Your Best Place to Retire Might Be… in a City

Interesting, i was in NYC yesterday. While the noise was horrific and don't even mention the crowds in the subway, my husband and i enjoyed a long walk through Central Park, saw shop windows beautifully decorated for the holidays on 5th Ave, and if we had the time, could have gone to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. All right there! Upon entering the subway, a woman i had never seen before listed all the reasons why it's better for an old person to retire in the city than the suburbs. Although i'd never think about retiring in NYC, nor could i afford to; i thought this article's appearing today oddly serendipitous!

This is a concept that is very attractive to me. Right now I'm in an active adult community, golfing, tennis, hiking, pool, etc. I've thought a lot about this recently and think that when I'm a bit older and all of these physical sports and the like no longer are that compelling I may want to seek a very urban, downtown lifestyle. Not needing an automobile, using a bus and having easy access to what is important to me. I had done a little research to figure out if this is really possible and the biggest negative I found was cost...cost of condo or apartments in the best areas of a well developed downtown city.

There's another factor that is contributing to the popularity of city living. In some cities (such as Phoenix, where I live), the downtown area is being revitalized with new urban condos. I know Washington, DC and Pittsburgh have undergone urban makeovers over the past couple decades and become much more livable.

I talked to a retired couple recently who owned both a small condo downtown and a cabin in Payson, about an hour or so northeast of Phoenix where the elevation is higher and it's a lot cooler. They stay in the condo when they want to enjoy city life (theatre, museums, restaurants, etc.), and they head to the cabin when they want peace and quiet (and cooler temperatures).

Dave Hughes
RetireFabulously.com

Anyone tried Philly? I think I would like it, but probably not on my retirement income.

We retired to downtown Chattanooga for all of the above reasons. It is a great life however, none of our kids live in the area. If just one of them would move here, I think I would be very happy!

Philly is a great city but expensive, high crime, and snows a lot.

I want to retire either in San Diego or Asheville depending on which I can afford.

Interestingly, many of the places on this list are known for being high crime or are outrageous for the cost of living.

This article is perfect. I call myself an Urban Chick. After I retired in NE Ohio I moved to Albuquerque, NM March, 2014. Unfortunately this was a poor choice; not big enough. Albuquerque has a small town attitude and very ethnic which does not fit with this Urban Chick. I would've settled in the Phoenix area but didn't think I could handle the high heat. So I'll check rentals in all of the places you mention here. Thank you.

New Haven, CT??? HUH?????

No way! I live in another part of CT and just about every day/night there is a shooting there! Same with Hartford, CT and Bridgeport, CT. Bridgeport is so bad we have heard there are areas the cops won't even go to. The only good thing about New Haven is Yale New Haven Hospital and Metro North.

The cost of living in CT is horrendous. They tax you to death and the State budget is so out of whack it would make your head spin! One minute they promised the tax payers a $55 refund due to excess money in the budget now only months later the budget is in a $350 million dollar deficit! How does that happen? Oh, and we never did get the $55 refund! LOL!

I agree with Louise. New Haven is not a safe place to be for anyone, especially senior citizens. I can't believe anyone who has been there recently would recommend living there to anyone at all.

Eaine - I have a kid working in Philly near where the Pope visited. She reports very high crime and lots of homeless people. She just laughed at me when I asked her about Philly as a retirement city. I absolutely agree with Louise about the CT cities too.

And saying that "Pittsburgh" has city housing is not completely accurate. There's very little housing downtown. However, there are urban neighborhoods around the outside of the city, like Oakland where the University of Pittsburgh is located (as long as you don't mind thousands of college kids and apartments catering to that crowd) or the South Side where residents complain about bar clientle urinating on their homes and taking all the parking. Some of those urban neighborhoods are being rehabbed and becoming trendy, such as in Lawrenceville. Some urban neighborhoods have always been trendy, like Shadyside. Some of these neighborhoods have few stores. Many of them are extremely hilly, which can be challenging when snow and ice arrives. When shopping for a city location in Pittsburgh, it's critical to get guidance from a realtor who knows the quirks of each small urban neighborhood. A single street can make a big difference.

Regarding Philly, I live within the city limits and hate it. City services are poor, there's a high crime rate, your car insurance rates will go through the roof, and overall it's not a friendly environment. I have stayed because my daughters were in school and my job is close by in Montgomery County, but I've been planning my departure for quite some time. I can't wait to get the heck out.

A thought on Philly and maybe some other cities I'm less familiar with: Philly has had a lot of problems for a very long time but consider living in one of the cities on the Main Line. There are still commuter trains that can take you to museums and events for day trips and the odd overnight in the city can be fun. Not exactly the same ambiance but an option.

The divergence of opinion on city living in these comments is interesting. My wife and I have lived in the suburbs and in cities in several states over the years and we've come to like the urban environment a lot more. We have noticed less tolerance for noise & grime as we've aged but, would not characterize all cities or city neighborhoods as noisy, grimy or dangerous. In fact, we've found that kind of generalized 'paint it all with the same brush' thinking would have caused us to miss out on several opportunities to live in wonderful urban environments, had we bought in to it.

Our experience has been as follows:
- Focus on the neighborhood (just as you would in the burbs but, usually for schools)
- Choose a city that's recently redeveloped/redeveloping; you get most of the good & usually lower cost
- Don't be fooled by crime statistics for 'the city'; look closer @ the data for your neighborhood/area, talk to the local police to get the real story.
- Don't forget mid-sized cities; they have lots to offer & are usually less expensive than NY, SF, and the like
- If you can find a great urban environment with a university nearby, it might be perfect for you; being around young people is good for you.
- Walk everywhere you can; the places you discover & people you meet will enrich your life in ways you couldn't have imagined.

We have also lived in some suburbs (including a planned community) that we enjoyed but, it's not our first choice because of the isolation and homogeneity of that environment. In fact, of the six suburbs in six different states that we lived in over the years, the typical environment was one where you had to drive everywhere, everyone drove in/out of their garage without speaking to their neighbors, and the similarity of everyone there was stifling. While all suburban neighborhoods are not like that, many (most?) are, and that has to be included in any coversation about urban versus suburban living. You could look at the choice this way:

Live in the city & risk losing your purse or, live in the burbs & risk losing your mojo.

I was surprised to see only mid-sized cities in your list. Yet before reading here, I was already thinking even smaller -- Chapel Hill, NC would probably be a major option (just so much ties us here and I love the atmosphere). But any small city with a university, restaurants and senior capable housing within short walking distance of good shopping is a candidate.

Our case is a little different. More than 20 years ago we built and moved to our planned retirement home in a very rural (almost remote) part of central NC just south of Chapel Hill. We have had exactly what we wanted , but creeping age has been turning my thoughts elsewhere for several years. I keep a regularly updated, detailed annual budget (extends until my wife an I reach 110 years old!). When doing the regular prep for next year (2016) a couple of days ago, I noticed that if we moved away to a place that did not required that WE personally manage or do all the upkeep (house, yard, appliances, etc.), we would immediately have an expected $10,000 annual savings. And most of those upkeep things are quickly becoming problematic for us at 68 (this month).

Sure there are cost implications, but there are more trade-offs too. (No necessary car expense for example.) And to consider just minimizing an annual rent/lease contract with $10,000 in home upkeep makes this really jump out at us. (And we do realize that there are still possible maintenance fees.)

So we are once again thinking along the lines of this article and considering not only Chapel Hill, but Asheville, Greenville SC, Chattanooga TN and many other small cities in the SE. (For various reasons including health, we have already determined that our last years will be in the Southeast -- we can always plan to travel where we want.)

My feelings about New Haven echo many of the ones already expressed. The last thing I want to do is get myself locked into a life care environment where I do not trust the neighborhoods around the facility may become more dangerous in a 5-10-15 year window.

What may be reasonable today can change rapidly, especially due to the outrageous State of Connecticut. I think that fees will rise more rapidly due to the state effect on costs, taxes, etc.

I've lived in CT for most of my life. When my husband can retire, we are taking a fast track out of the state. We may stay in a cold environment, but not here.

Unfortunately all the boomers are headed out and my property value will diminish quickly, despite the fact I live in a small town in a beautiful neighborhood.

My husband and I moved to Miami Beach, population about 100000, a year ago, for the reasons cited above. So far we love it! We walk, bike and take a trolley or local bus everywhere. We have quick access by car to Miami and its airport, Key Biscayne and the keys. We live in a high-rise condo with a bay view we never tire of. We love Miami's beautiful new art museum and MB's New World Symphony offerings. We can walk to both the regular movie theater and the art cinema. We are slowly making friends -- it's not like living in an over-55 community where everybody is like us, but we like that. We feel safe walking everywhere. Our community police officer said her biggest problems are drunk driving and keeping tabs on the homeless population (northern cities, she says, give homeless people free one-way bus tickets to Miami!). We do not have to deal with the summer heat, however; we sold our big suburban home and bought a smaller house in Newport RI and the aforementioned Miami Beach condo. Our property taxes with two new properties are still cheaper than the one suburban house (and as FL residents we no longer pay income taxes). We're thinking in five-year chunks, and so far we like this chunk!