LeavingOhio

Gotta get out of this suburban life! Divorced, 50, female, children grown. Where's the best place to live and met new people, find some excitment! It's a tough age, feel foolish around the 30-something crowd, and not ready for the senior citizens. Any ideas?

BayouGal

If it were me, I'd do a little research to find the best locale with the largest population of single males within the age bracket you are looking for . . . you might even be able to narrow it down to income brackets! ;-)

Good luck!

lizziea06

Assuming you are even looking for romance...
What's your budget like? Do you want to rent or buy a place?
It sounds like you want to live in a city. Which part of the country?

diann

Do you work? Do you need to work? I would think that would also add to the location of your next home. If that is not a problem then isolating your likes dislikes would be helpful. Do you like the heat, sun, snow, ski, water hobbies, art, theater, hiking? Meeting new people would involve you getting involved with some activities to share your likes and dislikes. Good luck.

Nora_S

Match.com?

starrsville

I'd go to Durango, Colorado.

TahitiTams

Come and live the Good Life in San Diego..Weather is gorgeous and so are the men and it's exciting and fun..
It is a little expensive but it is well worth it and will do your soul some good!
Living here makes you feel and look like 30 too!
Best to you were every you go..

jetset1

Alaska! Tha air is clean, the outdoors offers year round recreational options, and the men still outnumber women by a longshot.
Just an idea.. depending on your interests and whatnot. Yes, the winters are long, but we have great charter flights to Hawaii!

jetset1

Oops, meant to add that your skin holds up well too. Because we don't endure punishing sun as much, we look at least fifteen years younger.
Something about the volcanic soil increasing estrogen...

enzian

Jetset---I was going to suggest Alaska tooo. Your comments are interesting. I lived in Alaska for nine years, starting when I was in my mid-twenties. That was some years ago, but now when I go to my high school reunions, I get voted the "youngest looking". Now I know why. . . . But is it the sun, or the volcanic soil? (Not sure that's found around Fairbanks anyway, and we actually got quite a bit of sunshine there, so go figure! I always attributed it to the cold, like it had some preservative effect.)

jetset1

enzian~ truthfully, I probably do look a little less lined than my classmates.
I lived in the Aleutians for a long stretch when we were younger and delusional(the "two more years" thing and several promotions kept us there like chocolate junkies at the Hershey factory).
The constant mist from the ocean, fog, chlorine in the water supply, seafood intake, salmonberry dacquiris? Who's to say?
Plus, in a village, yes, literally one p.o., two bars, a pizza place, three video stores and one small church, you had to be active or get a bad vice, and being too cerebral, by the time I decided I'd get one, we moved away..
I walked, up a hill, around the docks, wherever, from the beginning and kept in great shape.
Funny, I moved up here to the suburbs on the Peninsula, and the sweet little gals I became friends with had to be convinced to walk in the rain.(wimps, try a blinding snowstorm, with your ears half frozen, and the feeling of 100 Botox needles going into your face).
Luckily, I met some outdoor gals who biked for miles, some of them went from Kenai to Homer!
Most of my inlaws are tired of me pushing healthy ideas at them, but if just one can be saved, I've done my job!
But seriously, my single friends love it here! LeavingOhio, think it over. What is your profession? rambling J.

travel_addict

Jetset1 - Your post was too funny!

BayouGal

Jetset, lets hear more about that estrogen in Alaskan soil . . . do you suppose that's what St. Augustine spews every now and then?! ;-)

suze

Head to a big city on a coast... Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles... Boston, New York, or Miami.

LoveItaly

Hi Ohio, if you want to meet men SF may not be the best place for you to move to, women of all ages seem to have a problem meeting eligable men in SF. Best wishes to you with your future.

jetset1

BayouGal~ You know what they say about Homer- "a small drinking town with a fishing problem".. the only thing down there keeping the women young is the fact that they do marry at 14. Yup, well, in the Russian village anyway.
I try to remember being 14. Oh yeah.. pictures of Little Michael, David Cassidy and Donny... sweet, innocent purple loving Donny. There was also Bobby Sherman, but he was old, way old for then. Now, it would be nothing,lol.
And I think it really is lack of sun for us Northern Auroras. Tell you what, just between all thousand of us, some of my Ak. sistahs tan. I'm talking the sort of skin that makes a cow run for sunscreen.
Sure, the headlights are high 'n perky, the thighs could split firewood, but oh, the faces...sort of a ghoulish brown sneer, ooohhweeooohh...
but hey, enough on me, Ohio needs a new place to roost. She may be frightened by now and settle for a gated commune, ala the O.C. brides...
remember when Jo asked Shane's parents, was it icy? Heck, they left in summer from Anchorage for peckeroni's sake. Still, she had that high ponytail charm that I'll never have.(Natural curly hair that only Nicole Kidman denies more than I).
The truth is, we mash up the elusive iceworm and slather him generously on all our 2000 parts. Forever young...J.

dfrostnh

Two friends have stayed in their hometown but taken up kayaking. I've gotten the impression that after a divorce you get to do the things your husband would never do, so perhaps, instead of moving, stay where you are for awhile but try out some different hobbies and activities. Join some clubs. At a club meeting the other night I heard some of the women talking about going on a Outdoors Woman weekend. I bet half the people at this club aren't married. No courtships have taken place but some good friendships. There's probably a lot of possibilities where you already live but you just haven't explored before. Take some enrichment classes. Check out some craft shops. Look at bulletin boards at sporting goods stores.

suze

Oops, good point from LoveItaly... not Seattle either, if meeting men is a high priority.

JJ5

It's 10-11 years later, but I was in a similar situation, except for having a 17 year old still at home.

I needed to work though, and you sound like that's not a priority. You don't even mention job or job market.

My primary advice would be NOT to move. I would travel or house swap to check other areas out. But I would not move impulsively.

If you are serious about meeting new people, volunteer- be out in the world whereever you are. And do the on-line match.com venues as well.

I checked out every place I've visited re real estate pages or office postings. You need to know what is there before you choose anything.

And if you are seeking the excitement to come from outside yourself, I always find it is best to start within yourself (classes for sure, health club, journaling) so that you are there to meet it with your own vibe and excitement at its sharpest peak.

You are the one that will find YOUR "best" place to live, and the finding itself will be the "life" you are seeking. It just won't be in the end result or location.

Lastly, keep in mind that great distance from the supports and connections of your first 50 years might look a whole lot different now than it will when you are 60 or 65, not that many years down the road.

Of course, if you have lived in many different locations before, that might not be much of a factor. But it would be an immense factor to others. Don't forget, you are not always going to be 50.

Brookside

Jetset1 --

I want some of whatever it was you were having last night ...

Hey, LeavingOhio, I've been in your shoes. Still wearing them in fact. And I understand your wanting to get the h. out of dodge. I've always HAD to live in poky, boring, white-bread suburbia because that's where my (soon to be ex) husband's job was/is. (That, plus his idea of travel and adventure never went any further than the recliner and digital cable.)

My advice: Go wherever you think you can make yourself happy again. Take into consideration the basics you will need to feel joyous and excited about life. For me, it's:
1. Can I find a job there?
2. Can I afford to live reasonably well and still have enough left over for a little fun and travel?
3. Can I take the climate?
4. Is there a good airport close by so that I can see family and friends regularly?
5. Are there organizations in town that I can get involved in?

So far, it's question 3 that's giving me the most pause. As in -- I love Chicago, but I could see myself getting seriously depressed in the winter. So I'm still researching -- but I feel confident I'll make the right move soon.

The ratio of available men to women doesn't even enter into the picutre. Why? Because happiness is its own aphrodesiac. No matter where you are, if people sense that you are happy, positive, confident and fun to be with, they_will_come_to_you. Guaranteed.

Best of luck!