Looking to retire to Midwest uni/college town

Bum bum boomer ?‍? wrote:

Why not just not be a bum? Boomers are bums

Just keep eating your avocado toast, MILLENIAL!

I live in Madison it’s awesome. From dc, Madison is better in every way except sometimes too cold. I even like dc

I ride in the winter here and can confirm that Madison bike trails are actually plowed better than the roads. Fucking hippies

I grew up there and lived there until 2011. So don’t claim you know more about C-U than I do.

Boulder bro wrote:

Boulder

Boulder

I suggest Kalamazoo, Michigan, the home of Western Michigan University. Having lived in both Kalamazoo and Ann Arbor, I would say that Kalamazoo is similar to Ann Arbor in many ways (i.e., cultural offerings, progressive politics, a good health care system, etc.), but the cost of housing is much lower. Kalamazoo does get more snow than Ann Arbor, but the summers are great (maybe 2 weeks of temperatures above 90). There are also many good places to run in Kalamazoo—such as the Kal-Haven Trail State Park, a former railroad bed that goes 33 miles from Kalamazoo to Lake Michigan.

As a retiree, you probably don't have school-age children, but another advantage of living in Kalamazoo is that every K-12 graduate of the Kalamazoo Public Schools gets a free college education at an in-state school (e.g., University of Michigan, Michigan State, Wayne State, Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan, Northern Michigan, Grand Valley State, Oakland University, Ferris State, etc.). This generous gift has been funded, in perpetuity, by a group of anonymous donors.

Overall, except for the winter months, I think Kalamazoo would be a great place to retire.

O grew up in southern California and not sure I will go back even in retirement even though I can afford the pricing cost of living. Visited Oberlin this summer with my wife (relative at the conservancy) and it is nice but insanely small. Ann Arbor is nice but really not on par with Madison based on the numerous conversations with people from there. Madison, has a great bicycling area (Platinum level awarded again last week) with many many miles of urban and exurban trails. It also has things like The Arb and Picnic Point right next to campus. Madison gets a bit less snow than many would think (less than 50") but it stays around more in the middle of winter.

As for weather, you buy warm coats, sweaters, running gear, and rarely every worry about ice; there is also no lake-effect snow, and the local lakes provide nice views and recreation winter and summer. And, the Zimmer course has a great nighttime XC skiing layout, and there are several downhill skiing areas close, even if they have pretty modest vertical drops. Because it is at the edge of the 'driftless zone' (i.e., edge of last glaciation) the terrain is more interesting than any of the other locations with lots of hills and woods. Madison was almost the only place in the Midwest that I would have moved to and it has turned out a fair bit better than I thought.

Northfield, MN tops lists for retirees all the time. Home of St Olaf and Carleton.

Remember that when someone touts 'progressive' politics in a particular place he really means 'reactionary' politics as in before the year 1800.

The 'progress' is toward more and more of your life decisions being siphoned to the government as it always was before the last two centuries and continues to be in most of the world.

Pick a place where you can afford a house, direct your kids' education, actually exercise your constitutional freedoms and be free to speak your mind and maybe have something other than one party rule as in MA, CA, MD, DC, IL.....

You do know that there are other places besides Division I college towns? Plenty of little Division III & NAIA towns here in the "Midwest".

A bit south of the true Midwest but has anyone mentioned Lexington, KY?

Western KY Univ has excellent running places and the countryside is beautiful.

And it’s far enough south to have a Waffle House.

madison

milwaukee---not a great college feel but an awesome city

definitely not Champaign

Carbondale, IL. University town but still has a lot of other stuff going for it. Summers can be hot but the winters are mild for the Midwest.

C-U rocks. Live in Mahomet about 12 miles away. Run in Lake of the Woods.

Chambana wrote:

C-U rocks. Live in Mahomet about 12 miles away. Run in Lake of the Woods.

Overall, LRCs seem to favor Madison, but glad to hear a positive for the C-U area since the posts have been nays.

Besides lake in the woods which as you say is 12 miles out side of the dumpster. Please provide examples as others have done as to why c-u rocks

Bluegrassass wrote:

A bit south of the true Midwest but has anyone mentioned Lexington, KY?

Western KY Univ has excellent running places and the countryside is beautiful.

And it’s far enough south to have a Waffle House.

Western Ky is in Bowling Green. Lexington is a nice city, but property values have shot up (by Kentucky standards) over the last several years. There are several Waffle Houses in town, plus the Ho.

I don't see the attraction with Asheville. It's hilly as heck making running, cycling and golfing a major chore for even the fittest of younger people. For most of the year, it's incredibly hot and humid and your not immune from your garden variety hill jacks. UNCA athletics are a joke and the tourists would likely drive you nuts. I'd say most of the same thing with Knoxville, but at least you'd get to see the SEC east power teams play UT there.

Why on earth anyone would want to live in Granville is beyond me. Why not just live in Hilliard, Powell, Reynoldsburg, or Worthington? Oberlin, Ohio is a joke. The college is cloud coo coo land and their athletics would clearly not be of any interest whatsoever. You'd get a better taste of cultural events in Playhouse Square or Wade Oval. You'd be better off living by University Circle or even in one of the southern (Brecksville, Independence, Strongsville) or western suburbs (Rocky River, Bay, Westlake, Fairview Park) to avoid the snowbelt.

To each their own, but if you want legit info on Ohio, then FW would not be your best bet.

*you're not immune