Another Where to Retire Thread - Waterfront Towns?

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TomatoTomahto
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Re: Another Where to Retire Thread - Waterfront Towns?

Post by TomatoTomahto »

quantAndHold wrote: Fri Jul 30, 2021 5:23 pm My wife’s bestie lives in Newburyport, MA, and loves it there. It’s a beautiful place. I love that they live there because I love visiting. But as far as actually living there, it’s also about 2 hours to Boston to see a specialist. And winter is totally a thing. I’ve seen pictures where the snow was halfway up their living room window. This has happened more than once.
Bah on the pictures; our roof also puts a pile that high by one of the windows even when there’s only four feet of snow on the ground :D

Winter is a thing here, but you come to look forward to it. It just lasts too long, which is fixable with a long weekend or 10 days in a warm sunny place once travel returns to something normal.
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
Wanderingwheelz
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Re: Another Where to Retire Thread - Waterfront Towns?

Post by Wanderingwheelz »

2marshmallow wrote: Tue Jul 27, 2021 11:56 pm
MDfan wrote: Tue Jul 27, 2021 6:17 pm
Wanderingwheelz wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 4:23 pm I’ll put a plug in for the home team- Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

It will take more than what you’ve budgeted for to buy a small home w/in a 5 minute walk of the ocean, but I’ve been to countless beach towns all over the country and there are only a handful that fall into the same category of charm Rehoboth has IMHO. Just to the north, Lewes, is very hot these days too. I’m pretty sure it made the Coastal Living list of best costal towns that came out recently, and for good reason. It’s top notch.
Just don't try to drive anywhere near there from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The Maryland and Delaware beaches are great from September to May. Not so much in the summer.
We’ve heard of Rehoboth and Lewis and they look great but probably not within reach, price-wise.

2marshmallow
I’d discount heavily what a tourist says about any resort town. I’m a local and I’ve also lived here my entire life and without a doubt summer is the best season, by far.

A tourists view of a community is very different than a residents view. Traffic, to me, isn’t one tenth of the concern it is to him since I’m already here all of the time.
Being wrong compounds forever.
MarkBarb
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Re: Another Where to Retire Thread - Waterfront Towns?

Post by MarkBarb »

What about something on the Mediterranean? Something in Palermo, the Amalfi Coast, or Cinque Terra?
Firemenot
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Re: Another Where to Retire Thread - Waterfront Towns?

Post by Firemenot »

MarkBarb wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 8:28 am What about something on the Mediterranean? Something in Palermo, the Amalfi Coast, or Cinque Terra?
Pretty funny to see people suggesting moving to Cleveland and Amalfi Coast in same thread!
MoonOrb
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Re: Another Where to Retire Thread - Waterfront Towns?

Post by MoonOrb »

The Cleveland area is the Amalfi Coast of Lake Erie.
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22twain
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Re: Another Where to Retire Thread - Waterfront Towns?

Post by 22twain »

MoonOrb wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 4:04 pm The Cleveland area is the Amalfi Coast of Lake Erie.
Nah, the Amalfi Coast of Lake Erie is the Sandusky / Cedar Point / Marblehead / Put-in-Bay area. 8-)

(although I wouldn't want to spend the winter in Put-in-Bay. :twisted: )
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Valuethinker
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Re: Waterfront options - other considerations?

Post by Valuethinker »

mass_biker wrote: Tue Jul 27, 2021 7:28 am Also interested in responses to this - less "where to retire" than maybe a second home.

Criteria - within 3 hours of the Baltimore/DC area.
Specifics - waterfront (river, lake, coast (?))
Other - not focusing on power boating etc., but more kayaking, canoeing, paddle boarding
Other part II - good cycling (road, gravel) would be ideal

We have looked in the Annapolis area - not terribly affordable, somewhat densely populated, but some of the rivers and creeks that flow into the Chesapeake are lovely, and the vibe is a bit more rural the further south you go.

We have also begun to look at some lake towns in western MD and central PA - higher elevation, low humidity, but maybe a bit more difficult to get to in the winter months. Have visited Indian Lake in PA and are considering visiting Deep Creek Lake in MD. Would love any perspectives from folks on the board on both. Not sure if there are any o

We have circled the Lewes area in DE as a potential spot to visit and scout around - looks like nice river access and the town of Lewes itself are draws. Would appreciate any feedback or first hand knowledge of the area.

We have little/no knowledge of the Eastern Shore of MD and coastal VA. Nor do we know much about the inland areas west of Middleburg VA heading into WV, where there are apparently places with decent kayaking/canoeing etc.

We have not focused on this as "where to retire" choice yet - but given that we are in the mid-Atlantic for the foreseeable future and work takes us up and down the Amtrak corridor for at least the next 5-10 years, our focus has been in this area. Of course, in the back of our heads is the issue of adverse impact of rising coastlines - maybe mitigated by riverfront vs. coastal?

Thanks in advance for any insight...

m_b
Remember that whoever buys your house has to be able to get a 30 year mortgage on it. If it looks like it will be underwater in 30 years when you are trying to sell (in 2040?) then you have a problem.

There are a lot of contingencies, but sea level rise this century is likely to be at least 18 inches. For various reasons the US Eastern Seaboard gets it worse (the slowing down of the Atlantic Meridional overturning aka "the Gulf Stream" means water piles up on the western shore of the Atlantic).

(the new IPCC Reports will be out this year https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6/ )

It could be a 3' increase. There are some positive feedback loops that we do not entirely understand that could cause disruptions (even much more severe ones).

Storms will also be worse - higher peak surges.

I would not buy within 3' of current sea level. Or if I did, it would be in a home prepared to deal with the possibility of sea flooding. Tiles not carpet on the ground floor. Electricity conduits at waist level not floor level, etc.

Jeff Goodsell's book is an excellent introduction to all this.

Conversely we are seeing just incredible rainshowers. London has had a month's average precipitation in less than 2 hours, this summer. So you have to be quite careful about the drainage around a house on a river. Modern building techniques & styles - by paving over essential drainage areas like front gardens etc, make things worse - we have flooding around here, and I am over 100' above sea level - and it's because these torrential downpours have nowhere to go. The streets just become spillways.

A lot of nice little riverfront towns are going to be regularly flooded.

Stay on as high ground as you can, and certain types of forest cover on hilltops reduce the runoff.
Valuethinker
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Re: Another Where to Retire Thread - Waterfront Towns?

Post by Valuethinker »

22twain wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 2:44 am
MoonOrb wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 4:04 pm The Cleveland area is the Amalfi Coast of Lake Erie.
Nah, the Amalfi Coast of Lake Erie is the Sandusky / Cedar Point / Marblehead / Put-in-Bay area. 8-)

(although I wouldn't want to spend the winter in Put-in-Bay. :twisted: )
The problem with Lake Erie is the summer algal blooms?

The water stinks, and is too toxic to swim in?

This stems from agricultural fertilizer runoff, which is worse for soil presering "no till" farming techniques, and is not likely to go away. Lake Erie is the smallest and shallowest of the Great Lakes but also happens to be 1 from the end of the chain - gets what is dumped into Superior, Huron & Michigan.

As to winter ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake-effect_snow

I have seen the Lake Snow Effect in action. It is very real, and it catches the south side of the Great Lakes.
MoonOrb
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Re: Another Where to Retire Thread - Waterfront Towns?

Post by MoonOrb »

How about Traverse City, MI?
machineboy
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Re: Another Where to Retire Thread - Waterfront Towns?

Post by machineboy »

loggerboots wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 4:02 pm Here're a few gems from WA state. I think it's not a bad state to retire tax-wise as well but someone will correct me if I'm wrong. Cost of living can be high, but it's more moderate out in these locations.

Port Townsend
Gig Harbor
Langley

Honorable mention for Chelan/Manson, not ocean though (lake towns). Both cute towns, though the former gets very overcrowded in the summer. The latter is smaller but more up and coming. On Lake Chelan, which is gorgeous, surrounded by mountains and wineries. My GF has a vacation home there and I'd retire there, for sure.
I live just outside of Port Townsend, and because of our homeless problem I rarely go into town anymore. It was a great place, but now the real estate is overpriced, lack of affordable housing for working families, and the homeless makes it much less appealing. It’s probably not bad to visit for a day or two, but I’m glad I don’t live in town anymore.

There are lots of great towns in western Washington, if you want to be near the ocean check out Forks, Wa. There are the Twilight fans, but the ocean and the Hoh Rainforest are close.
HardYakka
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Re: Another Where to Retire Thread - Waterfront Towns?

Post by HardYakka »

loggerboots wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 7:04 pm
Mel Lindauer wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 4:30 pm With your budget, you can get a really nice place in lots of coastal cites on both the east and west coast of Florida, a no-income tax state. There's also no inheritance or estate tax in Florida. And, since it's basically a LCOL state, your money will go so much further than it does in CA.
+1. My mom lives in Venice and we recently visited her and did a minor tour of the central part of the state. Venice was really nice, tbh, and my mom's happy there. However, our favorite destination was St. Pete. Didn't expect to like it (we were only there to see a concert, which was summarily cancelled and moved to Brooksville, lol. Turned out to be an upgrade, long story and OT).

Anyway, St. Pete was awesome. What a beautiful city. I can't think of any reason not to relocate there other than a 'is this to good to be true' fud. Maybe it was because we were escaping the gloom of the eastside Seattle winter (during Covid, mind you) but we really loved it there.

Not exactly recommending it to OP as we only scratched the service, but from what I saw, if proximity to water, having a wonderful, walkable town/city core with a ton of really nice dining, entertainment, art, history, etc. might be worth looking into. We intend to go back again for a second look. We loved it.

St. Augustine was beautiful as well but the incessant touristy vibe got old real quick. Beautiful city a bit ruined by rampant tourism, at least for me.

As a Tampa Bay resident, I agree completely. St. Pete is a great city - more of a bohemian feel than Tampa. No state tax, no estate tax, great weather, everything you want in a city.

The winters are beautiful and don't let people tell you the summers are too hot- there has never been a day where the temperature has exceeded 100 degrees here. Sure, it gets humid in the summer, but it no worse than most of the Eastern US in the summer. House prices have risen recently, just like the rest of the country, but they are still more affordable than the west coast.

Add the major sports teams, good universities and cultural centers, plus access to the best beaches in the country, and you've got Tampa Bay!
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