Seniors, do you like where you live? Do you feel safe there?
 

We are looking to relocate. I'd love the hear from folks who really like where they live. And feel safe there.

I do like the Western states very much. I've lived on the West Coast for decades. I don't know how I would do in a very humid climate.

So, to any fellow seniors, how do you like where you live?

I don’t like where I’m living, but I do feel safe here. (The nearest decent size city has had one murder so far this year and it was a domestic squabble.)

I don't feel safe here. The other day, there were two shootings within miles of us within a few hours. One, just south of us and the other in the nearest city.

Last summer, two men knocked on our front door. I don't answer the door and saw them steal an ornament off of our porch. They drove away laughing.

The pandemic has only made things worse. I have to wonder if anywhere is safe anymore...

I can’t stand people!

A few years ago a couple guys stole my dad’s nativity scene that he had in his yard at Christmas.

Out in the country there is some vandalism of cabins that are left vacant during the winter. One of my favorite stories is when I had a friend who was watching a cabin one winter and drove by one day and saw tire tracks in the driveway, so he pulled in just in time to see two guys carrying out a t.v. He called 911 and then got out of his truck and took a baseball bat out of the back of the truck and let his dog out of the truck, too. He told the guys to drop the t.v. and stand still because the police were coming. The guy said, “You can’t do anything - there are two of us and just one of you.” So my friend told him to go ahead and take his best shot. The guy did and ended up getting smacked with the baseball bat while his dog jumped on the other guy. I love that story!

I'm 57 - my yoga studio says I'm a "senior" so that's awesome (membership discount). And I plan to retire later this year.

I feel safe. I'm in Loveland, Colorado. Sometimes we forget to lock the doors. Sometimes I go to DH's jam nights (he's a guitar player) and walk back to my car alone. In the neighborhood, I've taken nighttime walks with my grandson & not given it a thought. We've ... I think this is true ... never had anything stolen in 25 years living here.* There was a rash of broken windshield on our cul-de-sac once.

One price of safety is that "city activities" are an hour away in Denver. That doesn't bother me; Fort Collins is a close college town and has most anything I want. Loveland has everything I need.

*Wait, someone stole a campaign sign from my lawn once. Our block has a mix of political alignment. The kid's dad marched him down the street and made him bring it back.

Laura, I love the campaign sign story!

I'm looking to move in several years after my dog passes - I'd probably move to a senior co-op or condo or apartment. I'm thinking of doing that in that I live alone and don't want to be responsible for all the house and yard work and snow removal when I get around 65 or so. I also want socialization with others to be a bit easier by just knocking on a door a few doors down in a building or getting together with others in the evenings. I'm in MN and do like the seasons and would like to stay here - not looking at a Florida or Arizona senior living community. Right now, I'd be an independent senior, but unsure how that will change over the next 20+ years and want to know if I'm better choosing something with assisted living in my apartment, rather than moving to assisted living elsewhere. Right now I'm visiting these places and finding out if I'd like to live there in the future - current openings aren't available to me.

I think the senior living options are a bit more secure than living in my neighborhood right now, but I'm OK here despite the big demonstrations and damage done to our main streets and businesses 4 blocks away during the George Floyd protests.

my uncle moved into a senior community (think small townhouse) in Ashburn, VA that has security. my aunt also moved into a similar community in Novi, MI. each of them are still married with their spouses also living in the same units. they have their independence and there are activities and services (grocery delivery) to their avail if needed.

they also said they're near their medical facilities - this is an important consideration.

my older brother and his wife live in their own home in Silverdale, WA. but one of their docs has their practice in Seattle, and every so often they have to catch the ferry to the city. all was fine for years until last year when Seattle experienced a lot of unrest and riots. i asked them to consider changing docs, but this doc is some sort of specialist that is in their network of docs. and they like him a lot compared to what's available in Silverdale. WA also has no state tax but they have a high sales tax.

my mother in law remarried in 2010 and she and her DH live in a retirement community in Mililani, HI. i like it there because it seems like a safe community. their docs are all nearby too, so they don't have to drive too much. it's gated with security. it's within the larger residential community of Mililani, with grocery stores and theatres within it. their church was in town, but they have since changed to one that is closer to their home. their town is cooler than ours due to higher elevation.

DH and I could retire but continue to work - kids still in college. we live in our own home and the community here is mostly retirees and some extended family. there is vandalism of cars and break-ins, but if you park behind your gate, it's safe. we had a house break-in back in 2005, but after installing an alarm, no issues. Hawaii is very humid. it's one of the statistics that gets reported daily along with the temperature.

I'm contemplating moving to a senior non-assisted community after the mortgage is paid off and we've been able to fix the house up enough to enjoy it for a couple of years. I'd love to stay in the house, but the reality is my husband can't continue going up and down stairs and doing home repairs.

I'm in SE CT and we feel reasonably safe. It used to be a very safe community where you could lave the doors open, but now people steal packages from your porch, take or destroy lawn ornaments, go around breaking into cars at night, stuff like that. There have been more after hour shootings at the seedier bars but that doesn't affect us. I don't want to leave the area by any means, though.

Alta, although it's a long shot in you/DH relocating here, Hawaii does not tax pensions.:sun: it has ranked as the healthiest state in the US 9 times out of the past 30 years** and has always been in the top 5 of all 30 years. US News & World Report also rank it as the healthiest state for seniors*.

most of it is attributed to social well-being, mental health, and culture of care. However, it is super expensive to live here. if i was retired and didn't need to work, there are many rural and beautiful cities in our state to live that are more affordable than living in the urban areas.

even if Hawaii is not your destination to live, health qualities/characteristics are something to look for in a prospective community.


*based on assessing statewide predispositions to disease; healthy behaviors; the community and environment in which people live; clinical care; and public and health policies as well as practices to improve health care and instill preventative actions.

** according to the United Health Foundation