Best College Towns in the Western US to Retire

13,822 Views | 154 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by mpl35
Gabster43213
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Our criteria are:

1. Shopping Mall
2. Movie Theatre
3. Good Quality Grocery Stores
4. Reasonable Cost of Living
5. Commercial airline service within 2 hours.

Thoughts for those who travel frequently through the West?
Matsui
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AG
Fort Collins co

What where does the "west" start for you?
Bitter Old Man
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Boulder is 4/5.

Tucson hits all five.

Norman hits all five.

Fayetteville might hit all five, not sure on airline service.

Provo hits all 5

College Station and Lubbock hit all five.
akaggie05
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Tucson and Albuquerque would be on my list.
histag10
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define "reasonable cost of living"

I would say Missoula, but it would depend on your definition of reasonable cost of living.
The Chicken Ranch
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Not in the west, but Auburn, AL comes to mind.
Potcake
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The Chicken Ranch said:

Not in the west, but Auburn, AL comes to mind.

Wife and I spent a decade one year in Auburn. Wasn't our cup of tea and it seemed a bit Unreconstructed.
Gabster43213
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Matsui,

The "West" starts for us at the eastern edge of New Mexico/Colorado/Wyoming.
Gabster43213
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I spent some time at Auburn as well and it would be #1 in my list for the eastern US.
Matsui
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Tucson
Boulder
Fort Collins
Provo

I've never been to Eugene or where Oregon state is located. Could be option

Another sneaky cool town is Walla Walla wa
htxag09
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I'd move to Fort Collins in a heartbeat.
htxag09
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Is it common for people to want to retire in a college town that isn't their alma mater? Just seems odd to me, I would think any town in the west that fits your other criteria could work. Any reason it has to be a college town?
histag10
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Potcake said:

The Chicken Ranch said:

Not in the west, but Auburn, AL comes to mind.

Wife and I spent a decade one year in Auburn. Wasn't our cup of tea and it seemed a bit Unreconstructed.


A decade or one year?
Gabster43213
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Htx,

I've been around universities most of my life and enjoy the cultural and social opportunities afforded by mid to larger sized universities.

The west is of particular interest because I would like to enjoy the outdoors especially in my early retirement years.
Marauder Blue 6
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Flagstaff, AZ - Northern Arizona University
Gabster43213
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I would like to consider Utah but do not know how different it would be to live in a very predominate Mormon state. Logan looks very interesting as does St. George (which is close to Southern Utah University).

Cheney, Washington also looks appealing on the surface but there is NO WAY that I could watch football games in a red turf.
Potcake
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Play on words. Seemed longer than ayear.
Matsui
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St George is stunning. So stunning.
htxag09
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Understandable.
ToddyHill
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Except for the fact it's on the East Coast, Knoxville meets all your criteria.

And while I really like Ft Collins, real estate there is not affordable (imo).
ORAggieFan
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Corvallis, OR is a great town.
MemorialTXAg
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htxag09 said:

Is it common for people to want to retire in a college town that isn't their alma mater? Just seems odd to me, I would think any town in the west that fits your other criteria could work. Any reason it has to be a college town?


College chicks. Obviously.
Mustang1
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Ashland, Eugene, Corvallis OR
Gabster43213
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Oh.......one more criteria: A moderate to conservative political climate.
Matsui
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Now you are really limiting your choices out west.

Provo
Tucson
Pahdz
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Boise?
An Ag in CO
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The moderate to conservative requirement pretty much kills the west. Boise is very different from the rest of Idaho when it comes to politics. Provo has shifted more liberal the last few years and will probably continue to do so under the new mayor.
Pahdz
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Man I would have political leanings so far down my list for this. I consider myself a conservative lean and I live in Minneapolis which is a liberal strong hold but has so many parks, transit, etc that elevate quality of life that I don't even think twice about what everyone thinks about stupid identity politics that have clouded lives today.
Matsui
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Agreed. You will find people like yourself in every community. This thread is fun. Keep the town ideas coming.
LRHF
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Durango, Co
Gabster43213
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What about Las Cruces? Have not been here in over 30 years.
Hamburger Dan
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I had a neighbor that lived in a Silver City New Mexico. There is a small University there I believe. He described it as a smaller version of Santa Fe, from about 30-40 years ago. I don't know about all that, because I've I been going to Santa Fe for over 40 years, and if he's even a little bit right - it sounds like a good place to see.
Potcake
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Gabster43213 said:

Oh.......one more criteria: A moderate to conservative political climate.

Well, maybe Auburn is your place. Pretty conservative, in a 1950's way.

Seriously, as long as we aren't limiting to West coast, I would submit Lafayette, LA to the list. Plenty of good food, tons of festivals in area, including Festivals Acadiens and Festival Internationale. Plenty of fishing and hunting. Two hours from Texas and New Orleans.
Matsui
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Do you want a major college town like college station or boulder or Salt Lake City or some small college town that has a d3 or d2 or naia size university?
metrag06
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With the listed criteria my two would be Boise, ID or Tucson, AZ.

 
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