In a recent article, Fortune magazine named our wonderful city as one of 4 great places to retire. They identified four archetypes of next-generation retirees and found a place for each of them a college town for the academically minded, a city for the urban-inclined, a mountain town for lovers of the outdoors, and an overseas destination for explorers.
Personally I was quite surprised to see Seattle top anyone’s list. We all love living here and enjoy the great beauties that surround us, however all you hear from everyone is that it rains a lot and the skies are always grey. Journalists will often highlight the abnormally high occurrence of those diagnosed with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which refers to episodes of depression that occur every year during the fall or winter months. However, in this article Seattle was highlighted for the urbanite based on the city being a mecca for the arts with a small-town feel despite the size, and top-rated health care facilities.
I was surprised to see that they didn’t mention the bounty of outdoor activities available. Within a few hours drive you can be in the mountains, on one of the many lakes or rivers, drying out in the desert, or hiding out in the rainforest. For the urbanite they also suggested Portland, Oregon and New York, New York.
For the college town they suggested Athens, Georgia and also mentioned San Luis Obispo, California and Madison, Wisconsin.
For the nature lover St. George, Utah was the highlight, and they also suggested Whitefish, Montana and Maggie Valley, North Carolina.
For the intrepid traveler they brought up the overseas locations of San Rafael, Argentina, Boquet, Panama, and Ambergris Caye, Belize.
