My husband and I are considering Walla Walla as a possible retirement area. We currently live in the Puget Sound region, but want less traffic and more sun. We are also looking at the Central Coast of California (San Luis Obispo). Advocates of either area, speak up, please. We're looking for any negatives too. We already know about the BIG California taxes. If you have a better idea for a low-key college town near recreational opportunities and good (doesn't have to be great) weather, chime in. We prefer the West Coast to stay near family. Thanks in advance; this will also help determine our next vacation.

Can't give you too much info about the Central Coast as far as living there but I do think it is a very nice area. The biggest negative for me about the area around SLO is the airport situation. If you do travel alot and want to get good ticket prices, you usually have to go to LAX. Yes you can fly from SLO or Santa Barbara, but most of the time the fares are high.

Research taxes, including property taxes, very carefully before you visit in California.

It is a huge problem for retirees and would keep me out of that state.

SLO is getting busier, noisier, dirtier, and more expensive every minute.

If you already live around the Sound....have you considered either Bellingham or Bremerton?

Don't think Bellingham or Bremerton will pass on the "more sun" criterion.

Walla Walla is a serious schlep from most places (Tri Cities excluded); SLO and the central coast would be areas I'd look at, also Monterey and the Sierra foothills come to mind. If you can stand living a bit inland from the beach, the costs of housing go way down in the Calif. central coast.

What about Ashland and the Rogue Valley? Lots of recreation opportunities, okay (not great) air connections through Medford, and okay road access to the Bay Area or Portland for city fixes. And of course if you're a Shakespeare buff, nirvana. Decent college atmosphere there too.

What I'm hearing is pretty much what I expected, although I'd still like to hear from someone who lives in Walla Walla. We may have to open our options up to include the whole U.S.

Correct, Bellingham and Bremerton do not meet the more sun test.

sequim's in the rain shadow.

I can retire in about 4 years. I have made it almost a hobby to look at retirement places (mostly via the internet). My focus is on urban areas with pretty good weather. I live in DC, but have looked at places all over the map. SLO seems to be very nice - a place I have visited in person - the main drawback is the high housing costs and high cost of living in general. I think I am looking for a loager city than you might be, but the smaller palces of interest to me that may be up your alley include:

In the west:

St. George Utah
Flagstaff Arizona
Palm Springs area
Santa Fe NM

Around the country:

Asheville, NC
Chattanooga, Tenn.
Greenville, SC
Wilmington, NC
Austin
Savannah

My husband and I live in the SF Bay area (and yes it is not a cheap place to live) and are looking at retirement ideas for the near future. One of our criteria is state income tax since he will be getting his retirement and we do not want to waste it all away in taxes.

We have considered WA, OR, AZ, NV and TX as possible ideas to look into. Having grown up in OH with snow in the winter and humidity in the summer we want to stay away from that....and of course CA is a perfect place to do so but way too expensive on a retirement income unless you live in eastern or northern CA.

Are you both in good health? My elderly parents and my daughter and family live on the Central Coast and there's somewhat limited access to specialist doctors. That said, the Central Coast is lovely, if you can stand the foggy days and toursit invasion in the summer/holiday weekends.

After doing your research on tax issues, access to medical care, access to major airport, etc. I suggest you rent for a month or two during the off-season in the location of choice. vrbo.com is a good place to look.

This will give you a better feel for the area than a short visit during prime time and allow you to visit with locals to get a better perspective.

Retirees are our main growth industry in the Rogue Valley.
Excellent medical facilities and lots of sun(compared to Washington and Northern Oregon).
http://www.ashlandchamber.com/
http://www.southernoregon.org/living/retirement.html

Re: Walla Walla: my entire family grew up in Western Wash (Port Ludlow) state: my Aunt & Uncle moved to Ellensburg and love it. OF course they tolerate the dry snow in winter well and air conditoned summers.MY Aunt is an RN and my Uncle is severly handicaped and so they have been picky and happy with the Medcial care.
My Dad relocated to Cody Wyoming. Again no state tax, lots of room cute small town with amazing medcial services: you do have to get used to small town and shopping at Wal MArt and driving 2 hours to Billings but COL is very affordable. Winters dry cold to 10 below and summers up to 100.

Thanks. It is great to get a lot of different perspectives, and that includes some issues I hadn't thought through, like medical care. We're in good health now, but who knows what the future holds.

Ellensburg may be one of the windiest places I've ever been. Always blowing too. It used to have a bad stockyard smell problem. Walla Walla is a fairly boring town IMO and the prison is one of the larger industries.

Re: The rain shadow, here are the Sequim rainfall totals there in recent years. Outside of the shadow, some areas of Western Washington will reach these totals in two wet months:

2006 12.22 Inches
2005 9.62 Inches
2004 10.41 Inches
2003 14.46 Inches
2002 14.11 Inches
2001 12.91 Inches
2000 11.49 Inches
1999 18.3 Inches
1998 16.11 Inches
1997 17.99 Inches
1996 19.24 Inches
1995 19.49 Inches
1994 11.45 Inches