6/14 If money is not a concern, where would you settle down for retirement?
And why? I'll start:
\_ Florida: .
\_ Because it's old people friendly. And people speak English. And
there are lots of places built for ACTIVE and healthy old people.
Weather is nice. And you won't get lonely because there are
lots of other old people just like you.
\_ *shudder* everything I know about Florida says that it is hell
on earth. There's a *little* bit of hyperbole there. A little.
-dans
\_ Not sure about all parts of FL, but Orlando seems to be okay.
\_ No, all of Florida sucks. Weather is bad. People are
conservative. If I had to choose, the keys or Gulf
Coast are the best. Orlando is a swamp, man!
\_ Isn't the keys in the state of FL?
\_ if he had to choose somewhere in FL
\_ Bay Area: ...
\_ Uh, how about Bay Area minus Berkeley?
\_ Great weather, good transit system, reasonable culture,
amazing restaurants, can walk everywhere I want to go,
tolerant social climate, diverse mix of people, safe,
beautiful, top notch research hospitals.
\_ the transit system sucks, but other than that the Bay Area
is hard to beat. -tom
\_ It certainly has one of the best mass transit systems in
the nation. There are far better ones in Europe, granted,
but for the US, it is above average. You cannot even get
around without a car in most of the US.
\_ Speaking as someone who gets around without a car,
you're wrong. The combined Bay Area transit miasma
is one of the most expensive and least effective
systems in the country, and it shows no signs of
abating as the biggest, most expensive, and least
effective part of it (BART) keeps sucking up
all the mind share and funding. Woo hoo, a billion
dollars for an extension to Warm Springs, that'll
help! -tom
\_ Uh, compared to Los Angeles, BA transportation is
like, totally and utterly superior. Have you ever
been to Los Angeles?
\_ Yes, Los Angeles transit sucks. There is a world
outside California, you know. NYC, Chicago,
Boston, DC, and Atlanta spring to mind as US
cities with better transit than SF. -tom
\_ Hi Tom, just curious, where do you live?
\_ near Piedmont Ave in Oakland.
\_ sheesh, buy a car already
\_ yeah, there's a great solution to a shitty
transit system. -tom
\_ I don't have a car, I get around just fine without
one and I think BART is great. Have you ever tried
to get around LA or Las Vegas or Phoenix without a
car? The Bay Area is much better. In fact, outside
of NYC, no place that I have ever visited in the US
has a better mass transit system. BART won an award
as the best transit system in the country, so your
opinion is obviously in the minority.
car? In the Bay Area it is much easier. In fact,
outside of NYC, no place that I have ever visited
has a better mass transit system. And BART won an
award as the best transit system in the country, so
your opinion is obviously in the minority.
http://www.bart.gov/news/features/features20040824.asp
\_ so why is BART great, eh? Is it because it's
expensive, loud, and slow? Is it because they
offer no monthly passes, and they don't have
any agreement to share tickets with any of the
other transit agencies? Is it because the
elevators never work? -tom
\_ During rush hour, the BART goes from Glen
Park BART to downtown every two or three
minutes. And the ride is 12 minutes, much
faster than even taking my motorcycle. It
is also faster than taking a car to Berkeley.
And my Fas Pass works on both Muni and BART
And my Fast Pass works on both Muni and BART
in The City. It is too bad that AC Transit
and BART don't have such an agreement.
\- i think BART is ok if by coincidence
your route coincides with the end points.
but to have to bus/fight to park at one
end and then take another bus at the other
end is nuts. If you live off T'graph
and are trying to get to the Ho Theater
in the 'Loin, BART works. If you live
near the Moron Temple in OAK and want to
visit your associate in the Richmond (SF)
BART is insane.
\_ BART doesn't pretend to go everywhere.
Isn't a Oakland -> Richmond trip the
job of AC Transit?
\_ BART named #1 Transit System in U.S. by APTA
http://www.bart.gov/news/features/features20040824.asp
\_ Australia: .
\_ New Zealand: .
\_ The fact that there are so few people in NZ is
very attractive to me, but if I had to restrict
myself to the US, I'd go w/ the Bay Area or
Hawaii.
\_ I hope you're not Oriental. I've been told that
NZ is terribly biased against them. My
information might be skewed since a (former)
relative is currently married to a NZ nationalist
politician.
\_ Surprised no one chose the Central Coast. It would be my
choice and is the choice of many super-wealthy (like Oprah).
Large tracts of land, beaches, nice weather, close to LA when
you have to be but far enough away to make you forget about it.
There's a reason the area from Santa Barbara to Monterey is
laden with multi-million dollar homes.
\_ Why didn't you choose it?
\_ "It would be my choice"
\_ The go like this: California Central Coast: .
\_ Oh, it would have to be somewhere that is relatively inexpensive,
has favorable weather, safe, and (recently added) politically
stable. Morocco: Bay Area-like weather, inexpensive, politically
stable (until recent terrorist attacks). Bali: ditto, plus
unpleasant rainy season. Perhaps Phuket or somewhere else Thai-ish,
except the rainy season is also unpleasant. Shanghai, but the air
quality is awful. Buenos Aires: considered it quite seriously a
few years ago, still a contender if I decide to cash it in. Since
I am Chinese, that opens up some options and removes others.
\_ When you're all old and wrinkled up, it's hard to tell what
your ethnicity is, assuming you have a perfect English accent.
\_ Alas, I expect to retire years (decades) before I become old
and wrinkled up. And while it may not be obvious from
physical inspection, I assume my racial information would
still be in a local government data base somewhere. This
would be suboptimal in places where discrimination is
sponsored by the government.
\_ Oh, and I forgot the requirement for world-class medical care.
That removes all my options except Shanghai (the American-run
clinics are very good, if expensive) and possibly Buenos Aires.
Perhaps Vancouver, so long as I can winter somewhere favorable.
In fact, picking 2 or 3 places that, in aggregate, provide a
good year-round retirement experience might be much easier, and
certainly much less expensive, than picking 1 overall winner.
\_ Northern and central Thailand are gorgeous, with good
infrastructure, a stable economy, nice people and you can live
like a king. The highlands aren't as hot as Bangkok. -John
\_ I'd definitely go to Hawaii. Island girls are exotic and the
legal age is only 14. What more could you ask for?
\_ Try 16, they changed the law. Pervert.
\_ The Playboy Mansion. I might die of heart attack but I'd die very
happy.
\_ Speaking as someone who has met Hef and some of his
bunnies... yuck.
\_ Really? Care to elaborate? Thx. |
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