Northern Arizona - Where to Affordably Retire?

Working on the retirement plan.  Original plan was 2032, but some "spacecrap" may impact earth then, so maybe a few years earlier than that so I can enjoy a couple of years of no boss...

1. No SE US.  Lived all of my life below the Mason-Dixon.  Grew up and currently live in Virginny, spent many years in NC and SC, and will not go further south than I am now if east of the Mississippi. Humidity is a BITCH!!!!

2. Looking for reasonable cost of living and decent medical access.  FIL moved to Santa Fe and then complained about access to medical care. I googled worst states to retire to and at the time, NM was #2 after AK and one to the top reasons was poor access to health care.

3. Spent a few years in the SW. Loved it. Concerned about things like crappy power grid and water access.  Don't want to deal with dying from lack of water or power as I get geezer.

4. Looked at Flagstaff, AZ considering I'd been through there, liked the area and the heat was less opresssive than southern AZ.  Other than the housing prices were more than I cared for, it seemed good.  Winslow isn't too far from there and housing etc. seemed much more reasonable.  What am I missing? I'd be retired and not planning to work, so that won't be an issue. 

5. Other suggestions are appreciated. If you're thinking about recommending somewhere in California, a strong case would be required for me to even consider it based on cost of living, politics, etc.

6. Thoughts?

I looked at Winslow myself and a lot of people told me to stay away, apparently a lot of drugs and crime happens there.

I have no first hand experience though 

In reply to secretariata (Forum Supporter) :

in response to #2 on your list, the Mayo Clinic has campuses in Phoenix and Scottsdale although those cities are probably too far south for you.

Antihero said:

I looked at Winslow myself and a lot of people told me to stay away, apparently a lot of drugs and crime happens there.

 

I have no first hand experience though 

Yeah, Winslow is a E36 M3hole from what I've heard & the one time I drove through. 

I have no experience with NM healthcare, but I spent a week around Alamogordo & Cloudcroft a few years ago, and thought it was a neat little city. The heat can get oppressive in Alamogordo during the summer, but a 30min drive up the mountain to Cloudcroft will cure that. 

Snow is pretty common during the winter, so you'd get seasonal changes, Las Cruces is an hour away & El Paso is about 1.5 if you need anything from a bigger city. 

Based on my father's end of life experience, can confirm problematic health care access in the Las Cruces area-- three hospitals, poorly staffed specialties, requiring transfers between hospitals each time your current hospital comes up short. 
Mayo is available if you can get to Arizona, but that facility doesn't take Medicare Advantage patient. 

I haven't been to Arizona in years, but we always like Prescott.  Higher in elevation than Phoenix so you get three seasons without the oppressive heat.  We actually looked at a house there.  3BR, LR, DR all on one floor, 3 car detached garage and it was in the mountains.  $400k but taxes were $1300/year.  Folks from California have discovered it, so Real Estate prices are way up.

I was underwhelmed with the Sedona area, pretty but everywhere I went I got button holed by some fast talker in a suit trying to sell me a Condo.  

Please let us know how this ends.

Dan

Flagstaff is beautiful in the summer, but can be brutal in the winter. Do you like snow and cold? Most people never think about it being cold in AZ. 

Flagstaff would be my choice, but understand that it's in the top 10 snowiest cities in the US. Yes, seriously. Show Low would be another place to look, as would Prescott or Prescott Valley; I'm not sure how city-fied you want to be. All are up on the Mogollon Rim so weather will be much cooler than in the Phoenix valley, of course. 

Jerome is beautiful but is getting expensive due to the wine-growing region. As you've probably noted, a lot of retired Californians have driven up real estate prices in the nicer areas. 

What do you want out of your place? What access to city amenities are important? How much land are you looking for? 

I was in Santa Fe, NM and woke up to snow but went outside with just a T Shirt.  No moisture in the air.

As a current NM resident, I agree with the NM healthcare assessment. However, I live in a smaller city near the NM-TX border. The closest "big" city to me is Lubbock which is about an hour to the East.

We moved out of Florida a year ago. We couldn't take the people, politics, humidity or the big jump in cost of living anymore.

We are at 4300' elevation where we currently live. It gets hot in the summer but there is always a breeze and the humidity is less than 20%. Winters are cold with some snow. We get one to two snow events every season. I like the weather here.

That being said, Santa Fe is a neat place. I also really liked Alamogordo. I'd love to move to the Northwest part of the state, if I could find a job there.

The cost of living is a fraction of what it was where we lived in FL (Tampa area). To give you an idea, we sold the girlfriends tiny, 900sq ft, 1960s block house for $207k in Jan 2024 and bought our current, 2100sq ft, 1970s brick ranch style, fully renovated house for $257k the same month.

I wonder about New Mexico too......I drove thru there in January and stayed in Tucumcari as it was mid way for me to Phoenix, I was surprised how much the town had declined since I was there in 2016.....seemed like the only businesses that were thriving were Marijuana dispensaries, and there were a bunch of them!

I had friends and a brother that lived in Albuquerque years back and liked it, but driving thru on this trip was much less inspiring.  I thought maybe somewhere up near the four corners area might be doable, as you get close to southern Colorado it seems to get really pretty and nice, but health care would be an issue.

Santa Fe was pretty but at 7500 ft elevation it gets COLD there in winter, much like Colorado and housing is spendy there.

So, it seems like you compromise.....to get affordable housing (and I include yearly taxes and cost of utilities in that calculation now, not just purchase price) you really take your chances on healthcare and other amenities. Move to where the healthcare is good and you get expensive cost of living and crowds and crime.

Why has Winslow become a crime haven more than any other smallish town? Influx of meth/fentanyl dealers?

In reply to MiniDave :

Apparently there is little to do there and there's a big prison nearby?

I didn't do a bunch of research because I found a few houses I liked and am not ready to move so it was torture lol

Flagstaff is at 7500 feet above sea level, they get real deal winter.  It's been a long time since I've been in Winslow, but it's a run down, small town.  I wouldn't consider it a retirement community at all. 

In reply to docwyte :

Yeah, but in Winslow you can stand on the corner with the flatbed Ford, so there's that. Also it's sort of near Meteor Crater. 

Beyond that I can't find much to recommend Winslow. 

What about Mesquite NV? 

It seemed to have that retirement vibe when I used to drive through.  Less than an hour from St George if you need bigger city things.