Retirement living within 4 hr drive to NY
Posted 04-14-2014 at 06:45 AM by UL885
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clark Park
I'm staying in Philly.
Why?
Philadelphia, of all the major east coast cities, is still the most affordable. Since I'm a city boy - born in NYC and lived for a while in Miami - I cannot be happy living way out in the suburbs being totally dependent on a car and not having shopping, groceries, cultural amenities within a short walking distance.
I do not want to be in an area where the hospitals are second rate. The Hospital of the University Of Pennsylvania (HUP) is always ranked near the very top of US hospitals like Johns Hopkins and Mayo Clinic. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Albert Einstein, Lankenau, Abbington, Hahnimann, Crozier ... all have good reputations as well.
The climate in Philly is slightly milder than NYC and it's region. Spring starts a little earlier and fall lingers a little later. We get slightly less snow. The summers can be very hot and humid though.
Most of all I enjoy an urban lifestyle: foreign film festivals, live professional theater (saw a great production of Rent this weekend), superb symphony orchestra (saw Philly Pops do an all-Gershwin program), world class art museums, strolling down 18th Century cobblestone lanes where Ben Franklin once walked, jazz clubs, street fairs, piano bars and nightlife ... that is who I am.
Yes there are bad areas and ghettos ... I stay away from those areas. My neighborhood is pretty safe and my car was never broken into. Living in a big city I do have what they call "street smarts."
Retiring to some pristine gated Senior Community out in the middle of nowhere where people play bridge in the clubhouse and talk about their grandchildren all day ... no thanks!!!
Why?
Philadelphia, of all the major east coast cities, is still the most affordable. Since I'm a city boy - born in NYC and lived for a while in Miami - I cannot be happy living way out in the suburbs being totally dependent on a car and not having shopping, groceries, cultural amenities within a short walking distance.
I do not want to be in an area where the hospitals are second rate. The Hospital of the University Of Pennsylvania (HUP) is always ranked near the very top of US hospitals like Johns Hopkins and Mayo Clinic. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Albert Einstein, Lankenau, Abbington, Hahnimann, Crozier ... all have good reputations as well.
The climate in Philly is slightly milder than NYC and it's region. Spring starts a little earlier and fall lingers a little later. We get slightly less snow. The summers can be very hot and humid though.
Most of all I enjoy an urban lifestyle: foreign film festivals, live professional theater (saw a great production of Rent this weekend), superb symphony orchestra (saw Philly Pops do an all-Gershwin program), world class art museums, strolling down 18th Century cobblestone lanes where Ben Franklin once walked, jazz clubs, street fairs, piano bars and nightlife ... that is who I am.
Yes there are bad areas and ghettos ... I stay away from those areas. My neighborhood is pretty safe and my car was never broken into. Living in a big city I do have what they call "street smarts."
Retiring to some pristine gated Senior Community out in the middle of nowhere where people play bridge in the clubhouse and talk about their grandchildren all day ... no thanks!!!
I, too, am a city person, tried a retirement community for 3 years and it was really not for us.
Hopefully we'll find that dream spot with all of the things you've described and will soon be neighbors
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