best places to live

[cancunkid]

I have recently decided that I need to move my mother to a warmer climate. We have family scattered all over the SE. Pretty much from Corpus Cristi to Punta Gorda we have relatives. I was wondering if you all would mind giving opinions on where you live. A couple of areas different family members are in favor of are Fairhope, AL, Eufala, AL and St. Mary's GA. As you can tell we would prefer somewhere small, under 50000. I am not just curious about weather but more culture and just generally how people feel about a place. Especially if you weren't raised there.

[azsnowman]

WELL.....if you like the mountains, a fairly mild winter, summers that aren't BLAZING HOT, a population of 39,000 year round, then Pinetop Az. is the place! We're 180 miles NE of Phoenix, 120 miles E of Flagstaff. I've lived here 39 years off and on, I've traveled ALL over the world and this IS the place for me......and some 20,000 part time summer residents.

Dennis

[TexasStooge]

Me and my family visited Honey Grove, TX (Fannin County) near the Red River during the Christmas Holiday, the town has a population of nearly 2,000; and it's a beautiful country town.

The weather sometimes gets stormy there during the summer, but overall, the weather is beautiful there.

[nholley]

Austin TX. Nowhere better to live, good job market etc.

[Brent]

There's rednecks all over down here...

You've been warned.

[breeze]

There's rednecks all over down here...

You've been warned.

Now, Brent - you know better 'n 'nat.....

[chicagopizza]

Well, it's a bigger town, but I've never met nicer people than here in Savannah. It's around an hour from St. Mary's. When they held the G8 here, they were showing a woman on the news -completely out of her element- serving food and drinks to protesters. They found out she was not paid to do this and asked why. When interviewed, she said "Honey, I may not agree with them, but they deserve a good meal and hospitality." Those are the type of people you find here, for the most part. Wonderful people who make you feel at home even though you are an outsider. I get teased about being a Yankee once in a while , but I don't mind! Although, having to move with my husband for his job, my favorite place is wherever he is.

[cajungal]

My dream place to live would probably be Destin, Florida. If I was loaded with money only because the cost of living is so expensive down there. But, the only pain would have to be worrying about the threat of hurricanes every year. I am a beach person for sure. I never did care for the mountains that much. That are pretty and I love the scenery, and I guess if I was born and raised there, it would be fine. But, I never been much on cold winters.

[pojo]

My hometown... The Appleton, WI area is amazing, job market is rather good, the climate isn't really that bad... yes, there is snow, however, it goes away in a few short months. We have all 4 seasons... football, construction, snow and spring... (just kidding, fall, summer, winter, spring) I've grown up here and its surely a place where you can trust everyone... we have all the stuff that a big city would, however, you still have the small town feel.

[jasons2k]

I've lived in Tampa, Savannah, Birmingham, and just about every place in Texas.

The nicest people in the world are in Lubbock, Texas. The only thing about it is the location, but if you want to be isolated from any big cities it's great. 1/2 a day from the mountains too. It has about 200,000 people but you would never know it. The city itself is the entire metro area. No traffic, almost no crime, clean air, lots of culture (it has Texas Tech), and plenty to do, but it has a very "small town" feel. It also has the most restuarants and churches per capita in the state. When I went to college there it was #4 in places rated in Money Magazine.

I currently live in Spring, Texas. I love it here, but it is part of the Houston metro area.

I would highly suggest looking at Kerrville, TX and Fredericksburg, TX in the Hill Country. Beautiful scenery and friendly people. Many people in Texas rate those places at top "dream locations" to move to "someday". Hope this helps. There are a lot of websites with info. on these two places.

[cancunkid]

Thank you all. You have given me many places to look into. I think one of my favorite things is everyone seems to be pretty happy where they are. My Mother and I are going to take off a couple of weeks this winter and check out some places then again in the spring. LOL of course some places are going to look a lot better in winter some in spring! Anyone else want to throw in your two cents I would appreciate it.

Actually my Mother has now decided maybe being around family isn't so important one of her first areas she wants to go to is Green Valley AZ where she has some friends. She went to school for a while in NM and AZ so has fond memories of the area. Obviously we can't go visit most of our relatives on the Gulf coast except to do clean up which we are already planning to go down for Thanksgiving.

Keep those reviews coming

[azsnowman]

GV is a nice place "IF" you like to broil in the summer! I haven't been to GV in a LOOOOOONG time (17 years) and from what I've heard, it's GROWN big TIME! I love Southern Az. in the winter!

Dennis

[GrimReaper]

Grim recommends: St. Augustine, Florida!!!

The oldest city in the USA!!! Beautiful beaches, gorgeous little city, wonderful rural areas. Very up and coming area.. although getting expensive. Pretty good job market.

Check it out!!

[Skywatch_NC]

If you enjoy the daily hassles of speed demon driving come to Raleigh!!

Eric

[Aslkahuna]

If your Mother likes the area around Green Valley AZ (which is a tad pricey) then maybe popping over to Patagonia (really small rural town) or Sonoita in AZ's Serengeti (and the wine Country of AZ) might be good and still close enough to Tucson for the University and all of the Festivals, etc. The Fiesta de los Vaqueros Rodeo is a huge event every February in Tucson and the Parade is the largest non mechanized parade in the Country. Sonoita also gets a bit of snow in the Winter which is evident though not horribly cold.

Steve

[streetsoldier]

Well, an old HS friend of mine heartily recommends "Lost Causes", New Mexico...especially if you want to find and rebuild/restore an old classic (the area is full of sun-dry "junkers" waiting for a magic touch!).

FI, Coppertop's dream car is a 1949 Buick Roadmaster with "cruiserline ventiports" and "Dynaflow" transmission; my friend found THREE of them within ten miles of his home!

[cancunkid]

Ugh I am being tortured! I was so ready for no humidity of the desert southwest when my Mother reminded me our relatives all live in the southeast! So once again I am looking anywhere from North Carolina South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama probably. Southern Florida is unlikely because evacuating with 6 cats would be a strain that distance since I think all south florida is at risk having just finished Killer 'Cane. Gulf coast of Mississippi is off limits for obvious reasons currently although I used to enjoy it a great deal I didn't really care for it as much with the casinos. Mom wants something in the small town mode. I figure anything under about 50,000 should be good. Currently live in a county of around 250,000. But really thank you for all the ideas at least I am taking some vacation time to visit all of these places

[wxmann_91]

If you want beaches and oceans without having to deal with hurricanes, then southern California would be the place. Beautiful scenery here, and nice weather. But the bad thing is that everything is more expensive here and that the water is COLD.

[cancunkid]

Thank you for all your responses. After studying housing costs I have about decided that Mom needs to stay put. I think if she doesn't like snow well that is what all the rest of my family is for....visiting when the weather is cold. When it is hot here I guess it is my brother in SoCal because my sister in Chicago had the worst of the heat this summer in our family. I am going to have to visit some of the places mentioned though since they sound so nice. With my cheap housing here I can still afford to travel. I guess if you live in paradise you would never want to travel so that is why it costs more.

Thanks again everyone for the thought you put into your responses. I have spent the last week with every Sperling's best places website and about 8 books on retirement deciding maybe travel is the way to go.

[JQ Public]

Raleigh, NC. The best in the south