Where to retire?

[pozboy]

12 hours ago, john54476 said:

@CumdumpDadyou have it right about trying a place out before you uproot yourself and invest time and treasure in place that may loose the luster once you live there. I do like the springs but real estate is a bit expensive. Az seems nice but a friend in the past was the State planner and they have some real problems regarding water and other resources as well as abnormal warming due to the built environment. One of the comments mentioned moving out of the USA, I lived 3 years in North Africa and really liked it--it did help that I speak read and write arabic which made life easier but I think that language is less of an issue. A plus is that there are many and I mean many european gay men that move there. Islam can be a bit strict but seems to be enough men that like ass that it was never a problem. I also like Vancouver BC but I understand Canada just put restrictions on real estate purchases there as well. I retired in 2020 and recently widowed and will be taking the topic more seriously, I like Ireland am think about doing a test of New Zeeland. Thought or feed back to this subject should be good. 

Leo Varadkar, Irish taioseac, is gay, an amazing change from the most reactionary to the most liberal country, though rural areas are not Dublin.

[theplayerking]

I’ve known a number of single gay men that bought beautiful small homes in rural areas (Upstate New York, Connecticut, and Western Virginia, respectively) for retirement. Unfortunately they didn’t know anyone in the area and became so bored and miserable that they each ended up moving back to the city within a year. 

[NWUSHorny]

18 hours ago, john54476 said:

I also like Vancouver BC but I understand Canada just put restrictions on real estate purchases there as well.

I've worked quite a bit in BC. Vancouver, BC is a beautiful place with a fairly mild climate, but if one of your priorities is find a lot of casual sex partners that like to fuck, you should probably keep looking. That region of North America, including the Pacific Northwest of the US is very accepting of the gay lifestyle and Vancouver has a decent number of bathhouses, but as far as finding casual partners to do the deed with, you are probably better off in Wausau, WI (I have lived or worked in several smaller midwestern cities, but not Wausau). PNW men have lots of "gay activities" that they are into, but few of them involve penentrating or being penetrated. If you just like the beautiful setting and the acceptance of the lifestyle, personally I'd pick Victoria, BC instead, even though they no longer have an open bathhouse. Having a sex club isn't much of a benefit if no one is looking to fuck.

[AlwaysOpen]

Great thread guys. Several friends and I have been batting this same convo around for the last few years. I came of age in NYC and enjoyed the many opportunities the city had during the mid to late 70's, tho I also missed out on a lot(which might account for why I am still above the dirt and not in it) Spent another 20 years out in Memphis and while it had a decent gay vibe, especially in the 80's, the many bars, and the bar owners, saw  quite a few dying off thru the 90's. I moved to Ft Lauderdale in 2000 and have been here since, but to be honest- I do not feel like this is where I will remain. As others have posted, the Miami and Ft Lauderdale area are great gay vacation and play spots, but to live here is a totally different thing. Most folk living in Iowa or Indiana have no clue the sticker shock they face should they pack up and move here. Car insurance is crazy high, probably double what you might be paying in most parts of the country. Should you buy a house , FL has a weird insurance world. You can usually get a homeowners policy for a few thousand a year, but then on top of that you will likely need flood, another thousand or more, and then the dreaded windstorm insurance which will cost you  a LOT of money. And if you have a mortgage, there is no escaping having to buy all 3 policies.  If you can escape for $10,000 a year just in insurance, you will be doing good.  Another aspect most moving here do not think about, the south east part of the state has about 7 or 8 miles of land development from the ocean in to the Everglades. There is very little open land left to build on, so unless existing buildings are bought, razed and then high rise condo properties built on the tract, there is not much more room for horizontal growth. And all of the infrastructure ,like roads, sewer, and water, were laid years ago when this area had a " season" of Jan thru April, then it went back to being quiet  and sparse for 9 months. The "high rise hotels on the beach were mostly 3 , maybe 4 floors high.The number of sewer and water main ruptures here are crazy. Some is blamed on municipalities not maintaining  their systems, but the other issue is pushing 10 tons of crap in a 3 ton pipe (anyone recall the Contadina tomato commercials of the late 60's trying to pack 10 tomatoes in an 8 tomato can??lol) If you want to drive around, the 18 mile drive from Ft Lauderdale to Haulover Beach in Miami ( the nude beach) can be done in about 40 minutes if you are very lucky, and if you stay the day and try driving back at 5 pm, plan at least 70 to 90 minutes due to congestion and wrecks. I had an appointment last week ,3 miles from the house, at 330p. I left at 3p and just made it to the parking lot at 325. 

As others have written, every area has its own list of issues, weather not included. From visits to Palm Springs, I could sense the area was a ghost town Sunday night thru Friday evening, at which point the inflow from SanDiego, LA, and surrounding west coast cities would fill the city and the gay resorts to the brim. Where it once was desert and open, the valley built up, and irrigated like mad, sprouting golf courses and floral displays where nature never intended. 

Memphis, when I lived there, was always fighting an internal racial battle. Traces of the old south were barely muted. Trendy neighborhoods, often gay centric, were only a block or two away from depressed areas with people living on the edge, or slightly slipped off it. Politics  there, like any other city mentioned, would shift back and forth. But the city itself always had that feel of neglect- and just outside the city, where the white flight of the 60's and 70's settled, things were much more maintained and regulated- but not very gay. The thing is, and this has been the crux of my friends talk, there is really no one place that is perfect. Key West has gotten grossly overpriced ( and straight cruise touristy). San Francisco has a shell of what Castro once was, and to live there is super expensive- and from friends who live there, has become a gauntlet of dodging homeless and their trash and waste while trying to walk the sidewalk to shop or get to work.  At one point a trend was happening where gay guys were moving to east Tennessee, near Knoxville. College town, mountains nearby, decent medical. But again, it is TN, and the politics of the state are, eh! And the area is still well cinched in the Bible belt, and not without its share of homophobic residents and politicians. 

So yes, I am curious where guys are migrating to , and to hear from locals in those areas (s) who know the real dirt on the location mentioned. 

[fuckholedc]

Well, Berlin or Amsterdam are perfect (or nearly enough so).

[hntnhole]

2 hours ago, NWUSHorny said:

personally I'd pick Victoria, BC instead

So would I, if I were going to move.  Victoria is simply lovely.  Semi-tropical plants do well there, given the currents bringing warmer weather.  However.  NWUSHorny's right - it's not the place to find a lot of raw sex.  

[hntnhole]

2 hours ago, AlwaysOpen said:

So yes, I am curious where guys are migrating to , and to hear from locals in those areas (s) who know the real dirt on the location mentioned.

Barring a truly catastrophic hurricane, I doubt I'll pull up stakes again, but I would also like to hear the plusses and minuses of different locations.  I do know a bit about Berlin, and it would be fantastic.  AlwaysOpen is right though - it's costly to live around here, and the infrastructure is laughably ancient by normal city standards.  But, we do have a gay mayor, and that helps keep the fuckjoints open.  

[Guest]

Wow, didn't expect so many replies so soon. 

The bathhouse factor is um yeah, a big factor lol. I know FTL has two, 

I also lean to Florida as I have family in SW FL, and want to be within a four hour drive to visit, but far enough away to not have drop in company.  

I'm currently on Long Island and have about ten years left on my mortgage. I can easily afford to stay here. I'm close enough to the city, the Hamptons and Fire Island is 20 min away.

I would definitely rent for a while before buying something. I am not in a rush to sell my house. There's a lot to think about, it' s the biggest decision an older guy can make.

[Bttml00king]

Interesting thread. Although I still have years before retiring, I know I want to move and retire somewhere else. I think of where often and this thread has good information. The more places I visit and think about, the more I want to retire abroad. 

How should one factor in the healthcare cost/insurance to move abroad?

[breedable70]

22 hours ago, BootmanLA said:

I strongly second this. I had friends who had lived for years in Florida, but as they approached retirement age, they started looking at other options. For now they've ended up in Seattle, but they're considering relocating again eventually to a somewhat warmer climate.

As for why they left Florida they went through several hurricanes hitting close enough that they had damage to their property (they lived on a 26 acre ranch in central Florida). It's not just direct hit areas that have to worry about it; hurricanes can have gale-force winds spreading over hundreds of miles. Lose power to storms like that (which in their case also meant losing water, as they had a well) enough times and you start rethinking a region. Add in the incessant political lurches to the right, and it's fast becoming (outside of a handful of expensive cities) an intolerable place to live.

It's true that Florida doesn't have an income tax. But property taxes are steep, and in many places, the combined state and local sales tax rate can be 8%. Note that of that sales tax, 6% is levied by the state, which means the vast majority of the sales tax revenue goes into state, not local, hands. (By contrast, in Fulton County (Atlanta), the sales tax rate is 8.9%, but only 4% of that goes to the state, while the other 4.9% is in local hands to be spent on local priorities.)

And good luck getting your house insured that doesn't cost you an arm and a leg.

[Webster9]

For those who suggested Palm Springs or Tucson or Phoenix, Arizona, do you know that temperatures for most of the year can stay at well above 100 degrees ?

[NWUSHorny]

1 hour ago, hntnhole said:

So would I, if I were going to move.  Victoria is simply lovely.  Semi-tropical plants do well there, given the currents bringing warmer weather.  However.  NWUSHorny's right - it's not the place to find a lot of raw sex.  

They call Vancouver Island, where Victoria is located, Canada's banana belt. It very rarely freezes in Victoria, and they react to it the same way they do if it freezes in Florida (I've been in both places when it happened). Both Victoria and the city of Vancouver, which is on the mainland across the Strait of Georgia from Victoria, have very visible gay populations. I would consider relocating there if not for the lack of sex thing.

[VersGuyAnon]

Thoughts from those living in the UK? 

[TrashNoLoss]

On 1/16/2023 at 6:59 PM, topblkmale said:

where men are still manly as well as masculine and the cost of living is cheaper

Hell if that's the requirement then come live at my place and be a FWD house mate.

[hntnhole]

On 1/16/2023 at 9:54 PM, KylerIsTrash said:

I can count on one to remain open.

This is why it's more important to consider the availability of pigsex in the area, not just a few existing fuckjoints.  Tubs open, tubs close.  Bars open, bars close.  It's what goes on in a given area that counts - not the venue.  If, as in the case of Ft. L., there is a long-standing acceptance of the area as accommodating to men fucking each other, there will likely be places to do that into the future.  In places that are repressive, and always have been, it's doubtful that a thunderbolt of enlightenment will suddenly fall from the heavens.

There are a number of facets to consider, many of which are outlined above.  If, however, one of you guys figures out where on Earth a potential Garden of Edenesque delights for rawmen happens to be, a lot of us will be there in short order.  I still think we should get some island somewhere, and turn it into a distillation of every sexual perversion, every lovely depravity, all the things we love to do with each other - and make it ours !!!