The 10 Best Places to Live The GOOD Life

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Emil Frey calls his retirement haven of Mountain View (Stone County), Ark., "a retirement heaven!"

Naples and Sanibel and the other shell islands on Florida's southwest (Gulf) coast are far too expensive for many readers. But within a brief drive upcoast, you can buy an old but still-good mobile home in earshot of the gulf in St. Petersburg for about $5,000 plus $210-a-month park rent. St. Pete does indeed have sloped curbs for seniors using chairs and walkers; you can still get a good meal at Morrison's Cafeteria for a dollar, and the sun is still guaranteed by the Chamber of Commerce to shine 300 plus days a year! Prices remain reasonable as you move on up through Sarasota to Tarpon Springs, report our readers.

Any but well-off retirees are also advised to avoid most of Florida's east (Atlantic) coast, especially the "Gold Coast" from crime-ridden Miami/Dade County and hipriced Ft. Lauderdale north to Daytona and on up to Palm Beach. One native Floridian is even leaving ancient, gracious St. Augustine farther north. He is "... going to Mississippi or Alabama so I can retire without the invasion that's ruined Florida." Inland, in Florida's livestock and citrus areas, there are many delightful retirement communities (some very reasonable — especially the mobile home parks — "... though you must watch out for the hurricanes.") However, Disney has ruined a once-delightful Orlando, report several readers ... and the cane-growing areas to the inland south "... reek of chemicals half the time."

"Sadly," report several readers, "... in much of California, taxes, fuel, and housing costs are prohibitive for folks on a reduced or fixed income." Arizona and other Southwest retirement havens remain excellent bargains if you can afford full-time air conditioning or take the dry heat. Roberta Mauck of Yuma, Ariz. appreciates "... cheap land ... [where] I can live in my RV ... on Social Security. Summer heat (114 degrees Fahrenheit with spikes to 124) drives away the population (good!) and kills everything but cactus .... But I love it here." Is there a parking space near by Roberta?

City Life

Many readers still tough it out in cities—if only to accumulate cash to escape to the country on weekends or full-time (someday). Houston; New York; Columbus, Ohio; the Boston area; Oklahoma City; Richmond, Va.; and other major cities were mentioned only as good places to be from — while nearby small towns and rural areas were often well-rated!

Readers confirm that conventional survey recommendations for "Small/Liveable Cities" such as Sioux Falls, S.D, are accurate; indeed every city in the West (particularly in Montana) seems to be erupting with small, fast-paced businesses (many started by folks fleeing city life — women in the majority). Good-paying office and light manufacturing jobs are available there too if you are "computer-literate."

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