10 Best Places To Retire

Retirement, especially for the active adult boomers nearing retirement today, moves way beyond worn out stereotypes. Today's retirees are no slackers. They may want to slow down and take it easy, but for them, retirement is not a curse. In fact, "Golden Years" may be a literal reference nowadays, considering that may people in the 55 and older agegroup are launching and managing new business start-ups after "retiring" from their previous jobs and careers.

So, with this group in mind, those gently aging, yet highly active innovators and entrepreneurs, looking for the best place to spend that next phase of an exhilirating life called retirement, I offer this hub. Here is my list of top ten best places to retire.

If you like it, PLEASE drop me a line in the "comments" section below, and enjoy! =)

Redmond, Washington is just minutes from Seattle. It's the home to famed Microsoft, and Nintendo of America. Granted, Redmond is closer to the North Pole than my other recommendations on this list, and therefore colder on average too. That is the reason it occupies the # 10 position for best places to retire, but that might be the only reason.

Redmond has a LOT going for it as a community. For starters, it is in the beautiful Pacific North West. That means lush forests, and year round shifts in seasonal characteristics that are each beautiful in their own right, for anyone that appreciates being in places where changes in the seasons are obvious.

In Redmond, summer is great for outdoor activities like golf and hiking. Autumn is beautiful and alive with vibrant colors, again great for nature lovers. Winter is wetter - the majority of rain, and occasional snow, of course fall at this time. Perfect for NorWesters that love to sip great coffee while reading a great book and listening to calming jazz music at a local Starbucks or Seattles best, both headquartered not too far away!

If this sounds like your cup of tea (or coffee) take a look at this fabulous Resort Retirement Community located in Redmond, my pick for:

#10, Top Ten Places To Retire.

Rio Vista, California is a beautiful, quaint little community in Northern California, inland of San Francisco and the Bay Area. This gorgeous community is located in the Sacremento River delta region, with a waterway system that invites watersports, and just makes for nice scenary overall.

Like my pick for #10, this community shares Pacific North West charm, but is a little closer to the equator, making for overall milder climate. This town is quiet and charming, and has a great ambience about it. It has plenty of options for outdoor activities, such as boating, fishing, hiking, golf, and tennis.

Local attractions include the following:

• Dutra Dredging Museum - Ok what is dredging anyway? Well, if you're into it, this is the place for you.
  
• Official Locke website - Locke, CA. - The oldest surviving California town founded by Chinese immigrants.
• Rio Vista Golf Club - It wouldn't be active retirement without top notch golfing, right?
  
• Rio Vista Museum
• Western Railway Museum

Here is a beautiful planned community featuring gated, resort style living built on the same property as the Trilogy Golf Course, in the position of:

#9, Top Ten Best Places To Retire

Not too far from my #9 pick, and a few clicks further south (do you see a trend developing here in my recommendations?) we have Brentwood, California - not to be confused with the Brentwood district of LA.

Why, you ask, is Brentwood such a great place to retire? Depending on what your cultural, geographical, and climate preferences may be, Brentwood offers a unique flair, charm, and history that makes it truly a great retirement choice for those who appreciate the sophistication of Northern California.

Located in the East Bay region, east of the Bay Area, Brentwood is the quintessential upscale northern agricultural town. It's quiet and pastoral, rich in history, yet well appointed with modern culture and conveniences. This town experienced an extreme boom period from 2000 to 2008, resulting in a 200% increase (roughly) in population, and an influx of big box retailers resulting in a nice blend of quite rural living and contemporary culture.

Here is my recommended active adult retirement community for Brentwood:

#8, Top Ten Best Places To Retire

Moving south and warming nicely as we go, we come to the beautiful Central Coast region of California. If you love the ocean and watersports, you'd be in the right place. Moving beyond the obvious, the Central Coast also offers access to wineries, fine dining and shopping, and a special blend of NorCal culture and relaxed west coast beach culture. Between breataking ocean views, sunsets, and the natural beauty characteristic of this region, the Central Coast offers a lot of great reasons to retire to a community in this area.

For those unfamiliar, this area is defined roughly as that spanning between the Monterey Bayand Point Conception. It extends through Santa Cruz County, San Benito County, Monterey County, San Luis Obispo County, and Santa Barbara County. It is also sometimes considered to include the northern part of Ventura County.

The Central Coast is home to the well known desitinations such as Pebble Beach, Morro Bay, Big Sur, Carmel, as well as attractions such as Hearst Castle and Cannery Row.

Here is a gorgeous gated golf community located in the beautiful Central Coast, and  #7 on my list of top ten places to retire:

#7, Top Ten Best Places To Retire

This is a classic choice for resort style gated golf community living, and especially if your a truly Active Adult. Award winning golf, swimming, tennis, horseback riding and hiking in the nearby desert and mountain areas are major forms of recreation in Palm Springs, and this is just for starters. There is a lot more than that going on the Desert, including 5 star dining, incredible shopping (boutique and outlet) to name a few.

Obviously we have worked our way down to Southern California now, which means that cool or wet conditions during winter are almost non-existant, especially in this Desert Community. Speaking of heat, some of the hottest temperatures in the western hemisphere have occurred in Palm Springs. The record temp there was reached on two occasions, once on July 10, 1979, and again August 1, 1993. How hot was it you ask? A scorching 123 °F (51 °C). Can you say Arnold Palmer? That's half iced-tea, half lemonade, cool and refreshing - and named after a golfer. How Palm Springs can you get..?

Palm Springs is well known for its mid-century modern architecture, an architectural style that descended from the German Bauhaus and is well represented in the buildings of Albert Frey (who, by the way, was the designer of the Palm Springs city hall, tram station, Movie Colony Hotel and airport), Donald Wexler, Richard Neutra, E. Stewart Williams, and others.

Home developer Alexander Homes, is credited with popularizing this post-and-beam architectural style in the Coachella Valley, the region which includes Palm Springs. Alexander houses and similar homes feature low-pitched roofs, wide eaves, open-beamed ceilings, and floor-to-ceiling windows. Restoration projects are now being undertaken to return these homes and businesses to their original condition - and if you aren't familiar with the "academia" of architectural design - just think "Brady Bunch"...!

And now, for my resort style gated golf retirement community recommendation for Palm Springs:

#6, Top Ten Best Places To Retire

Moving slightly eastward, and still well within dessert territory, we arrive at Peoria, Arizona. Arizona is a well known retirement destination, for fairly obvious reasons. Warm weather all year round, with the natural beauty of the desert as far as the eye can see in every direction. This environment is perfect for golf and tennis, 2 extremely popular sports among active adult retirees. But there is of course a whole host of other outdoor activities to be taken advantage of in Arizona, such as hiking, fishing, camping, not to mention the option of doing all of the above while enjoying one of the natural wonders of the world, the Grand Canyon.

Peoria is not just a small, podunk town or retirement village. It is a suburb of Phoenix, a large, established city in the South West. Peoria in it's own right has a rich settlement history, established miltary bases, and impressive economic growth cycles that have resulted in nice balance of suburban desert living in touch with vibrant, modern sophisitication.

Attractions include Lake Pleasant, the Peoria Sports Complex (Spring Training facilities to the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners,) Peoria Center for the Performing Arts, and the Trilogy Vistancia Golf Course.

Here is a beautiful gated golf community in Peoria, Arizona:

#5, Top Ten Best Places To Retire

Peoria's cousin to the South East is Queen Creek, Arizona. If you enjoy the idea of desert living and an active, outdoors oriented lifestyle, this could be your ideal retirement haven. Queen Creek is the epitomy of suburban / rural, South West living. This town has roots in the mining industry, and even it's name was derived from a local mine called the Queen Silver. Agriculture was and is a major sustenance of this community. The fertile valley below the San Tan Mountains offered a safe haven for the early Indian communities and the homesteaders who farmed and ranched along Queen Creek Wash.

As would be expected in an Arizona community, residents enjoy about 330 days of sunshine a year. As such, active adult outdoor enthusiasts have plenty of options: golfing, hiking, biking and horseback riding year round are just a few. Other activities include unique seasonal festivals, including a U-Pick fresh fruit and vegetable event that is generally a big hit.

Besides the great outdoors, natural beauty, and quaint rural history and culture, Queen Creek has a long list of local landmarks and points of interest. San Tan Historical Society Museum, Queen Creek’s First School, the town's first Catholic church Our Lady of Guadalupe, just to name a few. But let's face it - the most important attraction of all is the golf course ;) Specifically, it's the Trilogy Golf Course at Encanterra. This golf course is truly world class, and has won awards such as Best New Course of 2008 and Golf Magazine's Top Ten award. Not too shabby for a little mining town now, eh?

Speaking of TrilogyLife - Here is my active retirement community recommendation for:

#4, Top Ten Best Places To Retire

It isn't hard to imagine how Florida would crop up on my list of Top Ten Best Places To Retire. We are such a distant memory now from the arctic-by-comparison (but still awesome) active retirement communities up in Washington that I started this list with.

Florida is great for retirement in general, but DeLand is a really a special city. Again, the reason for that can be better understood when you dig a little into this community's history. It's founder was actually a steam boat captain, John Rich. At one time this area was only accessible by steamboat, up the St. Johns River.

However, a wealthy magnate in the baking soda business by the name of Henry Addison DeLand actually put this town on the map. He bought several parcels of land with the goal of creating a real estate boom to cash in on, a plot that was ultimately foiled by a major orange crop freeze. DeLand founded the community's first private college, DeLand Academy, which was later entrusted to a friend in the hat business, John B. Stetson, (That's the Stetson if you know your hats) and the college is now called Stetson University.

Besides being minutes to world class beaches, having near-perfect weather all year round, and being in close proximity to high culture in the form of historic architectural landmarks and urban revival districts with an active art and culture scene, you can't forget the real reason to retire in Florida - The Golf. Sorry, a little biased here ;)

Without further adieu, I give you my Florida gated golf community recommendation:

#3, Top Ten Best Places To Retire

Okay, wer're getting down to the nitty gritty now. We're down to my #2 pick, and we've been jumping back and fourth from the South West and South East. Sorry, but I have to be true to my convictions about my top ten best places to retire list.

Speaking of perfect weather year round, San Diego is one of the most hospitable cities that anyone could hope for, especially when it comes to the weather. During the latest real estate boom, a common expression to explain the exhorbitantly high priced real estate (which has come back down to earth in many respects currently. hint: think good deals - very good deals) was that of the "sun tax". And I can testify to how beautiful San Diego really is, because that's where I live. Call me biased, but I'm in good company.

San Diego really does have it all. Our downtown area underwent an extensive redevelopment starting roughly in the early 90's and continuing to recent times. As such, many new opportunities for upscale urban living and pedestrian culture have emerged there. We have a vibrant restaurant district on 5th avenue, the historic Gaslamp District, a unique mix of art, culture, and beautiful harbor views in the Little Italy district.

Beyond the urban experience, we have access to exceptional natural beauty both on the coastline at world famous beaches such as La Jolla Shores, Torrey Pines State Beach, and Del Mar. If you're into watersports, especially surfing (yes, there are PLENTY of boomer surfers in San Diego) then you'll be in heaven. Out east, we have gorgeous mountain and desert destinations that are a mere 45 minute drive (or less) from the city limits. The Cuyamaca Mountains and Borrego Springs are great examples.

Here is my recommendation for a great, brand new planned community in San Diego:

#2, Top Ten Best Places To Retire

Here it is, the desitination you've all been dying to find out. The winner and #1 choice for Top Ten Best Places to Retire:

San Diego (Again!)

Okay, so I am more than a little biased..! I couldn't help myself. Here is ANOTHER beautiful recommendation, this one even more luxurious than my #2 pick, located in the beautiful north county coastal community of Carlsbad:

#1, Top Ten Best Places To Retire

There you have it, my Top Ten Best Places To Retire list. PLEASE do me a favor and leave a comment below. Show me your alive, tell me what you like, dislike, or would like added to this illustrious list. Thanks for reading!