Recommend a scenic place for my parents to retire to, and why.

[fuzzybabybunny]

My parents are getting on in age and they're starting to look for a place to buy their first house. They've lived in a condo in Ohio for 15-some years. Ohio's scenery is nothing compared to the west or the east coast, and they don't want to retire in a place like Ohio where there's absolutely nothing scenic to look at.

They have around $600,000 - $700,000 to spend on a house.

Things they want:

They can't stand Ohio's winters. They want milder weather.
They hate snow because they're fearful of driving in it. Snow + Mountains = no no
They like natural scenery. The coast, rolling hills, pristine lakes, mountains, etc.
Cost of living shouldn't be sky-high like California.
Should be close to the usual stores for general needs like Walmart, Lowes, major grocery stores, electronics stores, etc.
A nearby, within 30 minutes, metropolitan area with a Chinatown, because they love Chinese food.

Any ideas? I don't want them to spend the rest of their lives in Ohio

Being a nature photographer, Ohio literally drives me stir-crazy because there's nothing to SEE.

EDIT: Please also include WHY your recommendation would be a nice place.

 

[Triumph]

Somewhere in North Carolina. Greensboro is a beautiful area, but hot in the summer. You can buy a mansion for 600,000 there, and not a McMansion either. From what I've seen, they build quality houses in that area.

 

[PhoenixOrion]

Wilmington, North Carolina.

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Hot Springs, AR

 

[maximus maximus]

Plano, TX

 

[BoldAsLove]

San Francisco

 

[dighn]

 

[KillyKillall]

Cemetary? Let's see if it meets the requirements, shall we?

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
They can't stand Ohio's winters. They want milder weather. Check
They hate snow because they're fearful of driving in it. Snow + Mountains = no no - No Snow Underground!
They like natural scenery. The coast, rolling hills, pristine lakes, mountains, etc. - I hear the afterlife is beautiful
Cost of living shouldn't be sky-high like California. Plots aren't that expensive and it is a one time buy
Should be close to the usual stores for general needs like Walmart, Lowes, major grocery stores, electronics stores, etc. Considering how much persistent Walgreens is, I'm sure they're in heaven and hell
A nearby, within 30 minutes, metropolitan area with a Chinatown, because they love Chinese food. Sorry, no chinese food in the afterlife

Well, it fits most of the requirements?

All kidding aside, how about North Carolina? It's exploding right now but still has cheap prices. Or maybe Vancouver, WA?

 

[jumpr]

Originally posted by: Triumph
Somewhere in North Carolina. Greensboro is a beautiful area, but hot in the summer. You can buy a mansion for 600,000 there, and not a McMansion either. From what I've seen, they build quality houses in that area.

I was just going to suggest NC. If I ever make enough money to afford a second home, it'll be in NC.

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: Triumph
Somewhere in North Carolina. Greensboro is a beautiful area, but hot in the summer. You can buy a mansion for 600,000 there, and not a McMansion either. From what I've seen, they build quality houses in that area.

i was thinking north carolina as well. ive lived here all my life, and while im not amazingly fond of the place, it definitely has mild winters, a decent cost of living and nice scenery.

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Originally posted by: maximus maximus
Plano, TX

Plano is scenic?

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

WOW, a lot of votes for NC!

Keep em coming

Doesn't Vancouver get cold since it's pretty Northern?

 

[jumpr]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
WOW, a lot of votes for NC!

Keep em coming

Doesn't Vancouver get cold since it's pretty Northern?

It's on the coast, so the weather is similar to that of Seattle.

 

[Triforceofcourage]

Florida, ten years ago

 

[bennylong]

didn't know NC had a Chinatown. Does haven't a PF Chang count as having a Chinatown?

 

[Savarak]

phoenix, az.... no lakes tho...

tucson, az... no lakes or chinese food tho...

globe, az... no lakes or chinese food, but its quiet and quaint

 

[sygyzy]

Santa Barbara, CA

 

[WildHorse]

According to occasional articles in our newspaper, some of those old folks who retire & can't afford the super-high priced area where I live (Santa Barbara, CA) go to places in Arizona & New Mexico.

I guess they even have some planned communities for them, but I'd imagine those places cost a lot, I don't really know.

My mom has a widowed friend who went from the Mendocino area (California coast) to Albuquerque, NM, and also
another friend from the San Luis Obispo area (also Calif. coast) who went to Albuquerque too.

There are nice scenic temperate places in Arizona, situated not quite in the snowy mountains, not quite scorching like Phoenix. How about Chino Valley, Arizona?

How about somewhere marginal to Salida Colorado or Durango, but outside the tourist & snow zone?

The $$$ they have may seem like a small fortune from their frame of reference but won't buy much nice anyplace, except maybe in the deep south. Maybe a small efficiency all ground-floor condo or a zero lotline home?

 

[bennylong]

Why would they want to buy a 1st home when they are retiring? Don't most people want to down size and move to a condo when they retire so they don't have to do any work and get to travel?

 

[ZOOYUKA]

Originally posted by: BoldAsLove
San Francisco

I am sure his parents would like to retire amongst straight people.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: bennylong
Why would they want to buy a 1st home when they are retiring? Don't most people want to down size and move to a condo when they retire so they don't have to do any work and get to travel?

Eh... my parents are different. They want to own a house because they've never owned one. Now that they finally have enough money, they want to go for it. It's one of the things that they've always wanted - their own house. Kind of like an indication that they've finally made it in the world.

They'd probably want a small garden in the back to grow vegetables, like how they used to do it back when they were kids.

As for travel, they really don't care that much about it. Which is weird, because all I want to do is travel, and when I attempt to bring them along, things just don't go right.

 

[purbeast0]

Aruba. You can find a nice place there on the ocean.

that's what I would love to do when I get older

 

[Drakkon]

scott made a great recommedation in Chino Valley, AZ. Also see Prescott, AZ and Prescott VAlley. All really nice places to live. Close to Sedona and the grand canyon and a LOT of really other neat hiking, site seeing, and so many other things. Its kinda in the moutains but not so close as to where it snows all the time in the winter and remains realtively wild in the summer. My dad spends summers up there and its really cheap to live there. There are a lot of houses selling there in decent spots still for the $170-$250 range.

 

[BoomerD]

How about Hawaii? The big island has nice winters, great scenery, and relatively affordable home prices, unlike Maui or O'ahu. You can get a nice 3 bdrm home for $400K-$500k on the Kona (dry) side, or $300-$400 on the Hilo (wet) side.
Not a bad place to retire. Decent hospitals as they age, only real draw-back is the high cost of living.

 

[xanis]

I reccomend Scottsdale, AZ. Summers aren't too hot comapred to the rest of Arizona and Nevada, but the winters are very nice.