The 10 best places to retire
After all, if you're striking out on a new life with new friends, it's a bonus to be get lots of visits from old friends.
Austin, Texas
The outdoors is the biggest attraction. The staggeringly beautiful, rough-hewn Hill Country, spring-fed swimming holes, a string of lakes along the Colorado River, and 10 months of warm temperatures (too warm in the summer) draw hikers and boaters and bikers outdoors.
For the practical retiree, housing costs (median price: $235,000), good medical facilities, the many programs at the University of Texas, plus no state income tax are the cake.
Clearwater, Fla.
A two-bedroom condo on the beach can be had for about $200,000, a sum made even more affordable when coupled with a homestead exemption of up to $50,000 for residents and no state income tax.
With a population of 107,700, Clearwater is a small town, but should you need an experience that is available only in bigger cities, St. Petersburg, with its Museum of Fine Arts, the Florida Orchestra, and major league baseball team -- the Tampa Bay Devil Rays -- is only 20 miles away.
Fort Collins, Colo.
Median home price is $221,400. An easy 70-mile drive gets you to Denver International Airport and a wide variety of cultural venues.
Marquette, Mich.
The city (population: 21,300) has a small airport with regular service to Milwaukee, Chicago, and Detroit, and Marquette General Health System is ranked as one of the top 50 cardiovascular hospitals by Thomson Reuters. Median home price is $130,000.
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Best of all, it is also a remarkably affordable city to live in. The median home sale price was $112,000 in August 2011, which is unusual for a city with top-notch hospitals and more than a dozen universities, art schools, and institutes.
Portland, Ore.
A drop in Portland home prices offers an opportunity to grab a great deal on housing (median price: $263,300) -- in a spectacular part of the country.
As Oregon's largest city, Portland (population: 583,800) is also home to the Portland Art Museum, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Oregon Symphony, Portland Opera, a wide variety of traditional and off-beat theaters, five universities, and the NBA Portland Trailblazers.
Santa Fe, N.M.
Those looking for outdoor pleasures more strenuous than opera will find endless opportunity in 300 days of sunshine, on average; a mild climate summer and winter; and the nearby Sangre de Cristo Mountains for ample snow and winter sports.
All those amenities will cost you: $380,000 is the median home price.
Walnut Creek, Calif.
It's pricier than most of the cities on our list. The median home price nudges just above $430,000. But an easy 20 mile commute on a Bay Area Rapid Transit train (BART) delivers you to all the amenities of San Francisco.
Washington, D.C.
As for practicalities, the subway is convenient and accessible and offers reduced fares for seniors. There are excellent hospitals, 12 universities, and three major airports. The only drawback is the cost of housing: Median home price is $450,000. Still, you get a lot of bang for the buck.
Winston-Salem, N.C.
As for the lifestyle, history is instructive. The city's lineup of universities is a testament to its diversity. There's Wake Forest, the nationally recognized private university; the historically all-black Winston-Salem State University; the oldest women's college in America, Salem University; and one of the most prestigious art schools, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Its symphony, founded in 1947, is the oldest in the state, and its arts council was the first in the nation.
Best of all, Winston-Salem is affordable: The median home price is $137,000.