds.
Quiet and safe and you can get a huge house for not much $$$.

They have a 3000 sq. ft. house on an acre in the best part of town, they paid $300k back at the top of the market.
It's worth less than that now, but the house in OC they sold for 3/4 mil is too ;)

They also have a cabin on Show-low where they go when it gets too hot back home.

I really like it there but it's too quiet for me.
Might be better iffn I was older, and even though it's higher elevation that Phoenix it still gets freaking hot.
In the winter it can go from 40 degrees at night to over 80 in the day. That's a pretty good swing, even for desert.

Where would you move to ?
 

I vote Tucson. Retired, I would love to avoid natural disaster. AZ seems pretty benign as far as mother nature. Killer bees?

Comparing the Vegas strip to Indian casinos in Oklahoma??? One of the most laughable things I've read on this forum in awhile.

If I were "in a relationship" I"d be in Carson in a heartbeat.. but I'm in Reno for the social aspect..Carson is cheap, there's everything you need (Harbor Freight, Best Buy ,Home Depot).. 25 min from Lake Tahoe, weather is mild , not too hot, not too cold.

Kentucky does have the lowest cost of living in the US.

What? They have the games, the high class accommodations, the shows.... They don't have the crime, and if you are on a budget its closer. ;)

I know plenty of people from OK are skipping trips to Vegas and staying in state.

Thanks Paul, important point.

Which does come with its own price.

Sid may have the Golden Nugget confused with Las Vegas :)

caught me again Zeke!SmileWavy

There is only one VEGAS. Nothing compares. Seriously.

Thailand. Move to Thailand and forget this place ever existed.

+1

Myself and my 11 closest friends were there for 65 hours over memorial day weekend. Any longer and some of us wouldn't have made it out alive. Top 5 all time weekend.

Don't think Sid is old enough to go into any casino...

Carson City - or, better, the area around the towns of Gardnerville and Minden just south of there. Beautiful country in a low-tax state.

how's the sex tourism working out?

I moved to Albuquerque, NM six months ago. Not as a retiree, but working here has been very pleasant. The weather is very very nice, typically 90 in summer, 70 in fall, 50 in winter, 80 in Spring, very dry most the time. Beautiful sunsets and thunderstorms. The city has a small old town feel to it. Awesome fly fishing and skiing few hours away. Housing can be pretty cheap if you are not looking at the best school districts. The place has lots of old cars too (VW bugs, citroen DS, longhood 911s...). Great for biking and hiking (everybody is out in the morning exercising). Hot air balloon fiesta is going on right now.

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