Do you think Lawrence would be a good place to retire? / LJWorld.com

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Asked at Massachusetts Street on January 4, 2007

“I’m going to say no. It gets cold, there’s ice and you’d slip and break your hip. This is a young town for young people, but I wouldn’t retire anywhere but the Midwest because of the people.”

— Dominic Isley, turf professional, Bonner Springs

“I would say so. Any college town is a great place. It keeps you young.”

— Rhonda Divine, receptionist, Overland Park

“Yeah. If you like the small community aspect but still want to live in the city.”

— Santiago Vasquez, Wichita State University senior, Kansas City, Kan.

“Sure, if you really like 18- to 25-year-olds, a diverse and interesting community, high rent and political intrigue.”

— Carrie Lindsey, employment specialist, Lawrence

Author ranks Lawrence as a top 10 city for retirees

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Multidisciplinary 7 years, 3 months ago

Retired people can't afford to live in Lawrence unless they are very wealthy. I know many that thought they were well off, but the taxes on their long paid off nesting homes keep going up so much, they can't make it, eats up their savings.

Too cold in winter too. Seattle Tacoma is better, or head south. More real estate for your dollar. NW is milder climate, and they like people better than we seem to. Hell, coffee stand on every corner. Green trees year round. Friendly, gorgeous places. Nice homey little towns snuggled in everywhere.Flower boxes on windows, porches. Short drive to the ocean, national parks.Lavendar growing everywhere. Sigh. More education per square foot,as a whole, so to speak.

conceptual_continuity 7 years, 3 months ago

Gregg Tire on E 23rd is a good place to retire ... can't beat a new set of Goodyear Tires.

As far as living in Larryville after working all your life ... well ... lets just say that there are way too many loud obnoxious stinkin' party animals in this town

.. and that's just the city commission !!!

innocuous_posts 7 years, 3 months ago

Shoot, I'll come back to KS & vote twice for TOB. He's just that nice.

The_Original_Bob 7 years, 3 months ago

Das - That's why the LJW message boards exist!

Das_Ubermime 7 years, 3 months ago

I would vote for you TOB. Of course, right afterwards I would probably turn around and deny I did so to all of my friends and publicly mock your chances and the quaint naivete of such an attempt.

not_dolph 7 years, 3 months ago

I used to think it would be a good place to retire.

toefungus 7 years, 3 months ago

Who can retire? Gotta work every day to pay the property taxes in this state!

The_Original_Bob 7 years, 3 months ago

R_I - More to the point... my possible consideration for a run for commission was kept under the tightest of security. You didn't happen to pick up my Big Chief Indian tablet out of the stall of Free State Brewery? It's been missing since the last KU game I watched there.

The_Original_Bob 7 years, 3 months ago

Right now my exploratory committee is determing the feasibility and electibility of my gloriousness. We are going to wait and make a decision after this glut of announcements so far. I'd get lost in the shuffle at this time. My lack of party affilitation (not to mention lack of caring about any organized political party) and affection for Free State beer and certain past, um... issues with a few laws I don't really agree with could hinder my campaign.

Citizen 7 years, 3 months ago

I get my tires in Topeka

southerngirl 7 years, 3 months ago

Oregon coast for me....

JayCat_67 7 years, 3 months ago

I'll second the comment on Garber Automotive. Good work at a reasonable rate. Very friendly. But I think I'd rather retire out in a small farm community. Very quiet and peaceful. Heck, if I could find a job there that would support my family, I'd go now.

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 7 years, 3 months ago

T_O_B, Are you going to file to run for Lawrence City Commission?

blue73harley 7 years, 3 months ago

Sorry Kookamooka, you will have to move out of Kansas entirely. Evolution is not allowed here. Didn't you get the memo?

Kookamooka 7 years, 3 months ago

Lawrence has to mature and evolve before I'll consider retirement here.

Celeste 7 years, 3 months ago

I live in Az already and hate it. Can't wait to move back to Kansas! I'd never retire in Az-waaaay too hot. And it's one big sprawl in the Phoenix area. Maybe northern Arizona would be nice, but then you have to worry about wildfires. You guys complain about Lawrence growing too fast...you haven't visited the Valley of the Sun here. It's frickin' insane. I'd probably settle in the surrounding area about Lawrence, as I am a horse trainer by trade. Maybe even close to Baldwin or something...it's so much cheaper in Kansas than Arizona, we'll be able to get something really nice when we do move.

jimincountry 7 years, 3 months ago

Nice place to visit but wouldn't want to live there........oops that's New York. Lawrence would be a nice place to live, much better than that other liberal bastion.

Ragingbear 7 years, 3 months ago

I like Rhonda's response "...it keeps you young.".

Oh yes... fresh young bodies.... I shall take their youth by bathing in their blood.... MUHUAWAHA!

Actually, I would say this place is not retirement material at all. That is, unless you are someone that has made enough money to retire by the time your 30.

tir 7 years, 3 months ago

It's a nice place to live or retire---IF you are well-off. If you're poor, not so much.

trinity 7 years, 3 months ago

hah-i'd do purt'near anything for a Klondike bar! :)

sgtwolverine 7 years, 3 months ago

Py: those pictures of me skiing were actually taken at Boyne Mountain. It's probably my favorite ski hill in the lower peninsula. (Haven't yet tried any in the U.P.) On Christmas, they had only a few runs open; the rest of the hill had very spotty snow cover (left over from their season-opening 42-inch snowfall in early December) or nothing at all. They say they're still open; I don't know how much snow they've been able to make in the last couple weeks. But like I said, I'm told they're expecting colder overnight temperatures up north next week, so I expect the Boyne properties to utilize their full snowmaking capabilities.

Boyne has a pretty healthy year-round business (and a pretty healthy stable of resorts out west), so I'm pretty sure they can survive one of these winters; I'm more worried about the more independent ski-only places like Nub's Nob or any of the hills down here. I'm hoping this warm winter doesn't kill any of the ski hills.

raerae52 7 years, 3 months ago

If anyone needs tires or any mechanic work for this City with lots of up and down weather visit Vantuyl Auto Center (1711 W 6th St) great service!!!

Pywacket 7 years, 3 months ago

Sgt~ I knew they weren't getting much snow in the SW, but hadn't realized the same was holding true for the north. Wonder how Boyne Mtn is doing... Probably the same--badly.

I was reading about a wonderful new year-round resort there that I'd like to take the kids to, but I'll bet anyone who booked for a January ski trip is disappointed.

I, too, love Michigan falls. Especially up north at my friend's family farm. They own a sizable wooded piece of land (birch and Norway spruce) and it's so far off the beaten path that you can literally sit in the woods and hear those birch leaves falling around you. With their white bark and golden leaves, they are striking mingled with the spruce.

Re retirement... The elderly RV crowd have had a lot of jokes lobbed at them, but some have the time of their lives just driving around the country, staying in state parks, going north in summer, south in winter, congregating with the same friends in different areas and seeing everything they missed when they were younger.

I might not want to own a giant gas-hog RV, but it might be fun to rent a smaller one from time to time and just tool around the country. I think I would enjoy the nomadic life for awhile, at least. I fully plan to be in good health when the time comes, so I can sit up late and play cards with the other old biddies at the state parks.

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 7 years, 3 months ago

ms c, Past couple of days - In work at 6am, out work at 11:30pm. Just tired...

innocuous_posts 7 years, 3 months ago

I'd retire in Lawrence, for a Klondike Bar!

sgtwolverine 7 years, 3 months ago

Py, I knew you'd be able to reinforce my love for Michigan.

Although I should point out that we have yet to actually experience a real winter this year. It's been in the 40s (sometimes a little warmer, sometimes a little colder) most of the time. Let me put it this way: Mt. Bohemia, a ski hill near the northern tip of the upper peninsula, isn't yet open due to a lack of snow. They don't even have snow guns because they get so much natural snow (amounts rivaling those of ski resorts out west) that they don't need to make any, and they aren't open in early January. Other resorts that do make snow have managed to open (thanks to a cold spot in early December), but for the last couple weeks they've been working hard just to keep a few runs going.

Fortunately, it looks like next week may introduce temperatures low enough to run the snow guns up north. I don't know if the same is true for the southern hills; I can only hope that happens soon.

Anyway, sorry for the ski report. Just an example of the lousy excuse for winter we're having here. But that's just because I like snow; those who don't like snow are happy.

And Py's comments about Michigan weather the rest of the year are correct. It's a nice climate. Especially fall. I love fall.

The_Original_Bob 7 years, 3 months ago

Sue - That blew a few minutes away from my day.

sunflower_sue 7 years, 3 months ago

A friendly reminder:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8574515984097771637&q=ben+lounsbury

disclaimer: may suck a few minutes away from your day.

Ceallach 7 years, 3 months ago

Breeze, all of the above! There is an El Pato about 3 blocks from home -- a whole different world of drive-thru Mexican food. Hopefully I will be there Spring Break :)

ohjayhawk 7 years, 3 months ago

BorderRat - My aunt and uncle just had a house built in Green Valley. They are not living down there permanently yet (all 4 of their parents are still living), but they love the area and get down there as much as they can.

Pywacket 7 years, 3 months ago

I thought Carrie's response was amusing--and that she meant it so.

Retire here? Lord, no. I have no problem with the youth slant (though I could feel differently in 20 years, were I to stay that long). It's the climate I can't stand. The evil yellow eye withers my soul and has turned me from an outdoor person to an indoor person. I feel like a caged leopard down here.

I'll be happy to head back to Michigan as soon as possible. We'll buy a lakeside property. (Inland lake, that is.) Upon retirement, I can bob around the lake all day in my fishing boat. Bliss. Or hike in the woods. Or go pick blueberries, peaches, apples, or cherries. Or just enjoy my garden w/o being driven inside by the heat from May to October, which is what happens here.

For a change, I could go to Lake Michigan and walk a few miles up or down the sandy beaches. (Mich has a law decreeing that the Great Lakes shores are everyone's--if you wander away from the Saugatuck beach, say, you do not run into fences or walls that rich people have put up to keep out the riffraff. For riffraff like me, this is a GOOD thing.

SW Mich is glorious at least 8 months of the year (depending on how you feel about winter). And there's always Florida for January & February. My husband is a hot-weather man, so I'll probably have to fly south for part of the winter to compromise. Luckily, they have AC there.

BorderRat 7 years, 3 months ago

Sunflower_sue, nice plug for a great business. When I lived in Lawrence I would "re-tire" there also. As for when I actually retire, I'm thinking of Green Valley/Shauarita, Arizona. Low taxes, lots of sunshine, great golf and age restricted neighborhoods.

Kyle Neuer 7 years, 3 months ago

Not to knock Larryville, but retiring along the Northern Cali coast sounds sweet.

userid 7 years, 3 months ago

we ALWAYS re-tire at Garber Auto. Family owned and HONEST. Retired in Lawrence!

person_of_interest 7 years, 3 months ago

As related to Green Eyes take on Carrie......

"political intrigue"?

lol

GreenEyedBlues 7 years, 3 months ago

"Sure, if you really like 18- to 25-year-olds, a diverse and interesting community, high rent and political intrigue."

I'm not sure if Carrie Lindsey is saying that she doesn't like these things, or if she's just listing some of the more prominent aspects of Lawrence life, good and bad. A case can be made for either, although the fact that she comes from Lawrence would indicate that she doesn't seem to mind.

breeze 7 years, 3 months ago

So, Ceallach, do you want to retire in San Juan because of the cheese enchiladas at Garza's Cafe? Or is it the chile de arbol table salsa at Irma's? Either one would be good enough for me! And then there's always El Pato.

bevy 7 years, 3 months ago

I will retire to a tropical island after I win the lottery. My personal masseur, Ramon, will see to my every comfort including my daily dose of strawberry daiquiri. When not lounging poolside, I will be jetting around the globe seeing all the places I've always wanted to go. Ramon will carry my luggage and rub my feet. I might come home for a Jayhawks game once in a while.

Sigh....only 35 years of work to go....or until I hit the big one.

person_of_interest 7 years, 3 months ago

Lawrence is a nice place........but a "retirement community"??

Kat Christian 7 years, 3 months ago

NO WAY.... this town is too, much too geared to the younger crowd. It's even losing its appeal to the family environment. Clean up Lawrence - get rid of the big party clubs downtown- like Last Call, Granada and that other one - we don't need them. All they do is draw in the wrong kind of people, violance and drunks. I do not plan to retire here - no way. Don't get me wrong I like this town for it's size, but it has changed muched in the 9 years I've been here and I don't like the way it is changing.

ljreader 7 years, 3 months ago

Lawrence is a GREAT place to retire. Just ask the folks hanging out at the Community Drop In Center and The Salvation Army.

Ceallach 7 years, 3 months ago

Mac Davis almost got it right. But when I die you can bury me, in San Juan, Texas . . . . in my jeans :) I know, the question was about retiring and not death, but in my case the former will probably be ushered in by the latter :\

jonas 7 years, 3 months ago

Me Ubermime?! Nice Das. When I realized that I left myself signed on to your computer, I knew you would try something.

cutny 7 years, 3 months ago

Lawrence is a grand place, though it's expanding a bit too fast for my taste. Off to the right...you're free to leave aren't you?

imastinker 7 years, 3 months ago

No way I'd retire here. It's too expensive, and the parts of town which are good for a retired couple (downtown) are taken over by thugs. In the good parts of town, you have to drive everywhere. A good place to retire is within walking distance of everything you need.

jonas 7 years, 3 months ago

I've posted today? I just woke up! What the hell is going on? Ubermime, you better not have anything to do with this!

ladysilk 7 years, 3 months ago

Nope...can't afford to retire here. I am leaving this summer. They have ruined this town.

ohjayhawk 7 years, 3 months ago

Oh, and I never had to worry about re-tiring while in Lawrence... I didn't have a car while I was out there!

sgtwolverine 7 years, 3 months ago

R_I, I'd have a hard time living in a place whose name included the word "desert." I think maybe the only appeal to Palm Desert would be its proximity to the amazing Joshua Tree National Park. Otherwise, if I were to consider living in California -- not my first choice -- I'd probably consider the northern end of it first.

I would probably enjoy living out west, but I'd be more likely to choose places like Colorado or Utah, I think.

sunflower_sue 7 years, 3 months ago

Retirement: Depends on if we out-live the hubby's family.

I re-tire at D&D. I always get prompt, friendly service. They get all of my business. (And you can walk over to Milton's while you wait.)

ohjayhawk 7 years, 3 months ago

I think Lawrence would be a nice city in which to retire. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. However, all of my immediat family is here, and most of my wife's immediate family is here. So, we'd probably end up living in Ohio somewhere.

juscin3 7 years, 3 months ago

Oops, forgot to answer the question. No I would not retire here. Heck we're moving this weekend. That should say something about this town! LOL

juscin3 7 years, 3 months ago

We USED to go to En Tire. But after the last experience with them, we don't think we will go back. Sadly cuz we liked doing business with them. Will not go back to someone when the employee lies to you and then tried to save his butt from it.

Bone777 7 years, 3 months ago

I will have to decide if I will retire with my mothers family at Oak Hill or my fathers-side at Memorial Park.

Decisions, decisions...

offtotheright 7 years, 3 months ago

Can't afford the taxes here....the streets will tear up your car...shootings every weekend.....hippies on the commish!

I would vote a big 'NO'!

trinity 7 years, 3 months ago

i will likely retire in the very same county i was bornded in-franklin.

yeah i know, yawn, lol

ms_canada 7 years, 3 months ago

R_I - what has got you up so early or are you just going to your sheets late?????

jonas 7 years, 3 months ago

I don't think so. I've run over a lot of squirrels in Lawrence and I'm afraid that when I retire, they are just going to go nuts on me.

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 7 years, 3 months ago

I would like to retire to my sheets right now.

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 7 years, 3 months ago

sgt, Michigan? Thought you would pick a place like Palm Desert, CA.

ms_canada 7 years, 3 months ago

Oh oh, I just discovered that I had already sent you the Norm Peterson quote so here is another from Eleanor Roosevelt. "I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: 'No good in a bed, but fine against a wall.' Hope that doesn't offend any Lawrencians

Gootsie 7 years, 3 months ago

We'd love to have you Sgt! But by the time you retire, we will be on non-stop drool mode.

Ms_Canada, you can check with a place called En-tire. They do OK and their name is quite clever (they work on your entire car!).

I heard this morning that the last time we had measurable snow here was December 2005. Pitiful.

sgtwolverine 7 years, 3 months ago

I hope to retire in Michigan. Or, if I put down roots elsewhere (I love Michigan, but you never know what might happen), I hope to retire where I've put down roots. I don't want to start all over again when I retire. That's not appealing to me.

So if I lived in Lawrence, my answer would probably be yes.

ms_canada 7 years, 3 months ago

Well, it would be a long way for me to go just for a new set, but what is the going price of a set of new tires down there and can a northerner get such a thing as winter tires from a place that really has no winter to speak of? And here is your bit of levity for today. Another of the piddling and picayune of 2006.

Barfly Norm Peterson of Cheers was overheard to say, "It's a dog eat dog world out there and I'm wearing Milk Bone underwear."