Best place to retire could be right here
We often see articles in our newspapers or magazines or on social media about where and why we should retire to a certain place. Perhaps it蘑菇视频 a beach or a small town location or a cabin in the mountains.The articles go on to tell us about the amenities and the cost of living in these locations as well as where the best coffee shops and places to eat and socialize.
A lot of time these articles are written by travel companies or influenced by chamber of commerce or tourist agencies. But, what about retirement right here in good old Southwestern Pennsylvania? I know our winters can be a bit cloudy and dreary, but you could live in North Dakota or Buffalo. And besides, if you like to hunt or ski, we have plenty of great ski mountains, resorts and some of the best hunting and fishing anywhere in the country. If you鈥檙e more inclined to the warmer side of the year, summers in Southwestern Pennsylvania are truly delightful. Just ask some of the folks who visit here with all those out of state license plates spending summer days at our lakes, streams and parks. They also come to see the historical significance of our area and the role we played in the history of our country. They visit our museums, our forts our little river towns and of course our big nearby city of Pittsburgh.
This is all in our backyard and sometimes we forget what we have. Yes we got beat up a bit when the mighty steel industry gave way to other materials, but there is life here and the future is beginning to brighten. Pittsburgh is still a world-class city with fantastic education and health care industries. We are a nice day trip away from a sporting event, museum, the incline or some really great theater. The day-trip commute sometimes is a bit slow; however, compared with other big cities like Washington D.C., Philadelphia and New York City, it蘑菇视频 a walk in the park. In addition to day trips to Pittsburgh, our mountains are nearby and even Lake Erie is just a few hours away.
I am kind of glad the Pittsburgh area did not win the Amazon headquarters bid. Fifty thousand jobs would be nice, but the traffic and housing problems might not be worth it.
Speaking of housing, Southwestern Pennsylvania still has plenty of nice affordable homes in good neighborhoods and small towns that would cost two or three time more in other cities. Workers in some big cities make a decent wage, but simply cannot afford to live where they work and often times spend several hours a day commuting to their job several counties away.
I think we may have it all and just don鈥檛 realize the joy of living here in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Our mountains, lakes, streams, parks, and our small towns with a big city nearby, offer us plenty of things to do, see and lots of coffee shops and restaurants for a good meal, and above all, affordability and a decent cost of living.
Thinking about retiring, perhaps you may want to build your cabin in the mountains or just stay in place and enjoy what we already have living here in a beautiful part of the world.