Recommend a beach town for retirement...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like Bethany and Lewes. I don't understand the hate.

Me, either. Bethany doesn't have bars, really, so it keeps the most obnoxious behavior away. You can go to Rehoboth, Dewey, or OC for that. Otherwise, it's very family oriented. Quaint little shops, nice people, easygoing lifestyle. Perhaps Lewes is similar?

We're retiring to Rehoboth Beach. All three of these towns - Bethany, Lewes, and RB - have large retiree populations. I prefer RB because it is the largest (wow, 1500 families or something) but seriously is not as quiet as the others. Seems more like a real small town, with lots of community activities and non-profits year-round, ability to get all you need in-town, an easy walk or bike ride, yet even more resources on Rt. 1, right out of town. They all have a lot of DC / DMV retirees. See which suits your taste. RB is the most expensive, though. Lewes may have a CCRC - more full scale retirement, older living complexes, which is not what we'll want until we're closer to 80, 25+ years from now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about a town on the Eastern Shore? Any recommendations?

Easton is a real town and a very nice one too. St. Michaels is also great, but it is much smaller in terms of stores/restaurants/businesses. It's a pretty high-end area too, with lots of wealthy people. There are hospitals there too (Easton).

Lovely places but really shitty in winter.

My inlaws retired to lewes, DE. Can't beat the taxes. My parents winter in Naples and I've fallen in love with it!

A lot of Delaware beach retirees spend January & February in FL or travelling elsewhere. Those are really the only two "blah" months, although there is much more going on (in Rehoboth at least) than there was 10 years ago. We intend to trade our home for much of the summer and live in Europe or elsewhere. Lots of ways to do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are your politics? Wilmington, NC is a nice small metropolitan area with lots of great smaller beach towns, but I could not stomach living in North Carolina right now because of the awful political scene.

This is silly. Spend any amount of time in NC and you will see the political scene is neither awful nor an influence on your daily life.

The political scene can have an influence on people's daily lives. I have kids in schools in North Carolina. Lots of first-year teachers, teachers moving in and out, cuts in programs. If you are in need of any social services, there are much fewer here than up north. The state Medicaid system sucks. And HB2 removed the right to sue in any NC state court for discrimination. But the weather's nice and the homes are cheap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about a town on the Eastern Shore? Any recommendations?

Easton is a real town and a very nice one too. St. Michaels is also great, but it is much smaller in terms of stores/restaurants/businesses. It's a pretty high-end area too, with lots of wealthy people. There are hospitals there too (Easton).

We recently visited friends in Easton and I loved it. It also has the benefit of being a year round town with a decent amount going on. It also seems like the kind of place where there are enough year rounders that you could get integrated into the community there. We have a beach house in a much more seasonal town and it is too quiet for me in the off season.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like Bethany and Lewes. I don't understand the hate.

Me, either. Bethany doesn't have bars, really, so it keeps the most obnoxious behavior away. You can go to Rehoboth, Dewey, or OC for that. Otherwise, it's very family oriented. Quaint little shops, nice people, easygoing lifestyle. Perhaps Lewes is similar?

We're retiring to Rehoboth Beach. All three of these towns - Bethany, Lewes, and RB - have large retiree populations. I prefer RB because it is the largest (wow, 1500 families or something) but seriously is not as quiet as the others. Seems more like a real small town, with lots of community activities and non-profits year-round, ability to get all you need in-town, an easy walk or bike ride, yet even more resources on Rt. 1, right out of town. They all have a lot of DC / DMV retirees. See which suits your taste. RB is the most expensive, though. Lewes may have a CCRC - more full scale retirement, older living complexes, which is not what we'll want until we're closer to 80, 25+ years from now.

I like Rehoboth, too. LGBT community is strong there, which is a big plus. It's too expensive for us to consider, though.

[Anonymous]

Annapolis area. I will admit that it will be cold in the winter but the summer months are fine. Plus you are still close to really good medical services, malls, grocery and close enough for arts/plays/music in DC and Baltimore, plus near a major airport. Or over the Bridge in Easton area. I would choose a waterfront community with an established beach, marina, pool around Annapolis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We retire in five years. We already have our home. Ponte Vedra (Nocatee), Florida (not far from Jax and St. Augustine). We lived there for 6 years and loved everything about it.

+1

[Anonymous]

bump

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lewis, Delaware! I guess it depends on your definition of affordable, but it's a great town.

Traffic sucks! Unless you have beach access, it's hard to actually go to the beach and park. The Cape is kinda gross for swimming and the beach is rough.

The Delaware beaches are just so gross and also full of ratchet people from Maryland. Gross.

"Ratchet people"? Was that a typo? Wretched? Or a new term that I've never heard of?

It's a term that ratchet people use to pretend they are better than that.

I'm sorry, but retiring in a Maryland beach town full of retired mechanics from Glen Burnie and secretaries from Waldorf is not my idea of a good time. The weather isn't good, the beach isn't nice, and in the summer you get even more riff-raff from Ocean City.

Bethany and Lewes do not attract the Ocean City crowd as someone who has spent time in both in season and off season.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just started thinking about this. Would prefer not to be surrounded by similarly situated old and aging. Prefer not Florida. Are there any great beach towns where homes are still relatively affordable and where my kids and grandkids would love to spend a lot of time?

Algarve

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about a town on the Eastern Shore? Any recommendations?

Easton is a real town and a very nice one too. St. Michaels is also great, but it is much smaller in terms of stores/restaurants/businesses. It's a pretty high-end area too, with lots of wealthy people. There are hospitals there too (Easton).

Lovely places but really shitty in winter.

My inlaws retired to lewes, DE. Can't beat the taxes. My parents winter in Naples and I've fallen in love with it!

I love it here in Winter. Christmas in St Michaels, gingerbread displays etc. I like getting all four seasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Annapolis area. I will admit that it will be cold in the winter but the summer months are fine. Plus you are still close to really good medical services, malls, grocery and close enough for arts/plays/music in DC and Baltimore, plus near a major airport. Or over the Bridge in Easton area. I would choose a waterfront community with an established beach, marina, pool around Annapolis.

Sounds interesting. Any names of communities with these attributes?

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry, but retiring in a Maryland beach town full of retired mechanics from Glen Burnie and secretaries from Waldorf is not my idea of a good time. The weather isn't good, the beach isn't nice, and in the summer you get even more riff-raff from Ocean City.

Said the person who probably couldn’t afford a vacation home or retirement home there, and clearly has not soent enough time there to be familiar with with some of the beautiful communities, many with multi-million dollar homes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like Bethany and Lewes. I don't understand the hate.

Me, either. Bethany doesn't have bars, really, so it keeps the most obnoxious behavior away. You can go to Rehoboth, Dewey, or OC for that. Otherwise, it's very family oriented. Quaint little shops, nice people, easygoing lifestyle. Perhaps Lewes is similar?

We're retiring to Rehoboth Beach. All three of these towns - Bethany, Lewes, and RB - have large retiree populations. I prefer RB because it is the largest (wow, 1500 families or something) but seriously is not as quiet as the others. Seems more like a real small town, with lots of community activities and non-profits year-round, ability to get all you need in-town, an easy walk or bike ride, yet even more resources on Rt. 1, right out of town. They all have a lot of DC / DMV retirees. See which suits your taste. RB is the most expensive, though. Lewes may have a CCRC - more full scale retirement, older living complexes, which is not what we'll want until we're closer to 80, 25+ years from now.

This! We also may retire to 2nd home in Rehoboth. At least for a few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are your politics? Wilmington, NC is a nice small metropolitan area with lots of great smaller beach towns, but I could not stomach living in North Carolina right now because of the awful political scene.

This is silly. Spend any amount of time in NC and you will see the political scene is neither awful nor an influence on your daily life.

New poster here- not my experience. Very conservative.