I once took a girl to the opera. It was Carmen, all about love, jealousy and desire. It sounded good; romantic and bound to impress. Three hours in, I didn’t feel that way about it. Carmen’s tragic death in the final act, was a long time coming. The highlight was when a donkey ran across the stage, and the frantic singers lured the animal back into position with a carrot. So no, I’m not a big opera fan.
But I absolutely like to be in cities where I can attend one.
The best cities offer us all sorts of opportunities to enrich and entertain ourselves, to thoughtfully while away afternoons in a museum, at a gallery, or watch passersby from a restaurant terrace. More boomers are seeking walkable urban spaces for retirement—neighborhoods with communities, places at the heart of things. If you want to ditch the car and stroll from your home to a fine-dining restaurant, a museum, a gallery…even an opera…you can do so in North American cities, it’s just that they’re regularly ranked among the most expensive in the world.
That’s why this month, we bring you the best cities from our global beat for an arts-rich and cultured retirement. These are places where you can rent for as little as $357 a month, and enjoy a comfortable lifestyle from $1,800 a month.
Also this month, discover the upscale neighborhoods in a secret South American capital where a “high life” retirement close to the beach will cost a couple just $2,500 a month or less. If urban beaches are your thing, then read about where Jersey-native Pat Cox reveals the charms of Vietnam’s most livable city…
Scott and Nikki Hed built their dream home close to Nicaragua’s most attractive city… and perhaps nowhere beats Italy for cultured, walkable and low cost city living. So, we give you the three best cities to savor authentic Italy.
Eoin Bassett, International Executive Editor
Take a look at your local real estate listings and see what $172,000 will buy you. Probably nothing close to what my wife Nicki and I built in Nicaragua. From our covered terrace, we savor views of Lake Nicaragua spanning nearly the entire eastern horizon...
With a year-round calendar of social and cultural events and temperate weather (rarely dropping below 50 F), Portugal’s capital, Lisbon, is a great choice for your European retirement. Its ocean views and hills ascended by cable cars remind many...
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Pat and Rick Jackson wanted to retire at 55—and thanks to moving to Ecuador, they’ve met their goal. Now, instead of Rick’s hectic travel schedule as a district manager and Pat’s long hours working in banking back in Philadelphia, they spend their...
The conversation is a mix of Spanish and English. Large groups of friends are lingering at the tables under the night sky, long after their meals of slow-smoked ribs and beef brisket are done, enjoying conversation and a few cold Balboa beers at $2 a pop...
The smoky aroma of grilled meat in the air is crying for my attention. Too bad I have just finished several freshly made picarones: sweet potato batter swirled into a loop, fried in hot oil, and deftly removed with a long stick before being smothered in honey...
The trend is clear. More boomers are now actively seeking the convenience and ease of walkable urban spaces…if you want to ditch the car and surround yourself with amenities and choice there’s nothing quite like city living. Everything is on your doorstep...
“Chiang Mai is a smorgasbord of rich cultural experiences and visual pleasures,” says expat Pamela Manning. “There is no way I could be living this fulfilling, stimulating life back home, or even be able to afford it.” Pamela owns a one-bedroom....
When I visited southern Nicaragua in 2009, I got word that a hillside was for sale. So I got up at 5 a.m. and hiked for three hours in the baking sun to get to the peak. People thought I was nuts. No one saw the value I saw in this hillside land...
I had just finished an interesting meeting with the founder of a small start-up tech company in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. Looking forward to my next appointment a mile away, I jumped into the waiting car. Two hours of gridlocked traffic later,...