best places to live

Do you currently live where you would like to retire? How did you choose your location? Do you want to move and why? If you could live anyplace in the world where would you live?

We are living here because my spouses's job brought us here. We like it very much, but do not want to retire here. I'm always wondering about where the best place for us would be to retire, but I'm not really sure there is a best place.
Our list of priorities (in no particular order); good healthcare, low crime, good schools, car-free, variable seasons, good libraries...

If I was filthy rich I'd live for a while in England, both north and south. I would want to have a garden in that climate for a while. Being filty rich I would also have a place in San Francisco, love that city.

I've always liked the idea of New Zealand and I know that I would be happy there, even though I've never been there! DH has visited NZ. I enjoy Zoebird's descriptions of NZ.

I'm pretty sure St. Louis, where we are now, will be where we retire. Depends on if the weather gets hotter. It's been lovely the past few years with lots of rainfall for the plants at the right time, but this year was wicked hot.

I will not retire to a 3rd world place because I need libraries and movie theaters and theater districts, etc. Sitting around in a warm climate doesn't appeal to me.

Also, I have a real need to have architecture of significance around me and I would have a very hard time leaving this city.

Do you currently live where you would like to retire? Absolutely. A true four season climate (which I love), and all the natural resources anyone could ever ask for.

How did you choose your location? Born and raised here (Canada British Columbia).

Do you want to move and why? Never.

If you could live anyplace in the world where would you live? Right here is still my choice. Once you experience what Canada has to offer, there is no substitute. Sure, there are many beautiful places in the world, but we have everything anyone could ever dream of having, right on our very doorstep.

P.S. If I were filthy dirty rich, I'd live on the waterfront (oceanfront) Vancouver BC. (Possibly the Island). That, or in a turn of the century mansion in the neighbourhood of Forest Hill, Rosedale, or Bridal Path. (Posh Toronto Ontario residential neighbourhoods). Or, in an old stone/brick mansion in Westmount (old Montreal).

Thanks for this thread, as I am actually seeking info about two areas of the country to which I might end up moving for a new position. I would love to hear about any experiences in MAINE or OREGON. The first is in south central Maine, about 2 hours from Portland, ME. The 2nd is in western Oregon, about 2 hours south of Portland, OR :) (Yes, it is uncanny that I have been looking all over my Midwest home state and all across the US, and the two most promising choices are both near 'Portlands' and the ocean, albeit different oceans!) I enjoy the ocean, but Love the Mountains!

This would be a Major Move for our family, as I have children still in grade and middle school. It is likely that this would be a place I would Retire in, as I would want to make a long-time commitment, and I'm in my early 50s.

Please share any experiences - good or bad - you have had in these areas of the US!!

We've considered Oregon too EarthSky, but I don't know much about living there. For us I think it is too far from family, and i worry about future earthquakes along the coast.
Without obstacles (money/citizenship) I would probably have a home in either Manhattan, Vancouver or Toronto.

Southern Ontario is the place for me and I have done some travelling so have some places to make comparisons. I don't want hot or third world but love four seasons, access to quality theatre and art plus good gardening for a steady food supply with adequate water and wood for heat to supply our needs.

i want to be a little nomadic for a while. like, spend a few months in scotland, spend a few in costa rica, a few more in montana, a few in new york.

right now i'm in pittsburgh mostly because my grandma needs me, and my fiancee owns a home and has a job here. but neither of us wants to be here for the long haul. it's a nice enough town, but i feel like i've been here long enough. our long term plan is to build location independent businesses and explore a bit.

Where would I want to be? Any place without snow. No, make that some place without so much wind. We're seriously considering the full time RV life for a couple years, but that's in the future.
Being close enough to family is very important to us, so we'll land wherever the kids do, or in between. Most likely some place with snow...and wind.

Kansas is a great place to raise kids! Salt of the earth people, I love 'em!

I can't wait to move to a cohousing community. Considering these: Puget Sound area (where we are now - several to choose from), Boulder (I am a 4th generation Coloradoan; and there are several cool ones. My top 2 are Wild Sage & Harmony Village in Golden), or Santa Fe. Retirement into a multi-generational cohousing neighborhood is my ideal. Affordability is key for us, as we need to wait till housing prices go up a bit as we're on the edge of being underwater in our current place, and would like to have a down payment from selling it!