Tampa Tops Forbes' List of Best Places to Retire, But Other Cities May Surprise You

   
Tampa Bay Golf & CC, Florida: Located near Forbes' No. 1 city.

The best city for retirees is Tampa, FL, according to a survey
conducted by Forbes.com. The editors compared 100 of the
largest U.S. metropolitan areas along traditional criteria,
including availability of health care, leisure activities, plus a
number of non-traditional factors, including jobs. The result
yielded several non-traditional locations.

The 10 winners were ranked by the Forbes.com editors based
on factors including cost and availability of health care; sales,
property and income-tax rates; an index of arts and leisure
activities ranging from museums to parks to sports teams;
and cost of living, based on data from Sperling's BestPlaces.

A surprising factor that editors found was jobs for retirees.
It's not so surprising, though, when it is increasingly
becoming apparent that Boomers are not just going to quit
working cold turkey. Jobs that allow extended periods of
time off or off-site jobs that allow remote commuting will
permit Boomers to work many years past the traditional
retirement dates.

Thus, rather than a list of cities dominated by the state of
Florida, surprising locations such as Fort Worth, TX, Norfolk,
VA, and  Washington, DC, crop up as winning locations.

In our opinion, one of the best ways to enjoy these cities is
to live in a world-class golf and waterview community. See
below for a list of communities located near these top cities
for retirement living.

1. Tampa, Florida

• Tampa Bay Golf & CC, San Antonio, Florida

• Southern Hills Plantation Club, Brooksville, Florida (35 miles north of Tampa)

• Champions Club, Trinity, Florida

• GlenLakes, Weeki Wachee, Florida (40 miles north of Tampa)

• Harbor Hills, Lady Lake, Florida

• Lake Jovita, Dade City, Florida (35 miles north of Tampa)

2. Fort Worth, Texas

• Lake Ridge, Cedar Hill (near Dallas/Ft. Worth)

• The Reserve at SugarTree, Lipan (near Ft. Worth)

• The Resort at Eagle Mountain Lake, Ft. Worth

3. Indianapolis, Indiana

4. Atlanta, Georgia

• The Georgia Club, Statham, Georgia

5. Houston, Texas

6. Jacksonville, Florida

• Amelia Island Plantation, Amelia Island, Florida

• Augustine Island at Palencia, St. Augustine, Florida

• Grand Haven, Palm Coast, Florida 

• Hammock Beach, Palm Coast, Florida

• Hammock Dunes Private Community, Palm Coast, Florida

• Sawmill Creek, Palm Coast, Florida

• Tidelands, Palm Coast, Florida

• World Golf Village, St. Augustine, Florida

7. Phoenix, Arizona

• Desert Mountain, Scottsdale

• Mirabel, Scottsdale

8. Norfolk, Virginia

• Bay Creek, Cape Charles, Virginia

• The Riverfront, Suffolk, Virginia

9. Washington, D.C.

• Belmont Country Club, Ashburn, Virginia

• Dominion Valley Country Club, Haymarket, Virginia

10. Denver, Colorado

• The Enclave at Broadlands, Broomfield, Colorado

• Heritage Todd Creek, Thornton, Colorado
  
  
• Beacon Point, Aurora, Colorado

Comments

[Larry Gavrich]

Jacksonville, FL, is a good choice based on a visit I made last year. Two other golf communities in the area worthy of consideration are Queen's Harbour (a waterway runs through it) and North Hampton, with a links style Arnold Palmer course that is a wonderful surprise. No state income tax is nice too.