upsizing

I am fascinated by lifestyle choices in retirement.  Logically, if one moves, it should be to an area with access to good health facilities and a high "walkability" value.  A friend once suggested we move into Washington DC.  You can afford it, she said.  "I'd do it but I can't afford it".  Well, her choices aren't mine.  She likes going to the theatre, and the variety of cultural and other activities available in a city.  She and the guy she has dated forever are going, going, going all the time.  I'd never venture out, except to walk the dog.

So I enjoyed listening to the retirement choice made by old college friends of my husband. Actually, they retired many years ago, splitting their time between a place in a golf community and their home on Long Island.  Their home was not large, but they had stairs to climb and taxes were high.  They have three children, none of them in New York anymore and decided to come further south to live near their daughter and her family.

Our friends chose an upscale enclave in Delaware, not far from the Indian River.  They are golfers and he has played tennis since he was in college, most recently teaching tennis in Florida  

Delaware is a destination for many people from Maryland.  Low property taxes.  That also translates into low amenities and services.  It's like living in an Anglo compound in India in the days of the Raj, says my husband.  Still, those compounds (in the US) once appealed to my husband.  Golf, tennis, and clubhouse where you tell old war stories, recycling the stories as you lose your memory.  Surrounded by the furnishings of an opulent clubhouse.  Our friends rave about their new 15 million dollar clubhouse and the parties thrown there but golf costs $100 per person and the course is "long".  The community is a weekend community for people with a median age of 48 and a net worth of..... I feel they have been dropped into an alternative universe.  Still, they seem to enjoy it, saying their house is larger than the home they raised their kids in.