Retirement Places Rated: What You Need to Know to Plan the Retirement You Deserve, Sixth Edition 
asked by crafty1 on November 7, 2006 9:43 PM
Whether you're considering retirement or scouting out the best location for a second home, Retirement Places Rated is an invaluable sourcebook. For more than 20 years, people have turned to author David Savageau for help in choosing the perfect location, and now that the number of Americans who are reaching retirement age is greater than ever, this information is more valuable than ever before. Nearly 200 top retirement areas in the United States, both traditional and newly discovered, are profiled.They're ranked and compared for cost of living, climate, health care, economic factors, crime, services, cultural life, and recreation. Included are climate graphs, maps of retirement regions, comparison charts, and demographic profiles of each area. A special section on relocation resources helps you set your plans in motion once you've chosen where to live.This completely updated edition includes new locations and factors in the latest statistics.
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In the growing field of books offering suggested places to live or retire, RETIREMENT PLACES RATED is one of the few to base its findings entirely on statistics rather than opinion. David Savageau, the author, has authored prior editions of this book as well as the popular PLACES RATED ALMANAC. Feeding into the statistics here come metrics on each of 203 locations from six specific areas: Ambiance (by which the author means largely historic charm and outdoor recreation), Costs of Living, Climate, Personal Safety, Services (availability of medical services, for example) and The Economy. We're also given a useful Appendix with Chamber of Commerce addresses, income-tax information, and the like.
My hunch is that people will find this book quite useful, but not conclusive. It's impossible to avoid opinion entirely, even in a statistics-gathering format like this one, because someone still has to decide what to count and how to weight it. Take the section on Climate: the very top performers are California coastal Mediterranean places like San Diego, which is not surprising. Then come snowless Pacific Northwest cliimates, desert climates, beach climates (mainly in Florida), and long-hot-summer climates (think central Texas). Although nearly half of the 203 locales rated here are not in the Sunbelt or on salt water, we have to move almost halfway down the list to get to them.
The heat doesn't seem to matter much in this author's assessment of what constitutes "climatic mildness." That's why Yuma, Arizona, where it goes to triple-digit temperatures all summer, comes in at number 10, while relatively mild four-season Charlottesville, Virginia ranks 137. (Actually, if a place has any snowfall that sticks, it's doomed to a poor rating.) Interestingly, Charlottesville placed no. 1 among places to retire in a guide for general use that also came out in 2004 (Cities Ranked & Rated), which used only slightly different metrics. As for an overall score, in RETIREMENT PLACES RATED Charlottesville comes in number 35, edging out Yuma at number 37.
A happy feature of the prior general-interest PLACES RATED ALMANAC was Savageau's use of screening or "filtering" devices to custom-tailor the rankings to people with differing tastes. There was, in fact, precisely a ranking of climatic mildness for people who nonetheless want to live in a four-season climate, not a winterless one, screening out San Diego and Sarasota and Yuma but including, say, Charlottesville. There should have been much more of that sort of thing here.
But a person doesn't have to agree with all the rankings to benefit from the stats. Data on housing costs, crime, and the local economy are all welcome. Just don't think of RETIREMENT PLACES RATED as the only book of its kind you'll ever need.
My hunch is that people will find this book quite useful, but not conclusive. It's impossible to avoid opinion entirely, even in a statistics-gathering format like this one, because someone still has to decide what to count and how to weight it. Take the section on Climate: the very top performers are California coastal Mediterranean places like San Diego, which is not surprising. Then come snowless Pacific Northwest cliimates, desert climates, beach climates (mainly in Florida), and long-hot-summer climates (think central Texas). Although nearly half of the 203 locales rated here are not in the Sunbelt or on salt water, we have to move almost halfway down the list to get to them.
The heat doesn't seem to matter much in this author's assessment of what constitutes "climatic mildness." That's why Yuma, Arizona, where it goes to triple-digit temperatures all summer, comes in at number 10, while relatively mild four-season Charlottesville, Virginia ranks 137. (Actually, if a place has any snowfall that sticks, it's doomed to a poor rating.) Interestingly, Charlottesville placed no. 1 among places to retire in a guide for general use that also came out in 2004 (Cities Ranked & Rated), which used only slightly different metrics. As for an overall score, in RETIREMENT PLACES RATED Charlottesville comes in number 35, edging out Yuma at number 37.
A happy feature of the prior general-interest PLACES RATED ALMANAC was Savageau's use of screening or "filtering" devices to custom-tailor the rankings to people with differing tastes. There was, in fact, precisely a ranking of climatic mildness for people who nonetheless want to live in a four-season climate, not a winterless one, screening out San Diego and Sarasota and Yuma but including, say, Charlottesville. There should have been much more of that sort of thing here.
But a person doesn't have to agree with all the rankings to benefit from the stats. Data on housing costs, crime, and the local economy are all welcome. Just don't think of RETIREMENT PLACES RATED as the only book of its kind you'll ever need.
reviewed by jazzman on November 28, 2006 6:55 PM
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Save your valuable time and steer clear of this train wreck! Worse yet, you could be making the biggest mistake of your life if you make an important decision based on Retirement Places Rated.
Sorry, but I get upset after having my time and money wasted, and just need to vent.
I've spent a career in corporate relocation, and find myself stunned at most of the recommendations. The book's choices usually fall into the following categories; unaffordable, uninteresting, uninhabitable, unsafe, unpleasant, unhealthy, or uncomfortable.
On top of the flawed and biased reviews that might have been researched from chamber of commerce web sites, the book's layout requres endless page flipping to get the full profile of each city.
And yes, I said biased. As a West Coaster, where are the cities west of the Rockies? There are very few included, representing a strong East Coast leaning, maybe because the author sticks to what he can drive to.
Please, Mr. Savageau, invest in a Jet Blue ticket and take a trip out here. Spend some time out here, in person, and maybe you'll avoid mistakes like your #1 choice - Florence, Oregon.
I asked an associate from the Northwest about this town as the nation's top retirement spot, and she laughed, "Retire there? I don't even like to drive through Florence! Has this guy ever been there?"
Good question!
Sorry, but I get upset after having my time and money wasted, and just need to vent.
I've spent a career in corporate relocation, and find myself stunned at most of the recommendations. The book's choices usually fall into the following categories; unaffordable, uninteresting, uninhabitable, unsafe, unpleasant, unhealthy, or uncomfortable.
On top of the flawed and biased reviews that might have been researched from chamber of commerce web sites, the book's layout requres endless page flipping to get the full profile of each city.
And yes, I said biased. As a West Coaster, where are the cities west of the Rockies? There are very few included, representing a strong East Coast leaning, maybe because the author sticks to what he can drive to.
Please, Mr. Savageau, invest in a Jet Blue ticket and take a trip out here. Spend some time out here, in person, and maybe you'll avoid mistakes like your #1 choice - Florence, Oregon.
I asked an associate from the Northwest about this town as the nation's top retirement spot, and she laughed, "Retire there? I don't even like to drive through Florence! Has this guy ever been there?"
Good question!
reviewed by macfan on November 29, 2006 9:58 AM
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Apart from its main function as indicated in the title, the book provides a very good source of information about our Land.
It is worth having around as a ready reference for much useful informaion and data which would be very time consuming on the PC.
It is worth having around as a ready reference for much useful informaion and data which would be very time consuming on the PC.
reviewed by runningscared on November 29, 2006 3:30 PM