Condos and apartments blend with single-family houses in this eclectic neighborhood within walking distance of parks, lakes, shopping, a performing arts center, the state Capitol and all the university amenities. Minimal congestion, frequent buses. High voting rate.New York's Upper West Side comes in second. Another Wisconsin place is #6: Washburn, La Crosse, Wisconsin.
April 20, 2015
Madison's "Mifflin West" neighborhood is the #1 "Most Livable" neighborhood in the United States....
... according to the AARP.
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Is that a good place for kids?
The writer must not like hot summers.
Winter is coming.
Downtown Crossing in Boston??? No one who's ever lived there would put it on a list.
High voting rate? What does that have to do with livability? New York's Upper West Side comes in second? That raises some alarms. The Upper West Side is a great place for a certian type of person. If you're not that type, then it is pure hell.
Shouldn't the photo actually *be* of Mifflin West, rather than State St?
I'm guessing this is the neighborhood centered on that Retirement Community where St. Raph's used to stand?
??? Where's my comment go?
Anyway - the picture in the article is State Street, several blocks from where Mifflin West probably is. At first I thought Mifflin West was near where St. Raph's was, but maybe it's centered near the Echo Tap instead?
Althouse, is Mifflin West your neighborhood?
I laugh that all of the images in the linked-to article are nice sunny days, summer or fall, except for poor Virginia Minnesota (never heard of the place) where a guy is shoveling snow.
I wouldn't mind living in SoMa in San Francisco...if I have about $10M in the bank. Otherwise it's not feasible.
So I looked it up: JHC, Virginia is in between Duluth and Hibbing!
No, just no. It's either snowing or skeeter season. I know Garage might like it because of the fishing (and my Dad went there as a kid with his parents), but that's no reason to move there. How is it livable if there are no jobs?
WTH was the article writer smoking?
My assumption is that every communique from the AARP is shaded by liberal politics and a liberal world-view. But I am sure that they have scoured every square mile of red-state America and found them all wanting.
But surely any given member of the AARP can afford to live in Manhattan.
Darn, the Southeast doesn't have any livable cities at all, guess our old people are all gonna die soon.
Let's get an age/gender/race/affluence demographic breakdown of the Mifflin West neighborhood. I have one for Madison but I don't know how MW compares.
To what degree do the AARP ratings correlate with their membership zipcodes?
The main article is "Most Livable Places at 50+" I think that "if you have the money" is tacitly assumed. I guess the idea is that you are living on a government pension that is being paid for by heavy current taxes on people in their 30's and 40's.
We're right in the middle of planning for relocation/retirement. These kinds of articles (and books) can give you a lot of good information, but the ratings are meaningless because they do not properly weight what is important to YOU in particular.
We want to be within 30 minutes of the beach in a location that does not get snow. So cross off ... what ... 95+% ... of the country.
Just taking into account whether you're looking for small town vs. urban eliminates a vast swath of possibilities.
We want to be within 30 minutes of the beach in a location that does not get snow. - Tank
As someone who has a place in Florida 30 mins from the beach, if you are looking in Florida, you want to live closer than that or the summers are oppressive. Better to live someplace more rural and closer to the ocean for the breezes.
Visit in September, the hottest month, to see if you can stand it.
@tim
We've picked out a nice spot in NC.
If you notice cities with black people are never included in such lists. Seems all the trendy people want to be uni-culural.
"Condos and apartments blend with single-family houses in this eclectic neighborhood within walking distance of parks, lakes, shopping, a performing arts center, the state Capitol and all the university amenities. Minimal congestion, frequent buses. High voting rate."
And most importantly, no blacks.
Or Mexicans. Well, unless you count the help.
Stuff old white people like?
Close to good hospitals with excellent geriatricians. Lots of bike trails where you can ride slowly. For the spiritually inclined, churches without babies. Nice corners to set up your watercolor easels so you can show the neighbors how artistic you've become in your old age.....
Nearby scenic drives suitable to your Harley and Sidecar. Good dog parks.
Crummy local schools, because your community is enlightened enough not to waste perfectly good tax dollars on the youth.
Newberg, Oregon. 200 wineries within 20 miles. Two of Oregon's 4-star restaurants. Small town within 25 miles of Portland, 1 hour to the beach. Mild winters, warm (not hot) summers. Idyllic.
@Stanley
Lots of States have wineries now. Oregon has wineries that produce wine you want to drink.
It's always fun to stop at a winery and taste a few, have a bite to eat, talk wine. Mostly though you don't want to buy it or take it home. Oregon has wine you actually want to drink later, when you're not feeling good from tasting.
@ Tank
Yup. Lots of wine you want to drink. Have a great winery 200 yards down our street, and a vineyard going in next door. Paradise!
This lists are all non-sense. Best states to retire. Best this and that.
Click bait.
Brownsville, TX did not make the list? Nor Pharr, TX either?
Hey, Wisconsin made another national magazine on quality of life!
I feel vindicated. I was arguing among family not long ago that Manhattan might be an ideal place to retire if one had adequate savings for it. Plenty to do, lots of people, and entirely walkable.
Walkability is my number one for a retirement destination.
That and low crime.
Downtown Crossing In Boston??? That just the newly invented name for the old Combat Zone. The City chased all the joints out town for a better class of thieves. The Naked I Cabaret had a really awesome neon sign of an eyeball imposed over a crotch. It was always fun when your parents took you to Boston for some Christmas Show in the Theater District and you got to ask your dad what the hell goes on in the Naked I and who is Chesty Morgan?
Tank said...
@tim
We've picked out a nice spot in NC.
4/20/15, 10:49 AM
--------------------
Psst! Quiet about NC. We're trying to keep the Yankee influx to a minimum.
And most importantly, no blacks
Not even trying to hide your racist tendencies anymore, are you?
@Lars
I know, I know, ya got your Yankees, your Damn Yankees and your God Damn Yankees. I plan to be in the last category.
8.82%
New York City and state's combined top tax rate is currently 12.70%
"New York's Upper West Side comes in second"? Is AARP nuts?
For who is this "second," the very few who are not merely rich but very rich, and who would prefer to spend it on themselves rather than leave anything behind, and who place a princely premium on living in this pricey New York City neighborhood?
Co-ops on the Upper West Side sell for $millions, and you'd be lucky to find an efficiency apt. in some ancient building for a mere $3,000./month. That, and the combined top tax rate (New York City plus State) is 12.70%
Perhaps it's worth it for some, but I'd expect far more retirees would be headed for where there's more open space, lower living costs, and the taxman's touch is lighter. And perhaps a more pleasant climate as well?
Tank: San Luis Obispo, CA. About 1/2-way between LA & SF old-school (ie. Hoover, Nixon, Reagan) California. Less than 15-minutes from Avila Beach and about 1/2-hour from Paso Robles wine country and about an hour from the best feral pig hunting in the world. The local ocean fishing is excellent.
The college (Cal Poly) is mostly a technical school that is not full of librul arts majors. The weather is ideal year-round.
It's pretty pricy Median home price ~$500K
@Peter
This is why your personal preferences are so much more important than any "best" article. Some people would love to live in NY, others would hate it.
@Howard
Been there. NICE. A bit too far form family and friends all on the east coast. Also, about $200K more than I'm looking to spend.
A seagull did shit on my neck there. Yeah, that left a mark.
I wouldn't mind living in SoMa in San Francisco.
If you don't smelling stale urine or side-stepping scattered piles of human excrement.
I'd recommend the Avenues between Lincoln and Noriega on either side of Highway 1.
SoMA (cont'd).
Try the "Neighborhood" search. It's even worse.
furious_a: That's a nice spot close to the GG park and bridge. However, SF has fog about 250-days per year... just a little better than Pacifica. And the beach... 50-deg F in the summer and a Great White habitat.
I know Garage might like it because of the fishing (and my Dad went there as a kid with his parents), but that's no reason to move there.
The Madison Chain offers fantastic fishing for almost all species. The problem is not having enough time to do it.
an endorsement from AARP? must be a lot of well off, pretentious, left and far left of center people living there who think they're smarter than they actually are
Chicago's South Shore was a very livable neighborhood when I was growing up there, It was close to the lake, which mitigated the extremes of winter cold and summer heat.
It was well served by the trains and buses.
It was a mix of small apartment buildings and single family homes with nice yards.
What happened ? Let's talk about it.
The South Side has a population of 752,496, of which over 93% are black.[43][citation needed] Some census tracts in the area (3406 in Armour Square, 4904 in Roseland, 7106 in Auburn Gresham) are 99% black.[44] The South Side covers 60% of the city's land area, with a higher ratio of single-family homes and larger sections zoned for industry than the rest of the city.[
Watch out for the Detroit syndrome. The apartments were the first to deteriorate. I would never buy a house in a neighborhood with apartments unless it was a suburb.
I liked how they cropped the picture of the Boston Public Garden to show just alliums and some tall buildings in the background.
Downtown Crossing isn't anywhere I could imagine anyone wanting to retire to, unless they were interested in such amenities as Heroin Maintenance / "Medical" Marijuana dispensaries.
***
Someone else mentioned DTX as being a new name for the Combat Zone - actually, the Combat Zone was in Chinatown, right next to DTX. Worked on the edge of Chinatown for about 10 years. Learned an awful lot about various aspects of Commerce from the Street Walkers servicing their johns just outside my office window, which gave out onto an alleyway. The store manager had the pawn shops further up Tremont on speed dial, if someone from the Common Crowd (who we called The Illuminati) made off with any of our merchandise.
Good times. Good times. Really! Chuckling thinking about them.
Still wouldn't want to retire there, though.
Downtown Crossing has become white hot. Think huge high end condo buildings, many revitalized theaters, tons of shopping, restaurants and non stop activity. Right on the subway or a quick walk to South Station to pick up a highspeed train to NYC, Providence, DC or Montreal!
We are the number 3 walkable city in the country behind NYC and San Fran-always behind those two fuckers.
Or maybe you want to walk to the Garden, Esplanade or Common?
Or pickup a number by Prada, Gucci, Burberry, and every other fab designer on Newbury Street?
Catch a Bruins/Celtics/Sox game...walking.
Or museums? Isabella Gardner is so fab.
You can walk to Beacon Hill, North End, Waterfront, South End, Back Bay, Fenway and the really hot new West End hood.
If you love urban you will love Downtown Crossing!
And the area is building the largest building in the city!!!! Sorry John HanCock.
Don't even think about living here if you don't have 1 million for a 1 bedroom condo with no parking. The city of Boston is only for very rich peeps now-which eliminates the riffraff.
But location, location, location!!!
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