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Interesting. I could probably adjust to the news channels, lol. I don't watch very much TV in the first place. And I'd really like to get to know Philly better (When I was a Girl Scout leader, we once slept overnight at the Philadelphia Zoo, and I saw the Liberty Bell a few years ago, but that's about it.)
My sister lives in a 55+ community in Monroe (Middlesex County). It's very nice, but it just feels weird to me when I visit her. She is 62, and still working, so she is one of the younger ones there, but when I visited and went to her community pool or to a barbecue they had, it was like being at the party in the movie Cocoon the night that the spaceship comes to pick them up.
Where I live now, it's very peaceful and quiet, but there are kids in the playground at the park across the street, girls riding their bikes and skating, boys on skateboards, etc. I'm just not sure I like all elderly all the time in my neighborhood.
You should look down in Stafford Twsp, Ocean County (Manahawkin). You're right near LBI (you've mentioned how you like being near the ocean), near all the shopping and amenities you need (including medical care). Prices have really come down and are reasonable (as are taxes). I especially love the little lagoon homes in Beach Haven West.
You want to talk weird? My friend's parents moved down to "The Villages" in Ocala, FL. When you have some time, google it. It sounds like Hedonism for the senior set. LOL
A $100k ceiling could get you a 1-2 bedroom condo, mobile home, along with some smaller, older single family homes in those areas (depending on what you're looking for). That's just the exurbs of the greater Atlantic City area. There are townships similar to Egg Harbor/Galloway further South in Cape May County if that's more your speed. I'm not that familiar with those areas, but I'm sure someone else would be happy to elaborate.
You should look down in Stafford Twsp, Ocean County (Manahawkin). You're right near LBI (you've mentioned how you like being near the ocean), near all the shopping and amenities you need (including medical care). Prices have really come down and are reasonable (as are taxes). I especially love the little lagoon homes in Beach Haven West.
You want to talk weird? My friend's parents moved down to "The Villages" in Ocala, FL. When you have some time, google it. It sounds like Hedonism for the senior set. LOL
I know that you know the area (but) I think that you're a little late. Manahawkin has gotten pretty pricey, Barnegat is no longer a backwater little town. Even Waretown is no longer a bargain.
I know that you know the area (but) I think that you're a little late. Manahawkin has gotten pretty pricey, Barnegat is no longer a backwater little town. Even Waretown is no longer a bargain.
it's dropped precipitously since 2006 - more than most areas.
maybe we have different ideas of pricey. not that i'd live in this development, but i don't think 200K for a new townhome is expensive:
I agree that this sub-forum should be for South Jersey overall. That seems to be the topic of the day, so I want to voice my opinion about that. So there.
But--are there any people on this forum who originally came from North Jersey and retired to South Jersey? And I'm talking about REALLY from North (or even Central) Jersey--not like that guy I was talking to in a bar in Margate once who said he had been to North Jersey and when I asked where he responded "Forked River". Never forgot that one.
Anyway. I'm a few years from retirement, but thinking about where I would go. I'm a lifelong NJ resident, fifth generation actually in the town where I grew up, about 20 minutes from the NYS border. It's not quite the same sleepy blue-collar town I grew up in, having been overbuilt, all the woods and ponds and streams obliterated to make way for extra-big houses, and now very expensive to live in. I moved to Monmouth County two years ago, and while I like it here very much, and it's still within commuting range of my Jersey City job, it's kind of crowded around here, too, though it has a ways to go to catch up to Bergen.
I cannot EVER see myself moving to places like Florida or North Carolina. I am single, long divorced, with one child who will be out of college next year, and would have to move alone wherever I go. I have siblings in different parts of Central and North Jersey and one in PA, and my mother still lives in my hometown with two of my brothers. I wouldn't want to live so completely far away from any family that I couldn't get to them within a few hours drive.
So, as I muse about my possible future retirement, I wonder how many people have resettled from North to South Jersey. Proximity to the ocean is always good--it's one of the reasons I live in eastern Monmouth County--but I will never have the wealth to live in an actual South Jersey shore town.
I'm not so much looking for an actual place to think about moving right now as I am general information.
Are the taxes in South Jersey as bad as they are in Central Jersey, which are better than North Jersey but still not great?
If people do retire down there, do they tend to live in those 55+ communities or in amongst non-retired people in regular towns?
And--this might seem weird--but it seems to me by looking at maps that the bottom of NJ--west of the Cape May Peninsula and on up toward the Delaware River--the area can be very swampy. Are there towns near those swamplands? I like the wetlands.
Think about Salem or Cumberland Counties, cheap quiet and plenty of """wetlands""". I hate to venture advice on Bridgeton, Vineland or Millville since it haas been over 20 years since I have been there, but it one of the places I considered.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Woodstown might work. It's a nice little town near the Del. Mem. Bridge. However, I'd ask about hospitals in Wilmington on the Delaware board.
Elmer is also a nice little town, but their hospital isn't the best place to go for medical care & it's not convenient to the better hospitals. I knew people who retired to Elmer & they loved it, but when they got sick. . .
Woodstown might work. It's a nice little town near the Del. Mem. Bridge. However, I'd ask about hospitals in Wilmington on the Delaware board.
Elmer is also a nice little town, but their hospital isn't the best place to go for medical care & it's not convenient to the better hospitals. I knew people who retired to Elmer & they loved it, but when they got sick. . .
It's a good thing you mentioned hospitals, because the one bad thing about the Jersey Shore (at least around the Atlantic City Area) is that the healthcare is quite sub-par. Atlantic City Medical Center can do in a pinch, but a lot of people make the drive up to Cherry Hill/Philadelphia whenever they can. Just stay far away from Shore Memorial!
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HeavenWood
It's a good thing you mentioned hospitals, because the one bad thing about the Jersey Shore (at least around the Atlantic City Area) is that the healthcare is quite sub-par. Atlantic City Medical Center can do in a pinch, but a lot of people make the drive up to Cherry Hill/Philadelphia whenever they can. Just stay far away from Shore Memorial!
I'm older & have known a lot of people who have retired & moved. Most don't think about health care, & that can really hurt them when something happens down the road.
You know--I see a lot of mention of hospitals and medical care. That's something that never even occurred to me, but I guess "Retirement" does mean you have to take that into consideration. Bit of a jolt to think of that.
I've been in a hospital twice in my 53 years--when I was born, and 20 years ago when I gave birth.
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Never forgot that one. 
