Pre-Boomer Musings

My wife and I have been thinking about moving away from Los Angeles sometime in the next couple of years.  LA is too expensive, too congested, and the taxes are too high.  Plus there are other things we don’t like such as the city’s attitude, increasing crime, and it’s not all that friendly a place for seniors – particularly pre-boomers.

One day while waiting in the dentist’s office, I browsed through a retirement magazine.  I ended up taking it home, with the doctor’s approval of course.  I read each article and examined every ad to learn what the cities or communities had to offer.  Then I hit the Web sites of those having the most promise.  There was so much information to work through, it took quite a while.  But relocating, to a place where we’d probably spend the rest of our lives, was a very important decision.

After compiling the data comparing the cost of housing and other living expenses, medical availability, cultural activities, senior programs, weather extremes and more, I was ready to discuss this carefully analyzed information with my wife.  She listened to my review and the rationale why I eliminated certain geographic areas – we both like warm weather, we like to eat out, we are not small town or country people.  This meant a place in or near a decent-sized city in the Sunbelt.  Humidity is bearable to us in the summer but makes us uncomfortable in the winter; the same thing goes for rain.  This wiped out Florida and areas along the gulf.  Nevada and Arizona each had advantages but not enough to interest us.  Suddenly we were back to California.

San Diego has the best climate in the United States, along with all the other disadvantages we had in LA.  Besides, we would be too far from our three children and the grandkids.  Then I happened to look at my appointment calendar and noticed we were having dinner at our daughter’s the next night, attending the theatre on the weekend, going to brunch with friends on the weekend.  I flipped through the dates and saw doctors’ appointments, lunch with some of my buddies, community meetings and an ongoing list of other activities.

Then it struck us, we were considering change just for the sake of change.  Our lives are here, tied together by our family.  Even if we didn’t have family in LA, there are friends and neighbors we would miss, stores and services we are used to, and an overall feeling that this is home.

I’m glad we went through the exercise of checking out the possibilities of relocating.  And I’m even happier we decided that home is where the heart is.

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