With 15 golf courses, a popular lake in its midst and two national forests a stone’s throw away, Gainesville is at the top of AARP’s annual list of the top 10 affordable retirement destinations, the group’s magazine announced Friday.
AARP The Magazine said it looked at median housing prices, cost of living, tax rates on pensions and Social Security, health resources, climate and recreation in 350 cities to come up with the most “fabulous lifestyle” for the over-50 set without breaking the bank.
Gainesville, an hour’s drive northeast of Atlanta in Hall County, boasts itself as the Poultry Capitol of the World for its processing plants. But AARP says there is more to the town off I-985 than chicken.
For instance, the magazine says, there is Lake Lanier, the Chattahoochee and Oconee national forests, plenty of shopping and “the sleepy charm of a prosperous Southern town, including brick sidewalks and a constantly humming square.”
"Our elected officials place a great deal of emphasis on making Gainesville services and amenities the best for families of all ages," Gainesville City Manager Kip Padgett said in a release.
While the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida come to mind for many when talk of retirement destinations crops up, those states don’t always appear on “annual lists”.
Rounding out the AARP list after Gainesville are Columbus, Ind (2); Harrisburg, Pa. (3); Portland, Maine (4); Ithaca, N.Y. (5); Tulsa, Okla. (6); Midland, Texas (7); Winchester, Va. (8); Wenatchee, Wash. (9); and Cheyenne, Wyo. (10).
AARP, however, isn’t the only one looking at what’s best for retirees. CBS Moneywatch.com last year waded through a half-dozen popular “Best Places to Retire” lists to see which cities pop up most frequently.
After looking at lists compiled by TopRetirements.com, Forbes, US News, Money, Bloomberg Business Week, and CNBC.com, Moneywatch came up with the following “Best places to retire”: Tucson, Ariz. (1); Sarasota, Fla. (2); Traverse City, Mich. (3); Ann Arbor, Mich. (4); Fairhope, Ala. (5); Kansas City, Mo. (6); Loveland, Colo. (7); Madison, Wis. (8); Portland, Ore. (9); Port Charlotte, Fla. (10); Richmond (11); and Winston-Salem, N.C. (12).
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