Which southern metro would you like to retire in?

[krazeeboi]

^I don't think it is. I believe I read about it in a ranking of retirement destinations by MSN, that's why I mentioned it.

[krazeeboi]

Speaking of retirement in the South, check out this website: RetireSouth

[charlotte_bon_vivant]

I picked Jacksonville because I really have my heart set on retiring in St. Marys, GA. It's so beautiful there. It's a 30 min. drive from Jax and considered part of the Jax metro area.

[Aporkalypse]

Sarasota, FL or Naples/Ft Myers, FL

[bobliocatt]

Either someplace like South Beach or St. Petersburg.

[ATLBrain]

Hey, somebody is manipulating the poll. After I registered my vote... and it was tallied, I came back later and it asked me for my vote again. Is somebody playing with the votes?

[alon504]

none of those listed....

[RiverwoodCLT]

Retired in Charlotte, NC

donn't wnt to more have friends and medical care I need here in Charlotte.

[NcSc74]

Its probably the Triad or Charlotte it is a dead heat right now. the Fed EX hub is inline with my career so if I chose to continue to work then that would be the final factor. BUT the Triad need a major league team to sway more or else it is Charlotte.

[thehappysmith]

I'm surprised Asheville doesn't have a higher score.

That said, I voted for Tampa. I have a place in downtown here that I don't ever want to give up. But I couldn't live here during the summer when I'm retired; it's too bloody hot already. Assuming sea level rise hasn't swamped downtown by the time I retire I'd spend November through April here, then flee to northern Michigan in May--Alpena, maybe, or Cheyboygan, or Leelanau County--and stay there through September. October is my month for traveling and visiting people, so it would be a great time to drive south.

Hell, why wait for retirement? If I had my million bucks already I'd be doing that now.

[goodbye]

You've got a point there. Asheville is indeed a haven for retirees. It makes a lot of sense, being in the Smoky Mountain region. One visit is usually enough to capture a person's heart forever.

[where_am_I]

I voted for Nashville. A close second is Hilton Head Island, SC (wonderful place for retirees and close enough to Savannah and a day trip away from Charleston.) Hmmmmm............It's good to see that this post didn't run away with Charlotte, NC as the clear voted winner as other posts!!!!!!!

[mcheiss]

I choose Charlotte. The city has a good metro and a lot more potential. You just can't beat Charlotte.

[ZachariahDaMan]

Here are my top 3:

1. Atlanta

2. Miami

3. Nashville

[elb401]

I would say Mobile. Close to my family and friends but still nice places to retire. Eastern shore, Dauphin Island, Dog river, or Gulf Shores. I like asheville. If I was going to move it would probably be somewhere near the Mountains. But one thing is for sure...I will never retire outside the South.

[mcheiss]

I would like to retire where I live here in NW Arkansas, in a nice condo in Fayetteville prehaps.

But on the list, I would have to say Little Rock due to it's culture and new wave of developments. It has the big city feel with all the amenities and yet that small town flavor.

[Arkansawyer]

I would like to retire where I live here in NW Arkansas, in a nice condo in Fayetteville prehaps.

But on the list, I would have to say Little Rock due to it's culture and new wave of developments. It has the big city feel with all the amenities and yet that small town flavor.

Did you forget that you voted for Charlotte just a few days ago?

I do agree with you about Little Rock. It's a beautiful city, which sits right where the fertile Delta merges with the Ouachita Mountains. That's actually how Little Rock got its name. In 1722 French explorer Bernard de la Harpe gave the name "La Petite Roche" to a rock formation on the Arkansas River that marked the transition from the flat land of the east to the rugged land to the west. The rock stood in contrast to a much larger rock formation just upstream, which is now North Little Rock. Little Rock's namesake still exists to this day as part of Riverfront Park, and is marked by a plaque. Unfortunately, much of the rock was destroyed when a bridge was built over it in the late nineteenth century, using it for bedrock.

Here's the best picture of the big rock formation I could find. If you look closely, you can see Little Rock's skyline in the distance.

[mcheiss]

Did you forget that you voted for Charlotte just a few days ago?

I do agree with you about Little Rock. It's a beautiful city, which sits right where the fertile Delta merges with the Ouachita Mountains. That's actually how Little Rock got its name. In 1722 French explorer Bernard de la Harpe gave the name "La Petite Roche" to a rock formation on the Arkansas River that marked the transition from the flat land of the east to the rugged land to the west. The rock stood in contrast to a much larger rock formation just upstream, which is now North Little Rock. Little Rock's namesake still exists to this day as part of Riverfront Park, and is marked by a plaque. Unfortunately, much of the rock was destroyed when a bridge was built over it in the late nineteenth century, using it for bedrock.

Here's the best picture of the big rock formation I could find. If you look closely, you can see Little Rock's skyline in the distance.

Well there are too many forums about what city is the best, and biggest smallest large sized midsized southern city , that you can't keep up with it. I did vote for Charlotte yes, because they have a very urban feel, yet I got mixed up with another forum on what small sized urban metro you would like to retire in, if there is a such topic.

Too many topics!!

[greystone98]

These are all great places to visit but when I retire some 20+ years from now, I plan on staying in Tuscaloosa, AL, where all our friends are. I'll just need enough funds to continue playing golf [see photo above ] and traveling to these and other locations.

[CorgiMatt]

Imagine a city strong in the performing arts with an urban downtown university that leads the nation in the development of green (environmentally sensitive) buildings along a rocky river with a 12-mile-long, thickly canopied greenway, where the university and the city feed off of each other both physically and economically, where you can live next to the greenway, walk the pedestrian-oriented, tree-shaded streets, shopping, eating, learning and playing, with the downtown skyline perched within sight along a ridge a mile from the riverbank. Ground has been broken, buildings are under construction and bright minds are being hired. Columbia, the 220-year-old capital of South Carolina is my city and will be my retirement paradise.

[DruidCity]

"These are all great places to visit but when I retire some 20+ years from now, I plan on staying in Tuscaloosa, AL..."

Same here. It's a great "home base" from which to travel to many of the South's most interesting places. I know people who moved here from other areas for job reasons, and liked it so much that their parents moved to the area to retire.

[pricemiller]

After living all of my adult life in Los Angeles and San Francisco, I am considering retiring back in my home town of Columbia. I never thought I would ever want to live there again, but after recent visits, I see a city in extraordinary transformation as a cultural, artistic, education and business center. A city with increidble potential in so many ways. I would put up with the Southern humidity to live in a vibrant, growing city. It would be great to be a part of what is happening there. I think it would be a great city to retire in an do the art I plan to do in my retirement.

[CorgiMatt]

After living all of my adult life in Los Angeles and San Francisco, I am considering retiring back in my home town of Columbia. I never thought I would ever want to live there again, but after recent visits, I see a city in extraordinary transformation as a cultural, artistic, education and business center. A city with increidble potential in so many ways. I would put up with the Southern humidity to live in a vibrant, growing city. It would be great to be a part of what is happening there. I think it would be a great city to retire in an do the art I plan to do in my retirement.

Come on over. There's has always been something about Columbia that draws people back, but now it is a very exciting place to be, not only because of the bricks and mortar growth but because of the city's emerging new definition of itself. The merging of cityscape and nature is impressive, and the land area in the city center being redeveloped and developed for the first time is snowballing like never before. It's a very colorful place to be.

[simms3]

I would want to retire in my hometown of Jacksonville, in fact in my neighborhood where everyone stays their whole lives and the old grandparents wield lots of power, but if I were to choose elsewhere it would probably be St. Petersburg because of the lax lifestyle close to the beach where there is many things for the elderly to do. Miami is just too fast paced, it's for young people.

[timalucas]

It's odd to me that knoone voted for Knoxville since it has the most beautiful natural surrounding on the list, not to mention all the log/mountain homes that are perfect for retiree's.